Today is Safer Internet Day around the world, and I’m really excited to be kicking it off in Canberra with eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant. This year’s theme is ‘Together for a better internet… start the chat’ and we want to make sure you’re chatting safely on Nextdoor.
Nextdoor is a platform built on trust, and we keep your safety in mind with everything we do. This is why we require members to use their real name and a verified address, so that you can trust that your Nextdoor neighbourhood is made up of real people at real addresses, not bots or people in another country. This creates the trust and accountability that cultivates kindness online, and then into the real world.
Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said that collaboration is key when it comes to building the digital future we want to see, “Safer Internet Day is a wonderful opportunity for industry to encourage positive behaviours on their platforms. We’re aiming to make every day a Safer Internet Day and to help spread critical online safety skills to all Australians.”
Our aim is to cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighbourhood to rely on. In order to do that, we encourage positivity across Nextdoor. For example, with our Kindness Reminder, if a member replies to a neighbour’s post with a potentially offensive or hurtful comment, they’ll be prompted with a chance to reference our Community Guidelines, reconsider and edit their reply, or ultimately refrain from posting. Early test results showed that 50% of people’s response changed when prompted by the Kindness Reminder.
At Nextdoor we prioritise Safety and have a dedicated help page designed to give members tips about how to stay safe online. You’ll find information about how to avoid fraud, phishing, and spam, guidelines for our For Sale & Free section, and more.
Our Head of Product Tatyana Mamut, says, “Nextdoor is a healthy tech platform because our neighbours are constantly looking out for one another. We think of online safety as a helpful neighbourhood watch, where we are all responsible for making sure that the online world is safe for ourselves and others. We believe we can build stronger communities together – both online and offline – by being aware of and reporting misinformation or bad behaviour.”
Our 3 Top Tips if You Encounter Suspicious Activity On Nextdoor
Report spam and suspicious posts to neighbourhood Leads. If you see content in the news feed that looks like spam or fraud, report the content. This will notify Nextdoor Leads in your area, who will review to determine if it violates the Community Guidelines, and vote to remove it.
Report members to Nextdoor. After reporting spam or fraudulent posts to Leads, you should also report the author directly to Nextdoor. When submitting your report, select “Abusive” as the report reason. It’s also helpful to reference example posts/comments and explain why they are malicious if it is not immediately obvious.
Report fraud to law enforcement. If you were defrauded by someone you met in person, contact your local police department. Nextdoor is not able to investigate interactions that have occurred outside of the platform. If the incident was perpetrated by a business or service provider on Nextdoor, see our guidelines on posting a bad business review.
We also have a dedicated Trust and Safety team to ensure that:
- Private neighbourhood conversations are not indexed in search engines.
- Your Nextdoor neighbourhood is protected by password and encrypted by HTTPS.
- We do not share your name, address, or email address with agencies
- We’re committed to the privacy standards established by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Australia’s Privacy Act and Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
Our Journey in creating a platform of safety and kindness is an ongoing one, and today we are proud to join the conversation with like minds across the globe, who are working “Together for a better internet“.
For more information about member privacy and safety you can view our Member Agreement, Privacy Policy, or help article.
