Safeguarding Policy

Safeguarding focal point: Ahmet Özışık, Managing Director ([email protected], +372 5675 8611)

1. Why this matters to us

Some of the platforms we build, for example for school safety, disaster risk reduction in education and community-services call centres, hold information about children, people in crisis and other vulnerable adults. Our team does not normally work directly with beneficiaries, but the way we handle their data and any contact we have with them can still cause harm. We are committed to doing no harm and to supporting our clients' safeguarding policies.

2. Our commitments

• We will not tolerate abuse, exploitation or harassment of any kind, including sexual exploitation and abuse.
• We will follow the safeguarding policy and code of conduct of each client we work for, in addition to this policy. Where they differ, the stricter rule applies.
• We will treat information about beneficiaries as confidential and sensitive, and design systems that protect them.

3. Code of conduct

Everyone working for Swiftmade must:

• treat everyone they come into contact with through our work with respect, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability or any other characteristic;
• not contact beneficiaries (including children, survivors or service users) directly, unless the client has arranged it, it is necessary for the work (for example user research or testing) and it follows the client's process, including consent and, for children, the presence of an appropriate adult;
• never communicate privately with a child met through our work, or share personal contact details or social-media connections with beneficiaries;
• never take, keep or share images or recordings of beneficiaries except as authorised by the client;
• never use access to systems to look up, copy or share information about individuals beyond what the task requires;
• report any concern promptly, even if unsure.

4. Safeguarding through design and data minimisation

When building platforms that may hold data about children or vulnerable adults we:

• collect only the data the client needs, and suggest leaving out sensitive fields where they are not essential;
• use synthetic or anonymised data for development and testing;
• restrict access with role-based permissions and record access to sensitive records in audit logs where the client requires it;
• consider risks such as a user's location being exposed, or a report being seen by the person it concerns, and raise them with the client;
• follow our Data Protection and Information Security policies.

5. Reporting concerns

If you see, suspect or are told about abuse, exploitation, or a risk to a child or vulnerable adult connected to our work, or a breach of this policy by anyone at Swiftmade, you must:

1. if someone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services;
2. report it to the safeguarding focal point as soon as possible and within 24 hours, at [email protected] or +372 5675 8611. If the concern involves the focal point, report it directly to the client's safeguarding lead;
3. not investigate yourself or confront the person concerned.

The focal point will inform the client's safeguarding lead promptly so their procedures can be followed, and will cooperate with any investigation. Concerns are handled confidentially and shared only with those who need to know. Nobody will be penalised for raising a concern in good faith.

6. Recruitment and contractors

Contractors are briefed on this policy before working on social-sector projects and confirm in writing that they have read it. Where a client requires criminal record or vetting checks for people with access to beneficiary data, we arrange them for the individuals involved.

7. Breaches

Breaches of this policy will lead to removal from the project and may lead to termination of a contractor's agreement and referral to the relevant authorities.