Internet Watch Foundation

 

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has just launched its new web site, designed and sponsored by Cambridge-based digital communications provider, Kan International. Kan has been associated with the IWF since 1998, when it helped them produce their first hotline site. IWF’s web site is home to its Internet Hotline that provides the public with the means to report potentially illegal Internet content - particularly those relating to child abuse images. The new site has been designed to handle the rapidly escalating volume of reports and to make the reporting form more accessible and user-friendlier.

 

Peter Robbins, IWF’s CEO says that the support of organisations like Kan is crucial to the work of the organisation. “We are not for profit organisation with limited resources. Kan’s approach to working with us is both positive and generous. Their technical skills have produced a site that is straightforward and simple, while incorporating all the back-end functionality that we require to process incoming reports as well a massive amount of on-line information about the IWF that is available on our website. Kan has been extremely flexible in the design phase by responding to suggestions and to the views of our stakeholders.”

 

The hotline currently handles an average 400 reports a week and has handled over 17,000 reports in 2002, a 50% increase since 2001. As Internet use increases across all demographic groups, the site is attracting ever-greater interest from concerned groups and individuals. 60% of the material reported is assessed as potentially illegal under UK law and is passed to the relevant authorities for investigation.

 

The new site is already making an impact with its easier to use hotline, Peter Robbins reports a significant drop in other forms of reporting, such as telephone and email, indicating that users are finding it easier to make their reports on-line. This is substantially reducing the extra administration time required to process reports.