Safer Internet

The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), the General Directorate for Curriculum Innovation and Development (DGIDC), FCCN – Foundation for National Scientific Computing and Microsoft Portugal submitted the project proposal “Internet Segura” (Safe Internet) to the European Safer Internet Plus Program, to promote and raise the public awareness of safe Internet use with a project called Safer Internet. The consortium, coordinated by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), was created to expand the action begun by the DGIDC in schools and the educational community through the project “SeguraNet” within the initial European Safer Internet Program, extending the awareness-raising schemes and promoting safer Internet use while preserving privacy in other sectors of society and creating a hotline to receive communications about alleged illegal content sites.

After his contract was signed between the European Commission and the consortium in June 2007 there was a Public Presentation of the “Internet Segura” Project on July 5, 2007, which included the presentation of the “Internet Segura” Portal (site in Portuguese) which provides information on safe use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies for the general public in easy to understand language, and the presentation of the hotline website “Linha Alerta” (site in Portuguese).

Once a communication about a presumed illegal content in the Internet is received by the “Linha Alerta” hotline, it is evaluated by a technical team and in case it the possibility of illegal content such as child pornography, incitement to violence or xenophobia is confirmed, the “Linha Alerta” team sends a report to criminal investigation authorities in Portugal if the contents seem to be hosted in Portugal or to the Inhope hotlines network if the contents seem to be hosted abroad, and, whenever appropriate, it also sends requests of removal to the Portuguese ISPs with whom it has collaboration agreements, namely: PTC (Sapo), Sonaecom (Optimus), Cabovisão ReferTelecom, Claranet and ONI Telecom, Zon and Vodafone.

The “Internet Segura” project has regular activities throughout each year and also promotes and supports specific campaigns at certain times, as was the case of the campaigns organized in connection with the European Safer Internet Day 2007, on the 6th of February, the European Safer Internet Day 2008, on the 12th of February, the European Safer Internet Day 2009, on the 10th of February, the World Day of Telecommunications and Information Society Day 2009, on the 17th of May (see Benefiting from the Internet Safely: actions promoted by UMIC throughout the country), the European Safer Internet Day 2010, on the 9th of February, the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2010, on 17th of May, the Initiative "Navega(s) em Segurança" (Surf Safely the Web) of the FDTI – Foundations for the Dissemination of Information Technologies, mid-August to November 2010, the European Safer Internet Day 2011 (text in Portuguese), on the 8th of February. These campaigns have been extended to a week or two, mobilizing very active networks and other partnerships the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC)coordinates, especially the Internet Spaces Network (site in Portuguese), the Solidarity Network (site in Portuguese) and the “Internet Segura” (Safe Internet) consortium.

In 2011 the European Commission approved a second phase of the “Internet Segura” (Safe Internet). In this second phase, the consortium is enlarged from the beginning of 2011 with FDTI – Foundations for the Dissemination of Information Technologies, responsible for creating and operating the project Helpline “Linha Ajuda” (site in Portuguese) which was launched in the 1st of June 2011.