Parents are being urged to keep a closer watch on their children’s internet access after new research showed most were “completely oblivious” to the online activity of their sons and daughters.

A new study has revealed that one in five young people had met up with someone they first encountered on the internet. While only 7% of the 500 parents surveyed  said they were aware that their children were contacting people online, and then meeting them. The survey was conducted by Garlik, a provider of online information  protection services.

Meeting ‘internet friends’ is never a good idea. Without physical information - seeing the person you are talking to, or hearing their voice, positive identification is extremely difficult. Therefore, we need to empower young people with the knowledge, skills and tools to protect themselves online, in the same way we would in the real world. NetIDme provides an age and identity verification service for online communities that want to ensure their members ‘are who they say they are’.

The NetIDme launch campaign has scooped a top european PR award, with PR partner, Weber Shandwick. The firm has won the pretigious SABRE award (Superior Achievement in Branding & Reputation) in the product media relations category. The award ceremony took place on 24th May at the Maritime Museum in Barcelona.

Alex Hewitt, chief executive and founder of NetIDme commented on the win: “Obviously with a new product it was vitally important that we got the PR right from the start.  What we achieved was a real boost to the product and the business.  Making an impact in countries like Canada, Australia, UK and USA is a superb achievement that has allowed us to develop the business and attract potential investment on a worldwide scale.”

Press Release

Age and identity verification for the online world.
All websites that offer an online meeting space or age dependent content are increasingly facing regulatory and political pressure to implement age, or identity verification. In particular, concern over the safety of children online has exposed the need for more effective ways to authenticate people, and regulate access to particular websites.

NetID Authenticate is a secure age & identity verification solution for online services such as; social networking, online dating, and eCommerce. NetID Authenticate is the only identification service that provides a solution for identifying both adults and minors. The service validates user data by confirming information such as age, gender, name, and location against secure data sources. Its fast, reliable, and extremely simple to implement.

Business Benefits
Quickly confirm users’ age or identity during sign-up, or login.
Facilitates responsible community growth, and reputation protection.
Uses web services, therefore no hardware, or compatibility concerns.
Easily integrates into existing architecture, minimal IT requirements.
Provides a cost-effective age and identity verification solution.

User Benefits
Verification requires explicit user consent.
Consumer privacy is respected, personal details remain secure.
Personal data is not transferred, only a match code is provided.Data Protection and Privacy
Privacy and the protection of personal information is a high priority.
Data is never collected, stored, sold, or shared for marketing purposes.
Results are based on information from secure, trusted data sources.