Apps are becoming an increasingly important way to communicate and access the internet through our phones, tablets and TVs. We use them to play games, send messages, check the news and weather and use maps and navigation services. Increasingly we are also using them to do our

banking.

While apps provide a simple and easy means of accessing great content and services, it's important to be aware of how to use them safely and securely.

Here are some tips to help you make the most of your smart device and apps and how to use them with confidence. This guide has been produced by Ofcom in association with the Information Commissioner's Office, the Competition and

Markets Authority, PhonepayPlus and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Read the resource here.

An exploration of self-harm in the context of online behaviour; what research currently tells us; current expert opinion from those who support children and young people with self-harm and how those of us with responsibility for online safety might consider adapting current interventions to understand and prevent digital self-harm.

This is essential reading for parents, carers and adults who work with young people.

Read the article here.

The ICO has developed a useful and comprehensive series of resources and guidance for young people to help protect their personal information. Access the resources here.

'.In a discussion of zero-knowledge systems whose operators can't spy on you even if they want to, Snowden reminds us that Dropbox is an NSA surveillance target cited in the original Prism leaks, and that the company has since added Condoleeza Rice, "probably the most anti-privacy official we can imagine," to its Board of Directors.'

Read the article here.

A thought provoking article by Graham Brown-Martin - keynote speaker at upcoming digitallyconfidentconference.org

When viewed through the prism of "network capitalism" Facebook's recent acquisition of WhatsApp for $19bn looks like good value.

The consensus is that Facebook acquired the company because it was fearful of losing its grip on the youth market, who favoured mobile communications, to a system that apparently their parents didn't use. And, as a theory has it, with the world shifting to mobile internet it only makes sense for Facebook to demonstrate its chops in the mobile world. This might also account for why it acquired Instagram...

Read the full article here.

A bleak dystopian view of life in the future when we really have The Internet of Things.

'I wake up at four to some old-timey dubstep spewing from my pillows. The lights are flashing. My alarm clock is blasting Skrillex or Deadmau5 or something, I don't know. I never listened to dubstep, and in fact the entire genre is on my banned list. You see, my house has a virus again.'

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