Digital safeguarding procedure

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Check out our social media community guidelines page, where you can find out how we manage our official Girlguiding social media accounts.

Safeguarding online

What do I need to do?

You need to follow the same safeguarding principles as you would normally. Just because an allegation, concern or disclosure is about something online doesn’t mean it’s any less serious or important. If you’re not sure whether something is a concern, it’s always better to report it.

You can find out what to include in a report to our HQ safeguarding team and how we manage safeguarding allegations, concerns and disclosures in our safeguarding policy and procedure. 

What’s the difference between safeguarding and digital safeguarding?

Digital safeguarding covers any type of safeguarding concern which happens online or involves technology. Most types of abuse or harm can happen online or in-person, like bullying and grooming. Other types of harm primarily take place online, like sexting or the pressure or coercion to share sexual images.

You can find out more about different types of online harm and abuse on the NSPCC website.

We don’t expect you to be an expert in different types of online harm. And you don’t have to be certain about a concern before you get in touch with our HQ safeguarding team.

Digital safeguarding also means thinking about the information you’re sharing online about yourself and others. Be aware of online scams and make sure you know who can see what you’re sharing or doing online.

When sharing or collecting personal data about young members, make sure only parents and carers can see it. You might also want to think about whether your messages are encrypted, especially when sharing something like bank details. Encryption makes messages more secure and less likely someone can get access to the information who shouldn’t. WhatsApp and Facebook messenger use encryption, but Facebook groups don’t.

Check our managing information policy and procedure to make sure you know how to share personal data safely.

Communicating with young members online

Digital communication with groups of young members is allowed, as long as you follow certain rules.

• Avoid messaging 1-to-1 with young members, unless it’s an emergency. You can find more guidance on this below.
• Make sure you’re using an age-appropriate platform. Check the terms and conditions of the platform if you’re not certain.
• Follow our safeguarding policy.
• Follow the specific rules for each age group below.

Communicating with young members in an emergency

You must avoid communicating 1-to-1 with young members online, including during virtual meetings, but there may be times when a young member contacts you privately and you need to reply.

If they’ve contacted you on social media, by email, or by text you should always reply to let them know you’ve received their message. But copy someone else into your reply and explain that private contact is not allowed between volunteers and young members. If it’s not possible to include someone else in your response, use a different contact method instead.

If a young member phones you, answer the phone to find out why they’re calling. It could be an emergency so it’s important not to ignore the call. If they just wanted to let you know they’re running late, thank them for letting you know and end the call. If they want to have a longer conversation about something, rearrange the call so another volunteer can also take part. Or arrange to meet in person with another volunteer after a unit meeting.

In an emergency it’s more important to respond to this than to avoid 1-to-1 contact.

After any 1-to-1 communication with a young member, you must let another volunteer know what happened straightaway. If you can, it’s a good idea to download or screenshot an online conversation and share this as well.

If a young member repeatedly contacts volunteers privately you may need to raise this with their parent or carer. You must also let your commissioner know. If you have any safeguarding concerns about the young member, follow our safeguarding procedure and contact our HQ safeguarding team.

Social media and young members

You mustn’t add young members under 18 or allow them to follow you on your personal social media accounts, unless you already know them outside of Girlguiding.

If you want to use social media to communicate with young members you could either use a Girlguiding specific account instead of your personal one, or use a platform which allows group messaging without needing to follow each other, like a Facebook group or Instagram group chat.

If a young member tries to add or follow you on your personal social media account, let them know you’re not allowed to accept their request. You could speak to them in person at a unit meeting to let them know. Or send them a message with another volunteer copied in. 

If they keep trying to add or follow you, you may need to raise this with their parent or carer. Speak to your commissioner for advice if you’re not sure how to handle this conversation. If you have any safeguarding concerns about the young member, follow our safeguarding procedure and contact our HQ safeguarding team.

Digital devices in your unit meetings and at events

If you’re using devices as part of your in-person unit meetings or at events, make sure young members won’t be able to view anything illegal or inappropriate.

• Supervise young members in an age-appropriate way when they’re online.
• Use safety and security settings, like parental controls, when setting up. These will help protect children from inappropriate content online. You can find guides for setting up parental controls on lots of different devices on the internet matters website.

