What is Safety By Design?

A proactive approach to user safety 

Safety By Design is a set of principles that prioritizes user safety, security and privacy. It considers all this during the design and development stage, instead of bolting on safety measures in response to breaches. 

The aim of Safety By Design is to anticipate, detect and eliminate harm before it has a chance to occur. It’s a preventative approach that protects your platform and the people who use it. 

But what are these principles? And is Safety By Design really worth the upfront investment? Let’s explore further. 

The 3 guiding principles of Safety By Design

In 2018, the Australian government’s eSafety department developed three principles in their Safety By Design standards. Many other countries built upon them, creating guidelines and legislation of their own. 

Principle #1: Service provider responsibility 

Platforms and online service providers have a duty to put safety measures in place. Although they cannot control people’s actions, they can control the security and safety of their platform. 

Principle #2: User empowerment and autonomy 

This principle is about giving people the features, functions and information they need to make decisions about their own online safety. Service providers must make these safety protocols accessible to all, before they’re ever released to the public. 

Principle #3: Transparency and accountability

Platforms must be open and honest about their safety protocols within their user comms and marketing materials. Safety policies should be easy to find, and also easy to understand. 

15 Safety By Design examples

How can a platform put these principles into practice? 

5 examples of service provider responsibility

• Community guidelines and terms of service.
• Individuals or teams who are accountable for user safety policy creation and implementation.
• Monitoring for risks of fraud, abuse and harmful activity from the beginning. With Pasabi’s Trust and Safety Platform, you can monitor it all in one place. 
• Clear internal protocols for engaging with law enforcement and support services.
• Additional security measures in the onboarding flow (e.g. Two-factor/multi-factor authentication).

5 examples of user empowerment and autonomy

• Technology that allows users to choose their own security and privacy settings.
• Automated emails which remind users to update their security settings (e.g. change passwords).
• Clear protocols and consequences for service violations. 
• Tools which make it easy for users to report security breaches and abuse. 
• Customizable accessibility tools (e.g. larger text, text-to-audio)

5 examples of transparency and accountability

• Clear information about your current safety protocols. 
• Built-in feedback loops that inform users on the status of their reports and which outcomes have been taken.
• Embedded user safety training for all team members.
• Annual assessments of security breaches, instances of abuse and fraudulent activity. 
• A company-wide whistleblowing protection policy. 

Benefits of Safety By Design

Reasons to build your platform with these principles in mind. 

Mitigate harm

With Safety By Design, users will be less likely to be victims of scams and harmful activity, than if you were to retrofit your safety protocols. It’s preventative by nature. 

Increase efficiency

Safety By Design can increase efficiency by reducing the need for costly redesigns in the future. By building safety measures into your product at the beginning, you make the most of the resources and budget you have. 

Avoid fines 

Legislation like the US’s Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), the UK’s Online Safety Act and the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), puts more responsibility on platforms to protect their users. Failure to comply with this legislation can lead to staggering fines and legal costs. 

Build trust

When your users can see that their safety is a priority for your business, they will feel more comfortable using your platform. Over time, their trust in your platform grows stronger. 

Safeguard your reputation

If users experience multiple security and privacy issues on your platform, the pendulum can very quickly swing the other way. Safety By Design prevents bad actors from harming your users, and subsequently damaging your brand reputation.

“My platform already exists, is it too late for Safety By Design?”

Threats to user safety and security are ever-evolving, and so, platforms have to continuously adapt and build to combat them. This has always been the case. 

While, yes, it’s much easier to implement Safety By Design principles at the initial build stage, the aim is to prevent any harm from happening in the future. And since you can’t change how you built things in the past, the best time to start is now. Get in touch to learn how Pasabi can help.

5 resources about Safety By Design

Want to learn more about Safety By Design? Follow these links. 

• Australia’s E-Safety Commissioner talks about Safety By Design in this video
• Interactive assessment tools for enterprise and start up technology companies
• FAQs about Australia’s Safety By Design principles
• The UK government’s Safety By Design principles
• An independent organization which focuses on Safety By Design in the Metaverse