There are 3 organisations that help you report your image using Report Remove. These are Childline, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and also Yoti if you are 13 or older. All of them have a responsibility to keep all of your personal information safe.
1. We’ll ask you to choose your age range (under 13, 13-15, 16-17, 18 and over). If you’re under 13, you’ll go straight to step 3. If you’re aged 13 or older, us at Childline will ask you to visit Yoti. The only information we will share with Yoti is that you are wanting to prove your age to use Report Remove.
2. Once you prove your age using Yoti, you will come back to Report Remove on Childline. The only information Yoti will share with Childline is confirmation that you’re younger or older than 18.
3. We’ll then ask you to create or sign in to a Childline account. Then you’ll go to the IWF website to share the content you want removed. Childline will only share the information below with IWF:
- that you’re younger than 18,
- the age range you selected at the start,
- a unique number that is created when you use Report Remove.
4. After your report has been passed to the IWF, they will tell Childline if they were able to take the images or video down from the internet, and why. This is so Childline can let you know what happened.
Information you give to Childline
Any information you give Childline will always be treated carefully and in line with our Privacy Policy. This means that any information you give us as part of Report Remove will only be used to help the IWF review your report and to keep you safe. This will include the age range that you select and a unique number that’s created when you go onto the IWF website. We will not share any of your information with Yoti.
Information you give to IWF
The only information you will give to the IWF are the images, videos or URLs you report. There is space to add information such as where the image or video is on a webpage.
They will process this in line with their privacy policy.
Nude images and videos that IWF decide are illegal may be kept by the IWF for up to 2 years. This is because there is an agreement with the Police and CPS (Crime Prosecution Service), called a ‘Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Illegal images are given a hash (a string of numbers that are like a digital fingerprint). The hash is shared with organisations such as technology companies who host online content, so that they can look for the image and take it down. The actual image is not shared with these companies. The image and the hash are shared with the police who store it on their Child Abuse Image Database. Any images or videos that they decide are not illegal may be kept for a maximum of 6 months for quality checking and any follow up questions. They will then be deleted.
Childline will never see what pictures, videos or URLs you share with the IWF. The only information the IWF shares with Childline apart from your case number is whether or not they could take down your images or videos, and why, so we can let you know.
Information you give to Yoti
You may need to use Yoti to confirm your age if you’re over 13. This may involve taking a selfie, so Yoti know it is you who are proving your age, and uploading a picture of some ID. Any personal data you send Yoti - like your photo, date of birth or address - is scrambled with a high level of encryption so that even if it was stolen, no one could use it to identify you. The only information Yoti shares with Childline is confirmation that you’re under or over 18.
You can see Yoti’s privacy policy here, and more information about their age portal here, which is what is used in Report Remove to prove your age.
If you’re using the Yoti app, Yoti may use the selfie, month and year of birth you add to the Yoti app to improve its age estimation technology. You can opt out from this in the More> My Data> Biometric consent menu of the app.