Yahoo! Answers Safety Guide

What is Yahoo! Answers?

Yahoo! Answers is an online community where you can ask questions and get answers about lots of topics from millions of people. You can also share what you know by answering other people's questions.

You could use Yahoo! Answers to help with a school research project, or you could answer questions about a something you know best, such as PlayStation tricks. Note: Children under 13 can't ask or answer questions on Yahoo! Answers.

To learn more, check out Yahoo! Answers Help.

What are some potential risks on Yahoo! Answers?

Everyone on Yahoo! Answers must follow the Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines, as well as the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

Just as there may be risks in the town where you live, the Yahoo! Answers community may pose certain risks. Yahoo! Answers has a number of safety features, but you have to take care of yourselfonline too.

Start with some of our general tips for online safety. Then, when using Yahoo! Answers, keep these things in mind:

• Protect personal information. In questions or answers, don't post personal information that could identify you to strangers . You can set the Yahoo! Answers profile settings to limit contact with random people
• Harassment. If strangers can contact you through Yahoo! Answers, they might expose you to unpleasant, sexually suggestive, or abusive language. You can set your profile to limit email and instant message contact with other people.
• Mature content. Yahoo! Answers’ Community Guidelines forbids profane, obscene, vulgar, or sexually explicit language. Please report inappropriate language to Yahoo!.

What can you do to limit these risks? Review Yahoo! Answers safety features, learn how to report abuse, and ask your parents or caregivers for help staying safer on Yahoo! Answers.

What safety features should I know about to help protect myself on Yahoo! Answers?

To protect young people from risks, Yahoo! Answers doen’t let children under 13 ask or answer questions or communicate with others on Yahoo! Answers. Instead, we recommend they explore age-appropriate content and activities on Yahoo! Kids.

If you are at least 13 years old and want to be a part of Yahoo! Answers, make sure you know how to do the following:

• Use a nickname. A nickname can be used in place of your real Yahoo! ID when you ask or answer a question. You can choose a nickname in Yahoo! Answers profile settings. Names without any personally identifiable information are best. For example, instead of "tedjones1992dallas," try something more generic like "bluesky50." Learn more about choosing an online ID.
• Limit contact with other people. If strangers contact your, they could expose you to unpleasant, sexually suggestive, or abusive language. In the Communications section of the Yahoo! Answers profile settings page, you can change the settings to restrict email and instant messages from other people. If you do communicate with others, Yahoo! Answers will not reveal your email address. Remember never to give out your personal information to strangers online.
• Limit Answers Network connections. As part of an online community, people on Yahoo! Answers can connect to each another. People within your network can see the questions you've asked or starred and the answers you received. If you don't want other people connecting to you, change the settings in the Sharing section of the Profile Settings Page to prevent people on Answers from becoming a "fan."
• Use an avatar. An avatar is a custom cartoon character that can represent yourself on Yahoo! Answers and other Yahoo! services. Using Yahoo! Avatars, you can create a personalized avatar to use in place of a real, identifiable photo. Select an avatar on the Yahoo! Answers profile settings page.
• Report abuse to Yahoo!. To report offensive content or inappropriate contact with other users, click the Report Abuse link found after every question and answer in Yahoo! Answers.

How can I report problems on Yahoo! Answers?

Yahoo! Answers has a Report Abuse link after every question and answer on Yahoo! Answers. Please click this link and complete the form if you are exposed to obscene language, mature content, threats of physical violence, harassment, or anything else that violates the Yahoo! Terms of Service or Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines. Make sure to provide specific information about the nature of the offensive content.

Yahoo!’s customer care team receives abuse reports and takes appropriate action as necessary, which may include deactivating an abuser’s account. Reports that indicate activity involving child pornography or solicitation of a minor are dealt with promptly by Yahoo!’s legal team and, when appropriate, such incidents are reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

What can I do to use Yahoo! Answers in a safer manner?

Yahoo! is committed to providing a safef online experience for everyone and, accordingly, complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Yahoo! Answers has a number of safety features to limit potential risks. However, protecting young people online is a responsibility shared with parents, teachers, and other caregivers.

You should start by learning some basic practices for online safety. These include safeguarding identity online, keeping passwords secret, being cautious about contact with strangers, and creating a family pledge for online safety.

If you are exposed to obscene language, mature content, threats of physical violence, harassment, or anything else that violates the Yahoo! Terms of Service or Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines, please report the abuse.

Please review the safety features on Yahoo! Answers and set appropriate profile settings.