Photo: John Borren, NZ Herald
Safe Surfer is a Tauranga-based social enterprise established in 2016 by Rory Birkbeck and fellow IT expert Aaron Sinclair.
Safe Surfer's "Lifeguard" device can be attached to any modem and blocks websites containing pornography, violence, gambling and other harmful material. Earlier this year they won "Tech Innovator of the Year" at the 2018 NZ Charities Technology Awards.
Safe surfer makes the world a better place by providing safe internet to families.
The Safe Surfer Charitable Trust creates resources and awareness to help parents navigate the dangers of the Internet. It has just released a free children's book: Keeping Safe on the Web with Kyle the Kingfis.
The book is designed for children aged 6 and up and it aims at keeping them safe on the internet. It offers parents, schoolteachers and counselors the opportunity to have child-friendly conversations about the dangers of too much screen time, online bullying, sharing photos, revealing their identity online and pornography.
“Our formal mission in everything we do", says Rory "is to provide support for families and other communities to deal with the destructive influence of pornography, cyber-bullying, and sexual predators, on the social, financial, and mental health of New Zealanders."
Safe Surfer's mission is firmly anchored into growing to make a significant impact.
”When asked what would make Safe Surfer’s boat go faster, Rory is clear on what is needed: “For the Social Enterprise 100k+ Investment and more people in our world-class team. In the charity a truckload more volunteers and supporters.”This is to work towards the bigger vision for the organisation. On the 10 year horizon, Rory says “I dream that we will see the end of children being harmed by exposure to pornography on the Internet.” And on the 100 year horizon, the vision is that the day has come when the demand and therefore supply of pornography has ceased, and we see the end of the sex trafficking."
Rory will be participating in an interactive session with four other social entrepreneurs at The Social Innovation Opportunity for Tauranga on Monday 27 August. He and them will share their stories on how they approached identifying the systemic issue they wanted to solve and what model they used to tackle this.
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Come and meet Rory, discuss Social Innovation and mix with others wanting to take action at The Social Innovation Opportunity in Tauranga on 27th August , 9:30am - 1pm, Basestation 148 Durham Street Tauranga. Secure your spot here.
Want to know more about Social Entrepreneurship, its impact and how to be a part of growing it in our region? Just click here.
The Social Innovation Opportunity for Tauranga event is co-produced and co-delivered by the Ākina Foundation & Venture Centre as part of Groundswell the Festival of Innovation
