Tech Firms Team Up to Promote Online Safety
Partnership launches secure social platform for children
A team of top technology firms has joined forces to promote secure online activity among youngsters with the launch of a new social network for children.
Hosting firm UKFast, social media management agency Tempero and child safety experts KidsOKOnline (KOKO) have put their support behind child-friendly social site gyggl in the hope of creating a bully-free, bad-language-free zone for children who want to explore the internet.
As an increasing number of social media sites are exposed for their vulnerabilities and inability to protect young people online, gyggl was designed to be a creative, fun, and safe place for children who want to engage online. It allows youngsters to create and share their photos and videos, play games, watch educational material, enter competitions and chat – while under the watchful eye of 24/7 moderators.
Co-founder Richard Bell said: “Our aim is for gyggl to be the most inspiring place for kids on the web – a place that is fun; where they can display their talents, and share and learn with like-minded people.
“We want this brand to feel totally theirs, and whether they’re learning about science, showing off their kick-ups or meeting new friends, it will be encompassed in a walled garden, which is a safer, totally protected environment for them to play.
“While we hope young people have the utmost fun on gyggl, we’re keen to help set new standards of online safety for them. Needless to say, our work with UKFast, Tempero and KOKO and those firms’ vast experience means we have the best people in the industry supporting us through our growth.”
Dominic Sparkes, CEO and founder of Tempero, said: “We are approached to manage child focused projects on a weekly basis, but few meet the criteria we set for ensuring the audience is safe from harm. With gyggl however, it was obvious from the very first meeting they were setting out to raise the bar in terms of child safety. We are proud to be part of the team.”
UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones said: “If there’s one thing that should be top of our lists when it comes to making the internet a safer place, it should be children.
“The young generation should feel free to enjoy the online world, while their parents are safe in the knowledge that their activity is safe.
“That’s why we partnered with gyggl; to help deliver a fun and inspiring online platform to youngsters while adults are reassured that their little ones are protected.”
gyggl’s users’ registrations have to be verified by parents, a guardian or school teacher and the site carries various safeguarding technologies including profanity filters and report buttons. The extra levels of security create a strictly bullying-free and bad language-free zone, to ensure the experience is as positive for young people as possible.
About gyggl
Four years in the making, gyggl delivers ultimate security and protection to its users through its key partnerships with Tempero – the world’s largest full-service social media management agency – and KOKO (Kids OK Online) which has, for 23 years served over 2,000,000 young people and adults in 42 countries with online projects – all in complete safety.
The site is moderated 7 days a week and uses profanity filters, experienced moderators and the latest MySafeTXT technology to detect any unusual behaviour or unwelcome visitors. Beady-eyed members can also help patrol by reporting anything they are not happy with, which an experienced moderator will review quickly, efficiently and fairly. By charging a small subscription fee (£2 per month) gyggl is able to add yet another layer of security and a “grownups” account ensures that concerned parents/guardians can also keep an eye on things.
gyggl’s future is as bright, exciting and unpredictable as the young kids directing it. Join the fun at gyggl.com to see the beginnings of something great.
About UKFast
Hosting and colocation firm UKFast connects businesses with their customers and soldiers with their families, and works behind the scenes to keep the UK running smoothly. By building custom-designed data centres, filling them with cutting-edge technology and connecting them to the internet at superfast speeds, UKFast keeps the check-in desks at some of the UK’s busiest airports running; keeps freight trucks on the road and ensures NHS paramedics and nurses get the training they need.
Among its many accolades the £23 million + turnover firm has been named Service provider of the Year at the Data Centre Solutions awards and Employer of the Year at the National Business Awards.
The development of four fully-owned data centres – MaNOC 4, 5, 6 and 7 – has seen UKFast improve connectivity in the North West and bring much-needed competition to the market. Further investment in the region includes the £3.2m acquisition of a new HQ, UKFast Campus. UKFast has committed £4.5m to training and runs a graduate programme, apprenticeship scheme and has a dedicated team of former teachers to lead the training mission – equipping young people across the region with the digital skills that the industry so desperately needs.
UKFast has more than 500,000 web domains on its network and more than 5,000 clients across all industries. Clients include RNLI, British Cycling and the English National Opera. The company recently launched its ground-breaking eCloud hosting solution, the UK’s first privately-owned true elastic cloud, designed by in-house solutions architects. eCloud enables businesses of all sizes to access the best of breed, enterprise-level technology without the enterprise-level price tag. As well as cloud and dedicated hosting, UKFast also offers colocation services in its PCI compliant, carbon neutral data centres.
