BE SAFE ONLINE: Helpful Tips From TELUS WISE

Currently, there are over 6.8 billion wireless phone subscribers worldwide. By 2014 it is estimated that the number of wireless subscribers will surpass the current global population of 7.1 billion. In Canada, 99% of the population has access to wireless service and 82% of the population has internet access.

According to mediabistro.com as of July 2013 every 60 seconds of every day 278000 tweets are sent on Twitter, 1.8 million Likes are generated on Facebook and $83000 sales are made on Amazon. In Canada, an average of 254 million text messages are sent a day and 19 million Canadians are logging onto Facebook at least once a month.

Canada has the 9th highest rate of bullying in the 13 year old category on a scale of 35 countries and 1 in 3 adolescent students have reported being bullied. 73% of the victims have reported that the most common form of cyber bullying are receiving threatening or aggressive emails or instant messages. 

Over the pass 11 years, Cybertip.ca has received 94000 reports from the public that has led to over 125 known arrests and 62 children were removed from abusive environments. 

86% of internet users have taken the needed online steps to remove and mask themselves from digital footprints. 55% of internet users have taken necessary steps to avoid observation by people, organizations and governments.

TELUS WISE (Wise Internet and Smartphone Education) is a unique program that is available for Canadians for free. TELUS WISE offers seminars and online resources to help us stay safe online from cyber bullying, exploitation and fraud. The seminars are led for groups or one-on-one by specially trained TELUS team members at 200 convenient locations across the country; we can also have group seminars at our own convenient places. TELUS WISE and TELUS WISE footprint are developed in partnership with accredited organizations like MediaSmarts and Bullying.org. 

Here are six TELUS WISE cyber security tips that will help us protect our family.

1. Be careful about sharing personal information and how or where you share it online. 

2. Do not respond to phone calls or emails that request personal or financial information.

3. When using public Wi-Fi networks make sure to have the security turned on.

4. When shopping online or sharing sensitive information ensure the url starts with https vs http or has a lock image in the browser.

5. Accept software upgrades from your smartphone, computer or software provider since there are important security patches that will protect our devices from viruses.

6. Ensure the permission and privacy settings on social media like Facebook are set to what you want them to be when you sign up and remember to check privacy and permission settings on a regular basis.

Anything we post, tweet or text leaves a trail that cannot be erased. These TELUS WISE footprint tips will help our kids be safe.

1. Treat your password like your toothbrush and don't share it and change it often.

2. Don't post or say anything online that you don't want your grandmother to see. Everything you say and do online matters.

3. Think carefully about how you want people to see you before picking a name or profile picture or avatar.

4. Never share personal information.

5. When you send a picture or post online, people can do anything they want so it is important to think about it before sending.

6. Don't share stuff that makes other people look bad.

7. If someone says or does something bad online, don't try to argue with them just stop talking to them by blocking them. Save evidence and talk to your parents or adults you trust. 

To get our children to share their passwords, MediaSmarts suggests that the passwords can be written with dates and placed in a sealed piggybank so the family agrees to use it only incase of an emergency. Access other resources on this important topic on telus.com/wise

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