JK Rowling’s soon to start website, (www.pottermore.com) is currently running a sort of competition to allow the happy winners early access to the website.

This action, which is only running for another few days, is a sort of treasure hunt, in which using your knowledge of the Harry Potter books, you have to find The Magic Quill, and having found it, answer a question or two and then you will be able to register yourself at once as an early user of the website.

This is restricted to one person a day as far as I can see, and actually doesn’t give any real advantages except early registration on the site, which will be open for all in a couple of months anyhow, but it is a bit of fun.

Child safety high on the agenda:

What is interesting about this site is the great lengths they are going to in order to ensure the safety of the kids who register with them and use the site.

This is impressive to say the least.   They have obviously given a great deal of though about how to make this a safe playground for kids, and are doing everything in their power to bring this about.  A very Anglo-Saxon thing, given the very real fear of child molesters in Anglo-Saxon countries, but still a good way to approach setting up an environment in which the kids can roam about in with as complete safety as can be organized.

A sort of Walled Garden in effect…….

Basically, if the kid wishing to register with the site is less than 13 years old, he or she will need to give the email address of a parent or guardian, who will then receive an email from Pottermore to check the details given by the kid, or as they describe it on their website:

When a child under 13 years old registers on Pottermore, they are required to provide the email address of a parent or guardian, who in turn receives a validation email from us. This email contains a link which allows you to both confirm your email address, and also to provide your consent to your child’s Pottermore account being created. We will then send you a second email to confirm that the account has been created and that your child has site access If you do not wish to give your consent, you can either ignore the email, or click the link and select the ‘No thanks’ option..

Further, they will only ask the kid to give his or her first name and country of residence, and then allocate the kid a user name, so no real personal details will be available for others to see, once again, here is how they describe this system:

Online safety for children is our main priority at Pottermore. If your child is under 13, we collect only their first name, date of birth and country of residence. We process your child’s personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and our Child Safety policy and do not share your child’s data with any third parties without first obtaining your consent. What’s more, because we generate usernames for all site users, and pre-moderate all user comments and pictures, your child’s identity on Pottermore is completely anonymous and protected.

Not absolutely protected:

Obviously any kid can register with them and claim to be older than 13, and thus bypass these safety measures.   In the real world there is no way in which Pottermore can be 100% sure that a kid claiming to be 18 is in fact that age.   But it is good that they are trying to ensure the safety of the kids, and the moderation of all images and emails/comments sent to the site by kids will probably ensure that predators can’t really get in among the kids there.

What a sad world……………………….

Whilst it is a sad reflection on the state of the world that they feel it necessary to take these measures, it is good that they have gone to these lengths to ensure the online safety of the kids who will no doubt flock to Pottermore once it is open to the world.

If you are the parent of a fanatical Harry Potter fan who is less than 13 years old, or even if older I would say, you can follow the link below to read, in fine detail, all about how they will protect all the kids who register with them.

Link: https://www.pottermore.com/en/help#magical-quill

Share with us:

What do you think of these safety measures that Pottermore are taking to protect the kids?  Likely to be effective or a waste of time?   Do let us share your thoughts on this one here.