Yahoo! GeoCities Safety Guide

What is Yahoo! GeoCities?

Yahoo! GeoCities is a service that lets you create, manage, and store a personal web site. You can add text, photos, a blog, or local weather and news.

To learn more, please read through Yahoo! GeoCities Help.

What are some risks to my child on Yahoo! GeoCities?

Yahoo! GeoCities users are expected to behave in ways that foster community and must abide by the Yahoo! GeoCities Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.

Just as there may be risks in the community where you live, the Yahoo! GeoCities community may pose certain risks to children. Yahoo! GeoCities provides a number of safety features, but as a parent or caregiver, you are expected to take an active role in protecting your child online.

We suggest that you start by reviewing some general practices for online safety. In addition, please keep the following in mind when your child is using Yahoo! GeoCities:

• Protecting personal information. Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to create their own Yahoo! GeoCities web site. Younger users of Yahoo! GeoCities, especially those between the ages of 13 and 17, should be reminded that anyone on the Internet could view their web site. Posting any personal information or photos could identify them to strangers.
• Harassment. If you child uses Yahoo! GeoCities add-ons such as email forms or guestbook, users can contact your child, possibly exposing him or her to unpleasant, sexually suggestive, or abusive language. If your child adds a Yahoo! Presence icon, which indicates if he or she is online, users will be able to get in touch by instant message.
• Mature content. Yahoo! GeoCities’ Terms of Service does not permit posting adult content. Please report inappropriate material to Yahoo!.
• Video. Yahoo! GeoCities’ webcam add-on allows your child to broadcast video. Set up the webcam in a central place so you can observe what he or she is transmitting.
• Impersonation. Someone could impersonate your child by creating a Yahoo! account and Yahoo! GeoCities web site. This person could post false information or send damaging emails in your child's name. Please report such abuse to Yahoo!.
• payments. GeoCities Free allows users to set up complimentary web sites. GeoCities Plus and GeoCities Pro, which feature advanced web site design tools and increased storage, are available for a monthly fee. Both of these fee-based services require a credit card for payment on Yahoo! Wallet. If your child has access to a credit card, please discuss what constitutes appropriate use of the card.

What can be done to limit these risks? Review Yahoo! GeoCities’ safety features, learn how to report abuse, and read what parents and caregivers can do to help kids be safe on Yahoo! GeoCities.

What safety features should I know about to help protect my child on Yahoo! GeoCities?

To protect younger users, Yahoo! GeoCities does not allow children under the age of 13 to create their own web sites. Instead, they are encouraged to explore age-appropriate content and activities on Yahoo! Kids.

If your child is at least 13 years old and wants to make a Yahoo! GeoCities web site, make sure he or she knows how to do the following:

• Use the Control Panel. The Control Panel is the central area to create, update, and manage a Yahoo! GeoCities web site and its components. Yahoo! GeoCities provides a simple, graphical overview of the Control Panel.
• Manage a blog. A blog is like an online journal that can be shared with other users, who may add comments. Yahoo! GeoCities allows you to create a new blog or, if you already have a blog on Yahoo! 360°, display it on your Yahoo! GeoCities web site. You can edit and delete blog entries and add and delete blog photos with Yahoo! GeoCities’ Blog Manager. If someone leaves an unpleasant or inappropriate comment, use the Blog Manager to delete it. A Yahoo! GeoCities blog can not be set to private, but it can be removed if necessary.
• Manage a webcam. You can control who can view the video from your webcam, or just turn the webcam off completely.
• Report abuse to Yahoo!. Report any offensive content or inappropriate contact with other users by filling out the Yahoo! GeoCities report abuse form.

How can I report problems that my child encounters on Yahoo! GeoCities?

Yahoo! GeoCities provides a customer care form to report abuse. Please complete this form if your child is exposed to obscene language, mature content, threats of physical violence, harassment, or anything else that violates the Yahoo! GeoCities Terms of Service or Community Guidelines. Make sure to provide specific information about the location of the offending content and the identity of the user in question.

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, reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

What can I do to help my child use Yahoo! GeoCities in a safe manner?

Yahoo! is committed to providing a safe online experience for all users and, accordingly, complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Yahoo! GeoCities provides a number of safety features to limit potential risks to users. However, protecting children online is a responsibility shared with parents, teachers, and other caregivers.

We suggest that you start by reviewing some general practices for online safety. These include safeguarding identity online, keeping passwords secret, being cautious about contact with strangers, and creating a pledge for online safety.

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

Please review the safety features on Yahoo! GeoCities and look at your child’s Yahoo! GeoCities web site (geocities.com/YourChildsYahoo!ID) periodically to see what he or she is posting.

And remember, Yahoo! Kids offers all kinds of age-appropriate content and activities for children under 13.