Xbox Celebrates Safer Internet Day with Minecraft’s New Privacy-Themed Learning World and Safety Tips for Parents

The internet is a key part of our daily lives. Xbox wants to make sure that we are safe online.  Xbox is reminding everyone that the Safer Internet Day, which is February 7th, is coming up.

Xbox is continuing its safety journey and we’re excited to share some ways that we recognize Safer Internet Day. I recently sat down with Xbox Podcast’s Jeff Rubenstein to talk about our evolving approach to safety, and how players, parents and caregivers of all ages can work together to leverage our resources in a way that fits their personal safety preferences. In addition to being a parent and my role here at Xbox, I’m also a player and a customer. I have had the opportunity to experience these different roles firsthand. It has allowed me to witness and hear from parents and children about how gaming can help them stay safe online.

Xbox’s Trust and Safety team helps players and their families feel safe and secure while they play on Xbox. Our multifaceted approach to safety and privacy is aimed at empowering caregivers, parents and children with education and tools to ensure safer gaming for all members of the family. With safety as a top priority, we design our resources to make it easy for families. We’ve created family-friendly resources, such as our Xbox Family Hub, as a one-stop shop for information about Xbox safety and privacy, the Xbox Data Collection for Kids website to teach kids about Xbox privacy, and we have well-established Community Standards and guidelines so players understand what types of interactions are acceptable and not acceptable on our platform.

Enjoy the New Privacy ProdigyGet the game from Minecraft Education

Global educators and parents are continually looking for ways to ensure that children feel safe and secure in digital environments. Creative learning environments are a fun and engaging way for people to interact with Xbox.

Today we’re launching a new immersive game-based learning experience calledPrivacy ProdigyThis is the continuation of the CyberSafe series from Minecraft Education, which includes last year’s Home Sweet Hmm. Privacy Prodigy is designed to help players from age 7-18 learn how to keep their personal data safe when they’re out in the world, whether that’s learning how to keep data protected in public places or where to store data. Every challenge was designed to teach students and parents how to better make informed decisions regarding who has access to what personal data. 

Young people are introduced to areas of trust through this single-player experience. They’ll develop the ability to identify the different types of information they need to manage and what they can share. The players will be taught strategies to safeguard their personal information and how they can mitigate potential problems caused by compromised data.

Privacy Prodigy can be found in the Minecraft Education lesson collection. You can share Privacy Prodigy with your family members, friends, or students. You can play Bedrock Minecraft at your home with Privacy Prodigy free of charge in the Minecraft Market.

Xbox makes gaming fun and safe

Another important – and fun – aspect about online communities is communicating with friends and players. When playing games online, it’s common for people to share all kinds of content, from a gif to an emoji, or a simple “GG” (good game) that signals a job well done at the end of a match. Different meanings of certain emojis can have different meanings due to cultural differences and regional variations.  Xbox is able to help determine what is simply “gaming lingo” and what is potentially harmful content through content moderation tools that allow for safer gaming experiences.

Xbox monitors more than 18 billion gaming interactions annually with Community Sift. This moderation platform has over 20 language and culture experts who can speak and understand more than 20 languages.

For safer Xbox gaming, tips and tricks for players and parents

1. Play with your child regularly and check in

Keep in touch with your children about online gaming safety and encourage them to join the conversation. Playing together is a great way to have an interactive conversation, while better understanding the types of games they’re playing, who they’re playing with and what online scenarios you should be discussing.

2. For your family, create a child account and a family group

If you haven’t yet created a family group and child account for your family, it’s simple and quick. You can set up an account that is specific to your age and receive notification about any activity. When added to a family group, parents and caregivers can easily personalize each child’s online experience based on age-appropriate limits, such as privacy, content filters and online purchases. To get started, simply follow these steps.

3. Use the Xbox Family Settings app to customize your settings

Free to download for iOS and Android devices, you can set screen time, gain insight into gaming activity through reports, manage your child’s spending, review friend requests, and plenty more from the convenience of your phone. Learn about how the Xbox Family Settings App works here via a handy video, and download when you’re ready

4. For more information on families, visit xbox.com/family

To learn more about Xbox Family Hub, visit the Xbox Family Hub. You will find information regarding privacy and access tools as well as the Xbox Family Settings application and Community Standards.

If you need additional resources,