You might not always want girls to use their phones and devices during meetings or other activities. It can help manage your unit and give girls a fuller experience if you limit when and where they use them. Talk with your young members about:

• What your guidelines on using mobiles should be. They’ll probably be different for unit meetings, compared to camps and other events, and can be agreed at unit level.
• Keeping any devices they bring with them safe and secure.
• Using their phones or other devices appropriately and responsibly. Make sure they know to ask permission from their friends before taking or sharing photos or videos.
• Young leaders and other young volunteers needing to follow the same rules as adult volunteers. They must only take or share images if photo permissions on GO allow this, and must follow our procedure on taking and sharing photos and videos.
• Using social media responsibly and safely, within the community guidelines and terms and conditions of the platform. Remember to talk about any age restrictions too.

Virtual meetings

What do I need to do to keep everyone safe?

All the things you do in your unit to keep girls safe still apply when we guide online:

• You must have at least 2 adults present throughout the call.
• At least 1 adult volunteer must have completed, or be working towards, the becoming a leader section of the leader development programme, or have completed the leadership qualification.
• At least 1 leader (including assistant leaders and leaders-in-training) must have an up-to-date a safe space level 3.
• Adult volunteers in roles that require them must have a current valid Girlguiding disclosure check.
• Any volunteer who doesn't need a disclosure check for their role, or hasn’t completed one yet, must be supervised by someone with a current valid disclosure check.
• Avoid 1-to-1 contact online between volunteers and young members.

You also need to complete a virtual meeting checklist and risk assessment (PDF) before running online meetings.

Get parent or carer permission

Online or virtual guiding is different to a regular unit meeting, so you’ll need to get written permission from parents or carers for girls to join in.

• Download the virtual meeting parent/carer consent form (PDF)
• Download the virtual meeting parent/carer consent form (Word)

These forms can cover multiple online meetings - you don't need a signed form for each meeting.

They’ve been designed to be filled out remotely, so you don't need to meet with parents or carers for their signatures and they can email the completed forms back to you. All the instructions are included on the forms.

Always contact parents and carers to talk through your plans for online meetings. Explain how you’ll be meeting, how often and what they need to do to support their child’s guiding experience.

If a girl doesn’t meet the age requirements for the platform you want to use, they can join using an account set up by their parent or carer. The parent or carer should stay nearby during the meeting, so they can ask for help if they need it. As the account holder, the parent or carer should also be the one to log into the meeting and out again at the end.

Running safe meetings online

There’s lots to think about when it comes to virtual or online meetings.

When planning or setting up the meetings:

• Decide on a platform that will work best for you and your unit. Check the terms and conditions, including age requirements, as many are changing their features regularly.
• Set up your account so that each meeting has a unique passcode, and attendees are put into a virtual waiting room before joining.
• Follow our guidance on visitors joining your meetings. This applies online as well as in-person.
• Make sure the room you’re in is suitable for young members to see.
• If you’re joining a virtual meeting from home and have other people around, make sure they’re dressed appropriately and know how to behave when you’re talking to young members.

You’ll need to let young members and their parents or carers know:

• Young members should try to avoid making calls from their bedrooms. If they can’t avoid it, then suggest they blur the background, use a virtual background, or only show a plain background in their room.
• Young members under 14 need to have a parent or carer with them when they join a video chat. Their parent or carer can stay nearby in the same room or can stay present during the meeting. Young members over 14 should have an adult nearby so that they can ask for help if they need it.
• If a young member doesn’t want to have their camera on for the meeting, ask that they turn their camera on at the start and the end of the meeting. This is so you can make sure that their parent or carer is aware and is staying in the same room or nearby so that they can ask for help if they need it.

Before you get started you should also work with the girls in your unit to decide on some rules. For example, treating each other with respect and making sure everyone has a chance to speak. Ask them to think about how they can join in the conversation without interrupting each other. Could they do a hand signal or raise their hand virtually if they have something to say, or hold up a sign with their name on?

Some platforms allow direct messaging or group chats. Make sure your unit knows to behave kindly to each other. Explain how they can raise any worries with a leader. You might be able to turn off some features – make sure you let the girls know which are available.

