Made to be safe
Safe and secure
digital experiences
Online safety has offline consequences
The benefits of being online are broad. But being connected should never leave people unprotected. As technologies become more sophisticated, however, so too do the tactics used by fraudsters. With every click, vulnerable communities, businesses and Critical National Infrastructure are put at risk.
To ensure that everyone has access to these benefits, without being left exposed to the potential harms in play, industries that rely on this digital world have a responsibility to make it safer and more secure for all of society.
This starts with children, whose digital wellbeing relies on online experiences that are safe by design. As children become adults, priorities start shifting from safety to security, because we all need our personal data and privacy protected online. Finally, the businesses that form our nation’s backbone are also reliant on secure networks for their own – and the UK’s – success.
1 in 10
UK businesses would be unlikely to survive a major cyber attack9
1 in 5
secondary school-aged children have felt pressured to share an explicit image of themselves10
Connect then protect
Our priority is to support all customers so they can navigate today’s internet safely, whether that’s by creating more secure digital experiences or encouraging healthier online habits.
Building on 16 years of work in children’s online safety, VodafoneThree continues to serve families at every stage of their digital journey, and especially when children are first introduced to mobile technology.
Vodafone and the NSPCC have created various resources, such as The Decision Toolkit to help parents make decisions on phone ownership, as well as the TRUST toolkit to foster safe, confident digital habits at home.
Three UK’s partnership with Internet Matters has given our employees the knowledge and confidence to help families navigate online risks.
Since launching in 2014, Discovery has empowered 53,000 students and teachers through its safer internet workshops.
With more than three decades of cybersecurity expertise, Vodafone Business delivers solutions and support for organisations of all sizes, leaving them better equipped to protect their business’s future.
Vodafone Business empowers businesses by connecting and securing their data, networks and cloud environments against breaches and cyber threats.
Alongside Enterprise Nation, business.connected has helped 1 million SMEs since launching in 2021, through the provision of free training that matches their specific needs – from marketing to cybersecurity.
Vodafone Business is a corporate member of the UK Cyber Security Council, helping VodafoneThree to shape the future of cybersecurity.
We block an average of 1.7m fraudulent calls per day and blocked 139+ million fraudulent SMS on the network in 2025.
Our dedicated fraud team identifies and blocks potentially fraudulent content or calls, while monitoring trends so that, as scammers’ tactics change, so do ours.
We have led the charge on the development of industry-wide APIs such as the CAMARA Project (led by Vodafone Group) and Scam Signal, supporting sectors like banking in tackling fraud.
We are: an active contributor to the Government’s Fraud Strategy and Lord Hanson’s Telecommunications Fraud Charter; members of Stop Scams UK and the Internet Watch Foundation; and supporters of the Home Office’s ban on SIM farms, their ‘Stop! Think Fraud’ initiative, and Cifas.
We offer innovative products to protect consumers and businesses, such as Secure Net, which provides protection against online threats like viruses, phishing and malicious websites.
Online safety starts with children – but it must not end there.
A lesson in online safety
For nearly a decade, Discovery has proudly partnered with the London Borough of Islington, turning a shared vision of bringing technology to the classroom into a borough-wide movement across 45 schools. By working directly with school leadership teams, computing leads and classroom teachers, we’ve developed tailored sessions and digital experiences for each school.
From interactive assemblies to age-specific workshops, we help turn elements of the national curriculum into opportunities for digital adoption, letting pupils use iPads to create multimedia projects, code simple applications or explore creative storytelling through technology. Meanwhile, our borough-wide Safer Internet and Anti-Bullying programmes help remove the stigma associated with modern, digital environments.
“Our iPad skills have been massively enhanced by working in partnership with Three. Every time they visit, our school community develops its digital literacy skills and they [the pupils] love the opportunity to be creative.”
– Becky Bond, Year 6 teacher and computing lead, Maidenhead
Artificial intelligence, real conversations
With research revealing that conversational chatbots are the AI tools used most by those aged 11–16, VodafoneThree launched a new kind of ‘Breakfast Club’. Supported by child psychologist Dr. Elly Hanson, the Safer Internet Day campaign used cereal boxes to show what makes up an AI chatbot and, importantly, the ‘ingredients’ it is free from – such as empathy, challenge or accountability.
The campaign outlined how AI chatbot design is shaping children’s digital wellbeing and impacting social development, emphasising the importance of using AI as a tool, rather than a substitute for real connection. It also fed into VodafoneThree’s call for regulators and government to prioritise safety-by-design measures and clearer protections for children’s development, especially when it comes to emerging technologies.
Nearly a third
(29%)
of teachers have observed declines in students’ independent thinking or problem-solving skills since the advent of AI chatbots11
“Initiatives like these play a vital role in helping parents and carers with these conversations, and supporting families to navigate these challenges together.”
– Barry Laker, Childline Service Head, NSPCC
Providing a lifeline, with Samaritans
Every 10 seconds, Samaritans answers a call for help. Staffed by volunteers, the confidential helpline is available for those in crisis 24/7, every day of the year. Since 2021, Three has helped the charity raise both awareness and funds, while using its technology, retail stores and expertise to connect more than 1 million people to emotional support.
The partnership has helped fundraise more than £1 million through employee-led efforts and the backing of Samaritans initiatives like Brew Monday and Dawn Walk, which raised more than £125,000 during World Mental Health Day 2025. Over the years, Three has also leaned on its sponsorship of Chelsea F.C. and its standing in the football world to support Samaritans, enlisting the likes of Peter Crouch and Vinnie Jones to join the cause, encouraging fans struggling with their mental health to #TalkMoreThanFootball.
The £1 million+ raised for Samaritans is the equivalent of helping volunteers answer
100,000+
calls for help.
“It’s so important in that moment, in that crisis, to have someone who will just sit with you. Samaritans can’t physically hold your hand, but they do hold you. It makes you feel like you’re not alone.”
– Charlotte, caller to Samaritans
Made to be safe: Safety and security at every stage
At VodafoneThree, our job doesn’t end once we get people online. We also have a role to play in helping to keep them safe once there. To deliver on this, we are making online safety and security a priority for people of all ages, and businesses of all sizes, helping adults protect their online assets and create healthy digital habits.
After all, communities sit at the heart of UK society. We are a nation of neighbours, workers and volunteers, whom VodafoneThree wants to empower by providing reliable, resilient connectivity. To do so, we’ll meet people at every stage of life, flexing our support and services as their digital needs evolve. We call this our ‘Made to be safe’ pillar.
This may involve supporting families as children start to navigate the online world, helping adults protect their online data and manage new responsibilities, or enabling businesses to secure their company’s future. Regardless of the audience, VodafoneThree’s role is to ensure everyone can enjoy the opportunities that being online offers, while minimising the risks that it can raise.
All of which might spark small changes, like teaching older citizens how to log on to their online accounts or preventing a small business from falling victim to cyber-attacks. But it can also contribute to big changes too, such as supporting greater digital sovereignty for the nation’s critical infrastructure or contributing to regulatory changes that will protect future generations.
Together, Vodafone and Three have provided strong foundations when it comes to online safety and security, making VodafoneThree well placed to campaign for, and help introduce:
Stronger safety-by-design principles for digital platforms
Healthier digital habits across all customer sales journeys
More effective, community-led online safety training
Three actions we are taking:
1
Scaling the online safety training led by Discovery across more UK communities
2
Introducing more targeted online safety messaging and resources throughout our customer sales journeys
3
Making online safety support available for all retail stores to use