Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Perverts infiltrate pupils’ digital app
A SOCIAL networking tool made available to every schoolchild in Scotland has been infiltrated by graphic content, drug pushers and individuals identifying themselves as paedophiles.
An investigation has revealed shocking oversights in the rollout of Yammer – a Microsoft application available as part of Glow, Education Scotland’s national “digital learning platform”.
The tool allows every school pupil and teacher in Scotland, and by extension anyone with access to their home computer and password, to connect with one another.
It means sixth-year pupils in Shetland can exchange private messages with primary children in Dumfries and access their full name, school, entry year, groups they follow and email account.
Conversation threads included drugs and alcohol being offered to young children, along with addresses for where these could be bought.
In one instance an individual with a misspelling of the word paedophile in his username was seen asking young girls for the location of a sleepover and offering to bring illegal substances.
He later wrote to another profile: “Come to mine. Drugs, alcohol and ice cream supplied.”
Other profiles were seen to be sharing bloody and violent horror images, including one with a mock severed hand.
A spokesman for NSPCC Scotland said steps must be taken to ensure children “are not putting themselves at risk and that they are not able to share or be exposed to inappropriate content”.
Education Scotland acknowledged in its own privacy impact assessment that there “may be a greater likelihood of inappropriate content and behaviour following the introduction of Yammer to the Glow platform”.
However, the system’s “keyword monitoring facility” – designed to flag up concerning terms in private or public conversations – appears to be unable to recognise even slightly modified spellings of concerning phrases.
In another section dealing with worries that “learners could be identified and located by someone who would wish to do them harm”, it is written that stakeholders had decided “the educational benefit of this functionality outweighs the risk”.
A spokesman said: “Yammer is part of Office 365 and the decision to use Yammer, and the moderation of the content subsequently produced, is for the local authority using Glow.” QUIZ ANSWERS: 1. Bear. 2. Clementine. 3. Die Fledermaus. 4. Dauphin. 5. Orchestra. 6. Quill. Missing link: BATH.