Using social media

Social media is a great tool for keeping in touch with other members, welcoming new volunteers, and letting people know about all the great stuff we do at Girlguiding.

We want our presence on social media to reflect our values. So when interacting with our official social media accounts you need to follow our community guidelines.

You can find our rules on communicating with young members on social media above.

Setting up Girlguiding social media pages or accounts

If you’re setting up a social media page or account which represents, or is associated with any part of Girlguiding, you need to follow some basic principles to make sure you’re being a great ambassador for Girlguiding:

• Report any safeguarding concerns in line with our safeguarding policy.
• Keep everyone’s data safe by following our managing information policy, and ensure Girlguiding is a welcoming place for all by following our equality and diversity policy.
• Follow the platform’s community guidelines and terms and conditions, including on age restrictions.
• Check our guidance on how to use our brand.
• Include a short description of what the account is for and who it represents. For example, ‘This is the X account for the Narnia district where you can hear all about the fun we have! The views expressed here are those of the Narnia district team’.
• Make sure you use the most appropriate privacy settings for the account. For example, if you want to promote guiding opportunities in the area, you’ll want to make sure members of the public can see the page. But if you use it to keep parents and carers up to date on unit meeting activities and events, you’ll need to make sure the group is private.
• If you use social media to discuss any personal information about a young member, make sure to do so in a private communication with the parent or carer registered on GO.

Running social media accounts

There’s lots to think about when it comes to running social media accounts day to day.

Talk with your unit or area team and decide:

• Who will have access to the account, and what level of access will they have? You should make sure more than one person has full moderator access in case something goes wrong, and so that you can share responsibility and support each other.
• Who will post, and what will you post about? Are there any emotive topics you’ll avoid? Content must always be relevant to Girlguiding, and in keeping with our values.
• Will you use social media to engage in anything political? If there’s an election coming up, you’ll need to take extra care as there are regulations about campaigning and political activities by charities. You can find out more in our general election guidance.
• How often will you post, or check the account for comments and messages?
• Who will delete posts, and when?
• How will you deal with comments from other users? Have a look at our social media community guidelines for interacting with the official Girlguiding social media. You might want to follow the same guidelines or make your own.

Sharing photos and videos on social media

Sharing photos, videos and other images on your guiding social media is a great way to show what Girlguiding is all about. You can out more about our photo and video style in our brand guidelines. But always check you have the right permissions before posting. Parents and carers decide permissions when they complete the join us form and the new starter form.

• You can only share images of young members with unit-only permission in closed groups for parents and carers.
• If a young member has marketing permission, you can share their images on public-facing social media.
• If there’s more than one young member in a photo, you need to follow the more restrictive permissions. For example, if one young member in the group photo has given unit-only permission for photos and videos, the photo can’t be shared outside the unit even if the other young members’ photo permissions allow this.
• Our photo permission options don’t cover sharing images on volunteers’ personal social media. This means you mustn’t post images of young members taken in your volunteering role on your personal Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), or other social media.

Find out more about handling photos and videos, including taking photos and videos at events, and how to store them safely.

Your personal social media

As a volunteer, you must follow our code of conduct. So be aware of what you say and how you say it when you’re online. Think about whether your posts and comments are appropriate, and in keeping with our values and expectations.

If you're clearly seen to be part of Girlguiding on your social media (for example, tagging @Girlguiding in your profile or are in uniform in your profile image), you must avoid posting party political messages during any election period.

Our photo permission options don’t include sharing images or videos on personal social media. This means you mustn’t post images or videos of young members taken in your volunteering role on your personal social media. 

You mustn’t knowingly add or follow young members under 18 or allow them to follow you on your personal social media accounts, unless you already know them outside of Girlguiding. You can decide whether to add or follow adult volunteers or parents or carers on your personal accounts.

And remember that anything you post on social media can easily be shared, even if your account is set to private.

If your behaviour online isn’t appropriate, we may look at it under our managing concerns about adult volunteers policy.

Responding to online incidents

If something goes wrong online or involving social media, escalate any issues to your commissioner as soon as possible. They can help you decide on the most appropriate action to take. This might involve deleting posts or comments, reporting behaviour to the social media platform, or reporting a concern to our HQ safeguarding team or HQ complaints and compliance team.

