We asked parents how
easy they thought it would be for a child to pretend to be older in order to
sign up to Steam, and whether they had to verify their phone number or email
address. Based on these answers, Steam
has received a neutral rating for its sign up process.
Here are some of the
things parents said:
- “It
was very easy with my email address and I had a confirmation email.” – Mother
of a 17 yr old
- “I
linked it to my Facebook account, so it was very easy. Soundcloud is working on
the premise that the info I've submitted to Facebook is true (i.e. my age,
gender, etc.).” – Mother of a 9 yr old boy
We asked parents how
easy they thought it would be to find ways to report unsuitable content or
behaviour, and how to block people from contacting you. Based on these answers,
Steam
has received a neutral rating for its reporting and blocking process.
Here's what a parent said:
- “The
information is there, but you had to go to the Help Centre option, open it on a
Browser window and then search for the instructions.” – Father of 5 and 13 yr
olds
We also asked young people who reviewed X whether
they knew how to report and block users:
- 76% said they know how to report on this site
- 75% said they know how to block someone on this site
Want to know more?
You can find out more information about reporting here.
We asked parents how easy it was to change the settings so
that your profile and account is private, and how easy it is to turn off location
settings. Based on these answers, Steam has received a positive rating for its privacy
settings.
Here are
some of the things parents said:
- “Under the privacy
setting there was only a single option, which has a tick box to say whether you
wish to receive messages from "everyone" or not.” – Father of 16 and
17 yr olds
- “It was not
straightforward to find the settings button, as it was hidden in a long menu. I
could not find anything about location settings at all.” – Mother of 12 and 14
yr olds
We also asked young people who reviewed Steam whether they knew how to change privacy and location settings:
- 77% said
they know how to change their privacy settings on this site.
- 68% said
they know how to change their location settings on this site.
Want
to know more?
You
can find out more information about privacy here.We asked parents how easy it was to find out whether Steam
has rules or community standards, and how easy it would be for a young person to find information about
keeping themselves safe on this platform. Based on these answers, Steamhas received a neutral
rating for its safety and support.
Here are some of the things parents said:
- “Games and video come
with a warning of content, but it’s still too easy to gain access to
everything.” – Mother of 5 and 9 yr old boys
- “The information is
there for community standards and safety information, although it is not
obvious and you have to press several links to find it.” - Mother of a 15 yr
old girl
Want to know more?
You can find out more information about safety here.