Hotline Operations Manual
Introduction
What is SafenetCY?
SafenetCY is the Cyberethics Safer Internet Hotline through which illegal or disturbing content can be reported. The hotline operates island-wide (serving also Turkish-Cypriots and other minorities) and focuses on reports of child sexual abuse images and racism/xenophobia. The project engages actors from the government and civil society, therefore contributing towards the eradication of cyber crime in more than one sector. The hotline offers the opportunity to all people to report through the various different reporting methods that it entails (i.e. telephone, email and website).
What are the specific Objectives for the Hotline?
- Operate an island-wide hotline for Internet users in Cyprus to report illegal and harmful material and activities, so as to reduce the circulation of illegal content on the Internet.
- Inform users of the hotline’s scope of activity and how to contact it; clarify to the users the difference between the hotline’s activities and those of public authorities, and inform them of the existence of alternative ways of reporting illegal content.
- Establish, if necessary, and operate a hotline to receive information from the public relating to illegal
- Content which will act as a national alert platform or as an alert platform common to several Member States;
- Draw up a manual of procedures in cooperation with law enforcement authorities and in accordance with best practice guidelines;
- Deal rapidly with complaints received;
- Where permitted under national law and the manual of procedures, undertake a preliminary assessment of the legality of the content reported and trace its origin;
- Forward the report to the appropriate body for action (police, ISP, correspondent hotline);
- Conduct systematic notice to the host service provider of content assessed as illegal child abuse material, unless the police have requested the hotline not to do so;
- Participate actively in networking with other local stakeholders;
- Take part in cross-border discussions and exchange of best practice with other co-funded hotlines and with other stakeholders as part of the network.
- Contribute to the European URL database once set up by the network coordinator.
GENERAL PROCEDURES
The person who wants to report illegal content on the Internet that s/he came across may choose one of the following ways to submit a report. Online reports are preferable since they are accepted automatically. A guidelines section is given in the SafenetCY website in order to provide a complete set of information, about the reporting procedure.
- Online: Filling in the online reporting form.
- Telephone: 22674747
- Email: Reporting by sending us an email with your report to the following email address: reports@cyberethics.info
In order to make the processing of any report as effective as possible the Hotline requires to be provided with specific information on the location and type of illegal content that the person who wants to make the report encountered.
For each different type of report it is required to provide SafenetCY Hotline with the corresponding information:
- Website: Website address (URL), type of content, a free text description of the content.
- Newsgroup: Name of newsgroup, message ID, message sender, message subject, date of the message, type of message content, a free text description of the content.
- Peer-to-peer: File link, Server link, date that came across with the content, type of content, a free text description of the content.
Any actions taken by SafenetCY are within the limits that are determined by the Cyprus Law. Illegal content is also considered any content that is defined illegal by the Cyprus Law.
ANONYMITY POLICY
Anonymity
Persons filling reports have the option to choose to remain anonymous by not providing any contact information. Making an online report does not automatically imply that they lose their anonymity. The Hotline registers only information that the person making the report enters to the Hotline’s online form. The Hotline does not register any other information, not even the IP address of the machine used to submit the report.
Contact Information
In the case where the person making the report wishes to be notified about the outcome of their report, they should provide sufficient contact information. The minimal information includes: First Name, last Name, and email.
REPORTING PROCEDURES
Chart Flow
Reporting Procedure
Receiving a report: The person that wants make a report of an illegal content has to fill the relevant form depending on the source that contains the illegal content.
1. Website:
If the source is a website (URL) then in the relevant form must be reported:
| Information | Field |
|---|---|
| The URL of the website | Necessary Field |
| The type of the content i.e. Child pornography, Racism/Xenophobia | Necessary Field |
| The Date that the person came across with the illegal content | Optional Field |
| Some comments or description on the content that is reported | Optional Field |
| Personal details | Optional Field |
2. Newsgroup:
If the source is a newsgroup then in the relevant form must be reported:
| Information | Field |
|---|---|
| The name of the Newsgroup | Necessary Field |
| The Message ID | Necessary Field |
| The type of the message content i.e. Child pornography, Racism/Xenophobia | Necessary Field |
| The message sender | Optional Field |
| The message subject | Optional Field |
| Date of the message | Optional Field |
| Some comments or description on the content that is reported | Optional Field |
| Personal details | Optional Field |
3. Peer-to-peer:
If the source refers at a P2P then in the relevant form must be reported:
| Information | Field |
|---|---|
| file|… | Necessary Field |
| The type of the message content i.e. Child pornography, Racism/Xenophobia | Necessary Field |
| server|… | Optional Field |
| Date that the person came across with the illegal content | Optional Field |
| Some comments or description on the content that is reported | Optional Field |
| Personal details | Optional Field |
Indoor investigation and Procedures made by SafenetCY:
Every report is recorded at SafenetCY’s Database. From that point every procedure has to be processed no later than 24 hours from the time the report was made. The following steps are made by SafenetCY:
1. Verification: Due to changes in our rules and regulations, the hotline no longer accesses the content that is reported. Instead, it follows directly to tracing the content.
2. Tracing the source: An attempt is made, using technical means, to trace the country where the reported content originates.
3. Cyprus Police notification: SafenetCY forwards reports that are hosted in Cyprus to the Cyprus Police, irrespective of their legal or illegal status.
4. Reports forwarded to Helpline: If the reporting source originates in Cyprus and the form of the report could hurt an involved child then the helpline will take the appropriate actions to support the child.
5. Foreign hotline notification: If the reported content originates from abroad, the report is forwarded to a hotline in the country of origin (if one exists) through the IHRMS (URL database) system established by INHOPE.
6. Feedback: If the user that made the report wishes feedback for the outcome of his/her report, then SafenetCY informs him/her of the actions taken based on his/her report.
7. Database update: SafenetCY informs its database for the outcomes of the illegal report as received by the Local Authorities.
8. Inform Safer Internet Center: If the content does not have to do with anything illegal, but still needs national attention the Awareness Node is informed about the possible threats.
Note that no information is given about the report, but only about the existence of the specific “threat” on the Internet.
Actions taken by the Cyprus Police:
The Cyprus Police Department runs a specific unit (Cyber Crime Unit) in order to deal with the situation of illegal content on the Internet. After SafenetCY notifies the Police about the report hosted in Cyprus, the Police will make the following steps:
1. Determine whether the content is illegal or not illegal.
2. If the content is illegal then the Cyprus Police makes any necessary actions to deal with the situation and informs the hotline of the outcomes.
3. If the content is not illegal then the Cyprus Police notifies the hotline mentioning what the content was referring to in order for the hotline to register it on its database and/or notify where necessary the Safer Internet Center.