Some possible issues you might face include:

• Complaints and criticism. How would you normally handle this offline? Can you do it in the same way? Don’t forget, you can pass complaints on to your commissioner or direct people to our HQ complaints and compliance team.
• Abusive messages. Sending abusive messages online is unacceptable behaviour, and receiving these messages can be distressing and overwhelming. If anyone involved in Girlguiding is sending abusive messages, get in touch with your commissioner or our HQ complaints and compliance team. Consider blocking the person sending the messages or asking another volunteer to look after the account temporarily.
• Hacking. Do you have another way to contact people to let them know if someone has hacked into your account? You don’t want anyone to click on a link that downloads a virus, pay money, or share personal information with a stranger.
• Fake accounts or impersonation. Do you have a way to check that the person is who they say they are? Could you check with a parent or carer in another way before you add them to a private group?

After an incident, you should talk to your unit team, local commissioner, or area team about whether the steps you took were the right ones. Would you do anything differently if it happens again?

What do I do if…

I have a concern about a young member’s or volunteer’s behaviour, or what they may have been exposed to online?

If you have any concerns, contact our HQ safeguarding team for advice and support. You don’t have to be sure about the concern or think it’s serious to get in touch.

If a volunteer’s behaviour online isn’t in line with our code of conduct, this may impact on their membership. Depending on the concern, our HQ safeguarding team or complaints and compliance team may look into it.

A volunteer’s posts on social media make me concerned about their safety or wellbeing.

If you know the volunteer personally you might feel comfortable sending them a message to make sure they’re okay or to offer your support. If you’re not comfortable doing this or it isn’t appropriate, you should contact their commissioner to raise your concerns. Or you can get in touch with our HQ safeguarding team.

If you think they may be at an immediate risk of harm, contact the emergency services. And then let our HQ safeguarding team know you’ve done this. Read more about how and when to report concerns in our safeguarding procedure.

If you don’t know the volunteer personally, you should contact our HQ safeguarding team to report your concerns. It may help us to identify them if you can send a screenshot of the social media posts and as much information about the volunteer as possible. 

A volunteer contacts me privately and I’m worried about their safety or wellbeing.

Respond to the volunteer, even if you’re not sure what to say. It’s important they don’t feel ignored or alone. If it’s appropriate, ask if you can speak to their commissioner or the HQ safeguarding team on their behalf.  

If you believe they may be at an immediate risk of harm, contact the emergency services. And then let our HQ safeguarding team know you’ve done this. Read more about how and when to report concerns in our safeguarding procedure.

I’m a young member with a concern about myself or someone else.

Speak to an adult you trust if you can. This could be your parent or carer, teacher or your Girlguiding leader. They can help you find the right information and support. You can also email [email protected] directly for advice. But please copy in another trusted adult, like your parent or carer, or your Girlguiding leader.

If you don’t feel able to talk to anyone you know about your concern, you can contact a specialist organisation, like Childline. They may be able to support you or give you the information you’re looking for. You can find more organisations on our support organisations page.

A young member shares that someone has posted photos of them online.

Follow our safeguarding advice on handling disclosures. And contact our HQ safeguarding team to report the concern. 

I have a concern about someone being bullied online.

It’s important to take concerns about bullying seriously, whether the behaviour is taking place in person or online. Our anti-bullying and harassment procedure explains how you should respond to different types of bullying.

I may have caused or seen a data breach or other data protection issue online.

Follow our managing information procedure on reporting a data breach. Or contact our data protection team for advice.

A young member I have an existing relationship with outside of Girlguiding follows me on social media.

If you already have a relationship with a young member outside of Girlguiding, for example a niece, granddaughter or family friend, we don’t expect you to stop following each other on social media. But it’s still a good idea to check the age restrictions for the platform, and for their parent or carer to know you’re connected on social media. You must not allow other young members to add or follow you on social media.

Change log

October 2024 – New version published.

April 2024 – Removed WhatsApp from example of platforms not to be used by under 16s due to a change in WhatsApp’s terms and conditions.