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- Ελληνικά
The Cyprus Pedagogical Institute of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, as coordinator of the Cyprus Internet Safety Centre (https:/www.cybersafety.cy) and the Helpline 1480, provides the update statistics for the 1st quarter of 2024 (1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024). Detailed information on the statistics as well as statistics from previous periods can be found at https:/cybersafety.cy/stats.
The 1480 Helpline (Helpline) aims to provide children and adolescents, young people, parents, teachers and the general public with advice and support services on the safe, responsible and ethical use of the Internet and digital technologies. Between 1 January 2024 and 31 March 2024, a total of 519 people have contacted the Helpline 1480 times. Of the total number of calls, 389 calls (75%) were related to services provided by the helpline, while 130 calls (25%) were not related to the services provided and were related to information, including information on benefits and assistance from the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Security Mr.
With regard to the total number of cases related to the services of Helpline 1480, 61.4% (N=239) were women/girls and 38.6% (N=150) were men/boys. Regarding the profile of the people who called for help and support, the majority were adults (N=383, 98.4%). A small percentage (N=6, 1.6%) were minors and contacted the 1480 Helpline to report personal difficulties on the Internet, for example, cases of cyberbullying. It should also be noted that only 3.9% (N=15) of the calls from adults were made by parents/guardians and teachers and related to online difficulties for adolescents on the Internet.
Regarding the reasons for contacting the Line (Graph 1), the majority of requests were related to incidents of cybercrime (N=301, 77.4%), i.e. dealing with privacy breaches (hacking), financial fraud or identity theft, via social media or email. At the same time, a significant proportion of requests (N=28, 7.2%) related to issues falling under the category of technical support. A smaller percentage (N=23, 5.9%) concerned incidents of cyberbullying and also a notable percentage (N=15, 3.8%) concerned incidents of sexual blackmail (sextortion). On the other hand, 2.8% (N=11) of calls involved data privacy complaints[/B] and specifically cases of callers' information being used to create accounts or publish callers' material by other users without their consent. It is noteworthy that the relevant incidents in the current quarter included incidents of creating fake/misleading profiles and publishing posts intended to harass and intimidate adolescents and adults. In addition, incidents of bullying in groups of minors on Social Media ("groups") were reported. In these cases, Line Officers provided appropriate counselling and psychological support to the adolescents and their parents and took appropriate actions in cooperation with the Social Media platforms for the deletion of these profiles and the competent authorities for further support actions.
The 1480 Helpline, aiming to provide continuous and quality advice and support, in real time, by trained Officers, on issues related to safe, responsible and ethical use of the Internet, to children, adolescents and their families, continues to provide its services, with the basic principle of ensuring that its services are in accordance with National Law and are interwoven with the aspect of awareness and direct service.
All citizens can contact the Helpline 1480 by calling, anonymously and free of charge, the number 1480 (opening hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00 - 13:00 & 15:00 - 18:00, and Saturday 10:00 - 13:00), either by sending an email to 1480helpline@cyearn.pi.ac.cy , or via an online form on the website https:/www.cybersafety.cy/helpline-report or via chat messages (https:/cybersafety.cy/helpline-chat/ )
Graph 1: Percentage of incidents by category for the reporting quarter
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