Better internet for kids+ European strategy and Jamf Safe Internet

What is Better Internet for Kids+ European Strategy?

Better Internet for Kids+, in short, BIK+, is the European strategy established to support creating a safe, age-appropriate digital environment for children. Developed in consultation with children, parents, teachers, EU member states, the ICT and media industry, academics and international organizations, the strategy aims to provide protection for children's fundamental rights online and shield them from the dangers of exposure to disinformation, cyberbullying or harmful and illegal content.

Based on four core principles:

1. Safe digital experiences
2. Digital empowerment
3. Active participation
4. Combating child abuse and exploitation

The strategy brings to the forefront a new standard for the accountability of online platforms regarding illegal and harmful content and addresses the need for continuous education of children on online safety and media literacy.

The BIK+ strategy builds upon the obligations for all digital services outlined in the Digital Services Act, including social media, online market places and other online platforms that operate in the European Union, for the protection of minors, and prohibits online platforms from displaying targeted advertising based on profiling to minors. It also sets forth policy frameworks and a structured cooperation mechanism between government bodies and public agencies to address policy implementation regarding tools and regulations for a safe online environment. The strategy also aligns with regulations set forth by General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR).

What is Jamf’s role in making the Internet safer for student use?

In order to provide a safe, secure management platform for students and educators alike, Jamf designs products with privacy and security as a cornerstone for maximum protection of data, upholding the principles established by Apple for user privacy and device protection.

Jamf Safe Internet, the latest addition to Jamf’s education product suite, brings comprehensive content filtering, optimized for education and integrated with mobile device management (MDM) platforms like Jamf School, for simple yet powerful student and user protection.

With security and digital safety now core to the educational experience, we combine best-in-class network threat prevention and a vast content-filtering database to block unsafe content and malicious attacks, such as malware and phishing, so that students can learn safely anywhere.

Jamf Safe Internet maintains compliance with all applicable privacy regulations so schools meet local online child safety regulations, including the following: CIPA (US), Keeping Children Safe in Education (UK) and the Student Privacy Pledge. Moreover, Jamf is partnered with the IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) and C3P (Canadian Centre for Child Protection), two non-profit organizations dedicated to combating child abuse and exploitation and working towards the personal safety of all children.

Seamless integration with Jamf School

To deliver this powerful content filtering capability in the easiest way, Jamf Safe Internet seamlessly integrates with Jamf’s flagship education MDM solution - Jamf School. Combined, both solutions highlight the Yin & Yang, or the belief that you can't have powerful security without effective device management.

Jamf Safe Internet helps create a safe digital learning environment, eliminating cyberattacks and preventing students from accessing unsafe content. When integrated with Jamf Protect, students gain comprehensive endpoint protection for Mac, which includes preventing malware.

Meanwhile, Jamf Safe Internet compliments holistic protection by providing network security against phishing attacks and risky content. One of the best parts is truly how simple the process is:

• Step 1: The admin sets up a policy in the Jamf Safe Internet Dashboard from within Jamf School. From there they choose from a wide set of block categories to prevent harmful, inappropriate, security risk, high-bandwidth, non-productive and illegal content from being available on the student device.
• Step 2: Deploy the policy to a student’s Mac or iPad.
• Step 3: You guessed it! There is no step 3.

This ensures that the admin can now access device status per device, as soon as the device is deployed, enabling monitoring of the effectiveness of the policy put in place for the school-issued Apple devices, without invading student privacy. Furthermore, reporting on Jamf Safe Internet is clean and effective, offering two levels of details: Site and Category Usage reports for blocked URLs, and a Security Report for malware and malicious threats.

With these policies in place, devices are now safe from malicious threats and students can enjoy a safe learning experience, no matter their location, while admins get the tools to manage and secure devices and data, bringing safe connections everywhere students learn.