February 12th, 2008
Released to coincide with Safer Internet Day (12 February), the video contains tips and advice for parents on internet safety.
Alex Hewitt, founder of NetIDme, commented:
“With recent high profile cases worldwide, it is clear that Internet predators & cyber-bullies are potential problems that all parents must face up to. By producing this video, our aim is to help raise parental awareness of the issues”.Hewitt established NetIDme Ltd after he was concerned over his daughter using instant messaging. He was astonished to find that of the 150 people on his daughter’s buddy list – online friend list – she could identify fewer than 50. He added: “The Internet is a fantastic resource for young people but I was worried that my children were at risk from being contacted by online predators and people who were not who they said they were.”Hewitt wanted to provide a service that would help young people protect themselves online, while still having the freedom to use the Internet.
NetIDme.com – the world’s first service that enables both adults and children to verify the age and identity of people they talk to online – attracted the attention of the world’s media when it was launched in August. The service is currently available in the
Hewitt’s company has also developed ChatShield, a free parental control tool for Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger). ChatShield automatically checks all instant messaging (IM) contacts against the NetIDme identity verification service, and simply stops any unidentifiable messages from getting through. Parents can download ChatShield for free from the ChatShield website – www.chatshield.com