Safeguarding Policy

Last updated: March 2026

Our Commitment

The safety and wellbeing of children using myworries is our absolute non-negotiable priority. Every design decision, clinical pathway, and technical architecture choice puts child safety first.

How We Protect Children

Real-time Safety Monitoring

All free-text input from children is screened in real-time by our two-layer safety classifier. This detects:

• Self-harm or suicidal content
• Abuse disclosures
• Extreme distress indicators

Immediate Response

When our systems detect a safety concern:

• Critical: Crisis resources displayed immediately, session activity paused, parent notified
• High: Support resources shown, parent notification sent
• Medium: Age-appropriate support resources signposted

Crisis Resources Always Available

Crisis helpline information (Childline, Samaritans, PAPYRUS, 999) is always accessible within the app, regardless of subscription level. These resources are never gated or hidden behind paywalls.

Safety Flag Retention

All safety flags are retained in an append-only audit log for 7 years, in compliance with UK safeguarding legislation. Safety flags cannot be deleted by users.

Clinical Escalation

If a child reports consistently high distress (8+ on two consecutive attempts), the system escalates to the parent and recommends professional clinical support.

Design Safeguards

• No direct messaging or social features between children
• No user-generated content visible to other users
• No external links accessible to children
• AI is topic-gated with a hard whitelist — cannot discuss topics outside anxiety education
• AI never streams to children — all outputs are safety-checked before display
• No PII is sent to AI services

Reporting a Concern

If you have a safeguarding concern about a child using myworries, please contact: safeguarding@myworries.com

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999 or contact your local police.

Key Helplines

• Childline: 0800 1111 (free, 24/7)
• Samaritans: 116 123 (free, 24/7)
• PAPYRUS (under 35s): 0800 068 4141
• NSPCC: 0808 800 5000
• Shout: Text "SHOUT" to 85258