Stardoll & the Police

We at Stardoll together with the local police force believe in the safety and security of our users not only on the Stardoll website, but on the internet in general.

On this page we aim to provide information on some of the offences committed on the internet as well as simple tips on what to keep an eye out for. It is worth noting that whilst these crimes are extremely rare on Stardoll, knowledge on them is helpful in helping ensuring any minor altercation or event doesn’t escalate into something a lot more serious.

Below are some common examples of IT related crimes and offenses.

Scenario 1 – Bullying & Harassment

At Stardoll we frown upon any form of bullying or persecution that takes place on the site and respond to such incidents with a hardline approach.

The use of any derogatory terms to describe another person’s ethnic identity is regarded as a hate crime and can result in a prison sentence of up to two years. Not many are aware of this. At Stardoll we do not condone bullying or harassment of any type with each act resulting in the deletion of your account and in some cases the authorities contacted.

Scenario 2 - Hacking

A person gains access to someone else's email. He or she uses the account to send an email where the recipient believes it is from the rightful account holder. This is called hacking and can result in a fine or imprisoned for up to two years. Unfortunately, many young people do not realize the importance of not disclosing their personal account details for services such as Hotmail or Yahoo Stardoll advices all users never to give out their password or other personal information.

Scenario 3 – Privacy Violation

On Stardoll, we do not permit the publication of images featuring real people on the site. We also review all images before they get posted.

Scenario 4 – Sexual Harassment

An individual sends naked images of themselves to someone else without such a request from anyone. Accompanying the images are sexual comments. This is seen as sexual harassment and may result in fines or imprisonment for up to two years. Unfortunately, this is a behavior that has become widespread, for example, via MSN - with girls traditionally the recipients of such images with comments. You are not allowed to send images of yourself to anyone on Stardoll.

The above are brief descriptions of a number of common crimes committed online. One should also be aware that offences as well as the punishments they carry are dependent on a multitude of different factors. It is therefore impossible to say exactly what actions could be categorized as criminal, in the same way it is impossible to predict what punishment a particular crime will earn. The above information is designed to give a general overview of common online behaviors today and the subsequent punishments they carry.

Grooming

Grooming is any contact by an adult with anyone under the age of 15 over a prolonged period of time with the primary aim of committing a crime. Initial contact is typically made on a chat forum or a page for personal ads. Contacting children for sexual purposes is illegal. You can identify a potential groomer by any one of the following suspicious behavior online:
• If the person claims to be young, but writes in a very adult way. • If the person seems only interested in talking about sex. • If the person wants to meet.
It is important:
• To ask how old the person is. • To let the person you are chatting with know that you have told others such as friends and family about your correspondence. • That you will break contact if anything the person writes or asks makes you feel uncomfortable. • Never meet anyone alone! If you do decide to meet anyone always take someone with you and decide on a time and place where there are a lot of people presently.
Resourceful links:

Country related police links
http://www.met.police.uk/reporting_crime/

IT related offenses http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx, http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/cyber/cyber
If you have any tips or suspicions related to grooming, harassment or bullying contact.
Stardoll.

Last updated: 2013-01-22 15:27:23