Yahoo! Games Safety Guide

What is Yahoo! Games?

Yahoo! Games offers over 300 online and downloadable games — arcade games, board games, card games, word games, and puzzles. Some of these games you can play by yourself, while others you play against the computer or other players on the site.

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

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

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

Just as there may be risks in the community where you live, the Yahoo! Games community may pose certain risks to children. Yahoo! Games 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! Games:

• Protecting personal information. Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to use Yahoo! Games. Younger users of Yahoo! Games, especially those between the ages of 13 and 17, should be reminded that posting any personal information could identify them to strangers.
• Harassment. If your child is playing a multiplayer game where users communicate by chat and instant messages, he or she might be exposed to unpleasant, sexually suggestive, or abusive language. Learn how to handle harassment on Yahoo! Games, and review Yahoo!’s recommended online safety practices for instant messaging.
• Mature content. If your child is exposed to explicit or sexual language while watching or participating in chat or instant message conversations, please report the abuse to Yahoo!. Your child could also be exposed to sexual content when using the search box on the front page of Yahoo! Games to look for images and videos. Please read through Yahoo!’s recommended online safety practices for image and video searches.
• Payments. Yahoo! Games offers many free games, but more complete versions of some games can also be downloaded for a fee. Yahoo! Games’ All-Star Package, which includes special features, is also a subscription service. These fee-based services require a credit card for payment through 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! Games’ safety features, learn how to report abuse, and read what parents and caregivers can do to help kids be safe on Yahoo! Games.

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

To protect younger users, Yahoo! Games does not allow children under the age of 13 to use the site. Instead, they are encouraged to explore age-appropriate content and activities on Yahoo! Kids, which includes dozens of safe games for children.

If your child is at least 13 years old and wants to participate in Yahoo! Games, make sure he or she knows that single-player games are available. Avoiding interaction with other players is the safest way to use Yahoo! Games. Card games such as Addiction Solitaire and Aloha TriPeaks are meant for one player, and board games such as Chinese Checkers and Dominoes can be played against the computer.

Yahoo! Games also provides a number of safety features for multiplayer games. Your child should know how to do the following:

• Leave a game table. The easiest way to get away from players who behave inappropriately is to get up and leave the game. Simply click Quit in the current game and choose another table or another game.
• Use an alias. An alias can be used in place of your child’s Yahoo! ID when he or she joins a game table. An alias that doesn't include any personally identifiable information is best. For example, instead of "tedjones1992dallas," try something more generic like "bluesky50." Learn more about choosing an online ID.
• Ignore. Block all chat and instant messages from a specific player by double-clicking the player’s username and checking the Ignore box.
• Turn on the Profanity Filter. To replace profane words other players use in chat with "@" symbols, select Options in any game lobby and set the level of the Profanity Filter to weak (to block common words) or strong (to block even more variations).
• Stop unsolicited invitations. To prevent other players from sending invitations to join a game table, click Options in a game lobby and check the Decline All Invitations box.
• Report abuse to Yahoo!. Please report any offensive content or inappropriate contact with other Yahoo! Games users.

To increase privacy and reduce interaction with unknown users in multiplayer games, your child can do the following:

• Create a new game table. In a multiplayer game, select Create Table in any game lounge. Under Table Type in the left column, select protected or private table. Both types of tables require an invitation from your child, the table host, to join and play. Private tables require an invitation for other users to even watch the game being played.
• Boot a player. Your child can remove any player who is behaving inappropriately by clicking Boot and entering the player’s username.
• Create a private league. To create a private league with ladders, tournaments, and administrative tools, subscribe to Yahoo! Games All-Star Package.

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

Yahoo! Games 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! Terms of Service or Yahoo! Games 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! Games 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! Games providesa 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.

Talk to your child about which games he or she is interested in playing. If you aren’t comfortable with the possibility of your child interacting with other users through chat or instant messages, look for single-player games.

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! Games Community Guidelines, please report the abuse.

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