Yahoo! Answers Safety Guide

What is Yahoo! Answers?

Yahoo! Answers is an online community where you can ask questions and get answers from millions of Yahoo! users on a range of topics. You can also share your expertise by answering others' questions.

Yahoo!’s younger users might use Yahoo! Answers to help with a school research project, or they might ask or answer questions about a personal interest, such as PlayStation tricks.

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

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

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

Just as there may be risks in the community where you live, the Yahoo! Answers community may pose certain risks to children. Yahoo! Answers 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 issues in mind when your child is using Yahoo! Answers:

• Protecting personal information. Children under 13 are not permitted to ask or answer questions on Yahoo! Answers. Younger users of Yahoo! Answers, especially those between the ages of 13 and 17, should be reminded that posting personal information in questions or answers could identify them to strangers. The Yahoo! Answers profile settings can be set to limit contact with unknown users.
• Harassment. If users are able to contact your child, he or she might be exposed to unpleasant, sexually suggestive, or abusive language. Again, be aware that your child’s Yahoo! Answers profile can be set to limit email and instant message contact with other users.
• Mature content. Yahoo! Answers’ Community Guidelines forbids profane, obscene, vulgar, or sexually explicit language. Please report inappropriate language to Yahoo!.

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

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

To protect younger users from risks, Yahoo! Answers does not allow children under the age of 13 to ask or answer questions or establish communication with other Yahoo! Answers users. 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 participate in Yahoo! Answers, make sure he or she knows how to do the following:

• Use a nickname. A nickname can be used in place of your child’s real Yahoo! ID when he or she asks or answers a question. You can select a nickname in Yahoo! Answers profile settings. Those 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 users. If users establish contact with your child, he or she could potentially be exposed 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 Yahoo! users. If you do allow your child to communicate with others, Yahoo! Answers will not reveal his or her email address. Remind your child frequently about the dangers of giving out personal information to strangers online.
• Limit Answers Network connections. As part of an online community, Answers users are able to connect to one another. Contacts within your network can view the questions you've asked or starred, as well as the answers you received. If you don't want other people connecting to your child, change the settings in the Sharing section of the Profile Settings Page to prevent other Answers users from becoming a "fan."
• Use an avatar. An avatar is a custom cartoon character that can be used to represent your child on Yahoo! Answers and other Yahoo! services. Using Yahoo! Avatars, your child 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 that my child encounters on Yahoo! Answers?

Yahoo! Answers provides a Report Abuse link after every question and answer on Yahoo! Answers. Please click this link and complete the form if your child is 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 help my child use Yahoo! Answers 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! Answers 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! Terms of Service or Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines, please report the abuse.

Please review the safety features on Yahoo! Answers and work with your child to set appropriate profile settings.

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