Young People and Families.

1. What applies today

• Anyone may read the public website.
• A person aged 13 or over may submit a personal Hub name request, register non-binding personal interest in Beta or verification, or send a general enquiry.
• A person must be 18 or over and authorised to submit for a business or organisation or enter a commercial agreement.
• The website does not create profiles, publish user content or enable messaging.
• The initial Hub name check is not a child-safety or age-assurance service.
• We do not ask a child for identity documents, a date of birth or parental consent on this website.

If we learn that a person under 13 has submitted information without a parent or guardian, we will assess whether it should be deleted, restricted or retained for a safeguarding or legal reason. A parent or guardian can contact [email protected].

2. Design commitments before launch

Before a child or teen service becomes available, Hubly intends to:

• assess how children are likely to access and use the service and document risks to different age groups;
• treat the best interests of children as a primary consideration in design decisions;
• use age assurance that is proportionate to the service, risk and available technology;
• provide concise, age-appropriate explanations at the point information is collected or a choice is made;
• set children's profiles and sharing to high privacy by default;
• collect and retain only the information needed for the child-facing purpose;
• keep precise geolocation off by default and make any active location use obvious;
• avoid profiling children by default unless there is a compelling, child-centred reason and suitable safeguard;
• avoid design techniques that pressure children to weaken privacy or continue using a feature; and
• provide visible reporting, blocking, safety and account-help tools.

These are design commitments, not a statement that every planned feature is already built or approved. The final age model and available features will be published before Beta access is offered to young people.

3. Family and parental controls

Planned Family profiles may allow an adult organiser to configure age-appropriate settings and a private family Hub. Before launch, Hubly will explain:

• which actions an adult organiser can see or control;
• when a child or teen is notified that monitoring or control is active;
• how permissions change as a young person gets older;
• which profile details can be public, shared within a Hub or kept private;
• how to report a concern without alerting a person who may be causing harm; and
• how families can close, export or correct profile information.

Parental controls should support a young person's safety and evolving ability, not enable covert surveillance. Adult access will be limited to the role and purpose explained to the family.

4. Content, contact and recommendations

Hubly plans age-tiering and HubShield controls to reduce exposure to unsuitable content and contact. Before launch, risk controls will address at least harmful recommendations, adult contact, bullying, sexual exploitation, self-harm, dangerous challenges, scams, violent content and attempts to bypass age settings.

No automated safety system catches everything. Product controls will be supported by reporting, review, moderation and clear escalation routes. The final rules will explain when content is removed, age restricted, made less visible or referred for specialist review.

5. Information about young people

Before child or teen registration, the Hubly Privacy Notice will be updated to state the exact profile, content, usage, safety, age-assurance and family-control information used, the lawful bases, recipients, retention periods and choices available. A child-friendly version will accompany the full notice.

Hubly will not use a child's information for targeted advertising. If any personalisation is available, the default, purpose and controls will be explained in age-appropriate language.

6. Safeguarding and reports

For a concern about the current website or a Hub name, email [email protected] with “Child safety report” in the subject line. Do not send or attach child sexual abuse imagery. Report suspected images to the Internet Watch Foundation and contact police where a child may be in immediate danger.

Hubly is not an emergency service. In the UK, call 999 or 112 if someone is in immediate danger. See Reporting a concern for the general process.

7. Questions and future updates

We will update this page before young people can create or use profiles and whenever the age model materially changes. Product claims on the main website describe the direction of development and should be read with this pre-launch status.