Whilst it still has a long way to go, here you can see the original rationale for putting the effort into developing securitycheck.co.uk.
Little Internet gems on security and safety exist, but you have to know where to find them.
Until a couple of weeks ago I never knew of www.getsafeonline.org, but here it is. It is a comprehensive resource for everyone in the UK, including businesses about protecting yourself online. I only heard about it because of news they released about a major new security threat that then went viral on the social media networks. This is a publicly funded organization which has obviously had loads of money poured into it, yet it does not not even seem linked to by www.police.uk, the official gateway to the nation's different police forces and their associated crime prevention advice. Then, by chance, when researching various blogs covering cycle security, I came across a load of really useful information that I had not seen covered elsewhere (Such as how various Londoners have discovered their stolen bikes put up for sale on Gumtree, and how, on each occasion the Police's response to such news, whilst mainly being indifference, did vary). Typically, I have now misplaced these links and provided myself will all the more reason to try and compile a securitycheckuk type listing so that such useful information is found more easily by myself and others in the future.
Then there were several other matters associated with some aging relatives that got me thinking about other security and safety issues. For a start, being brutally honest, I have not got a clue as to what to do if someone I know, starts choking, or having a fit, or a stroke or heart attack. Then there is the issue of helping my loved ones better handle the increasing number of sales calls they seem to get, even though, having followed my advice, they have signed up with the Telephone Preference Service at www.tpsonline.org.uk. Also, do they (and almost everybody else for that matter) know how to check if someone is properly registered as either a Gas Safe Engineer, or a Financial Adviser, or any kind of other officially accredited trades-person or professional - and besides, how do you check ID at the door? And so on - to many other related questions, most of which I had never previously thought about.
This is not the kind of stuff I am thinking about every day, mind. However, there are times and places where a repository of such information - somewhere that binds all the good stuff together - would be useful. As mentioned in my opening post, this could also be a vehicle to gain useful experience, including the ordering and presenting of information. Also, there is much more to the concepts of security and safety than comes immediately to mind. Older, frailer and more vulnerable people still often retain a burning desire for independence. For these people, security includes a sense of being able to look after themselves so as to be able to maintain their independence. Safety = Security.
What really got me thinking along these lines were when I was approached by two different elderly couples who where both aghast at how much they were each paying to various utilities companies, including to Sky and Virgin Media. It struck me that these people were paying well over the odds and that the sales people in such organizations must be aware of the elderly frail nature of such customers and actually 'predate' them, in some kind of ghastly fashion, with a view to confusing and extracting as much cash as they can. The final straw was when one of these couples used an online service, supposedly set up to help elderly people, to try and find a roofer to repair a couple of damaged ridge tiles. They were then given a quote north of a thousand pounds. Luckily they then made a few local enquirers and got the job done for just over a hundred. That is when I realized that too many businesses are literally predating the elderly and infirm and that the nation's online security and safety support infrastructure is just not working properly. Even if you are skilled in conducting advanced searches, the good information that does exist on the Internet is badly disjointed and lost in a sea of noise from alternative content that can range from poor, through to commercially biased and inappropriate, through to downright malicious.
To cap it all, even I got caught out by a malicious site two days ago. Having decided to have another go at using the Firefox browser I searched for it via Google and then 'downloaded 'it whilst 'multitasking' (Grave error - as this meant it was not getting my full attention). Unfortunately the top result in Google, even though it looked (to my unaccustomed and otherwise distracted eyes) like the official Firefox site, was not, and I proceeded to download a basket-full of malware, which then took hours to unpick from my machine.
So....
I am going to try and see if over the coming weeks and months I can slowly put together a UK security and safety portal. No. this will not be another Facebook - it will be an altogether much more humble offering - and I will not hold my breath for a trade-sale. The aim is eventually a simple intuitive service, usable via both mobile and desktop devices, by all age and capability groups to swiftly access quality UK-relevant security and safety advice, as and when needed.
Let us call these first few months the pre-pre-launch phase, and please excuse the mess whilst the place is being fixed.
