Glossary: Safety online
Terminology is important. This glossary features the most often used and sometimes misunderstood words, acronyms, and phrases relating to safety online
Block
A way of ending all interaction with that person, preventing them from seeing your posts and photos, sending you messages, etc., by changing the settings in your device and/or social media accounts.
Catfishing
Pretending to be someone else online, for example by creating a fake profile on social media in order to trick or attract people. Catfishing can be about getting others to share personal information or sending money etc.
Encryption
The process of changing information or data into a secret code (letters, symbols, numbers) that people cannot understand or access without a special key and/or equipment. Many messaging services such as WhatsApp encrypt texts, photos, and videos sent between users.
Firewall
A program that is meant to protect a computer from scams and tricks on the internet.
Hacker
Someone who hacks (breaks into) other people’s or organizations’ computer systems or devices to gain unauthorized access to their information.
Mute
A way to stop seeing another person’s postings, comments, etc. by changing the settings in your device and/or social media accounts.
Password
A secret word or phrase, often a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols, that is used to obtain access something, for example, a social media platform, a device or a computer system
Personal information
Information that identifies you, for example, your name, address, email address, etc, and can be sensitive.
Phishing
An attempt to trick you into giving personal information online or via email about, for example, your login information that would allow someone else to get access to your private information and/or money.
Scam
A dishonest attempt to trick people in order to make money or gain something else of value.
Settings
The area in any digital product, app, website, etc., where you can define or change what you share and how your account is managed, including your privacy settings.