Glossary of Terms
The following words and terms are used by the IWF, Law Enforcement Agencies, Government and Media when describing elements that relate to the work of the Internet Watch Foundation.
ACPO - Association of Chief Police Officers. A central organisation for the development of policing policies
APACS - Association for Payment Clearing Services. APACS is the UK trade association of banks and building societies which exchange payments on behalf of their customers.
Content - Material on the internet; in this context refers to images/photos
Criminally Obscene images - As deemed by the Obscene Publications Act of 1959
Downloading - To copy or move programs, images or information into a computer's memory, especially from the internet or a larger computer
“Duplicate” reports - Reports submitted to the IWF hotline, which is material we are already aware of.
Funding Members - Companies who pay an annual subscription to be an IWF member
Grooming - Use of the internet to entice, invite, or persuade a child to meet for sexual acts. Describes the way an adult will target children in a predatory manner by making contact in a chat room or via other online communications and then works to develop friendship, emotional reliance, and interest in sexual topics.
Hosting - To provide the computer hardware and software which enables a website to exist on the internet.
INHOPE - Internet Hotline Providers in Europe Association.
Intelligence - Information about potentially illegal images or activities which is passed to the police
Internet Hotline - An online facility set up to receive and deal with incoming complaints or enquiries about specific issues or problems, usually via submission of a form or report on a website or by email.
Internet Industry - Collective term used to describe all the different types of organisations involved in the internet. e.g. ISPs, Telcos, software providers etc.
ISP - Internet Service Provider. A company that provides access to the internet.
NCMEC - National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children USA that operates the CyberTipline, an internet hotline and the US equivalent of the IWF.
Newsgroup - A collection of messages that are displayed on the internet and have been written by people interested in a particular subject.
Notice and take-down - When the IWF receive and investigate complaints about alleged illegal material, they notify the UK hosting company who then remove it or ‘take it down’.
Offline - Not connected to the internet. Can refer to non online methods of communication and media, such as books, magazines, television etc.
Online - The internet environment: Can describe products, services or information that can be bought or accessed using the internet; “I saw it online”.
Operation Ore - A police campaign that is targeting internet paedophiles
Paedophile - An adult, usually a man, who is sexually interested in children.
Peer to peer - One to one communication via the internet or mobile technology.
Portal - A page on the internet that people use to search the World Wide Web and that enables them to access useful information such as news, weather and travel, or a company that provides these pages
Potentially Illegal - In this instance, refers to an image that could be prohibited and unlawful. Association with this image could carry a criminal sanction.
PPV - Pay Per View. Websites or other online communities where you are required to pay to before being able to view information and images.
Proprietary Groups - A facility offered by some isps to enable groups of like minded individuals to share information in a collective environment
Report - In this instance, report refers to an online form completed via the IWF website and submitted to the internet hotline team.
Search Engines - A computer program or service which finds information on the internet by searching for key words.
“Unique” reports - Reports submitted to the IWF internet hotline that have not been previously reported.
Page Created: Mon, September 27th, 2004
Page Modified: Mon, September 11th, 2006
