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  • ICAlert

    ICAlert

    ICAlert is a brand new managed device that monitors a school's Internet access, targeting users attempting to access illegal content - child abuse images as well as terrorist content.

    Ordinarily access to this type of content is simply filtered - whilst helpful this means that the user and their behaviour go unnoticed. ICAlert changes this. Discovering such access, it activates an alert and provides valuable data, enabling a swift resolution, in the interests and protection of your school and children.

    About the ICAlert Project

    SWGfL, and IWF under a Home Office regulated project, have been piloting this alerting capability (for illegal content) with its connected schools since 2006. Over this period there have been a number of alerts; alerts that have led to successful prosecutions and the removal of potential threats to children and wider school communities. Something that SWGfL is particularly proud of. ICAlert now extends this alerting capability to any school

    The ICAlert device was first created in 2013 by Paul Dowland and Bogdan Ghita at Plymouth University's School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics with additional support from Steven Furnell, to produce new technology that would look to identify and alert if a user within a school was seeking to access illegal online content. In addition to the alerting capability, the project design principles and objectives include

    • Affordable unit
    • Easy and universal to install
    • Require no ongoing technical management
    • Secure all data contained within the unit

    About the ICAlert Partners

    The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) was established in 1996 by the Internet industry to minimise the availability of child sexual abuse images online. The IWF are contributing expertise and capability to the ICAlert project

    SWGfL is an educational charity that has an international reputation with supporting schools with online safety. It has developed extensive experience of managing this alerting process, having developed the capability under a Home Office and CEOP governed project since 2006. SWGfL has seconded specialist police officers who manage the alerting process.

    Plymouth University's School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics are providing the technical solution capability as well as the technical support

ICAlert
About the team

ICAlert was created by a partnership between SWGfL, Plymouth University and IWF.