Policies Public-facing policies
Child and Youth Safety Policy
How Map.ca protects minors: photo controls, sensitive locations near schools, age-appropriate experiences, mandatory reporting handling.
- Version
- 0.1.0
- Effective
- May 20, 2026
- Last reviewed
- May 20, 2026
- Review cycle
- every 6 months
- Master Policy Index entry
- §4 #43
Policy text
Child and youth safety is not a setting; it is a constraint that shapes the rest of the platform. The Child and Youth Safety Policy defines what Map.ca will not host (sexual or exploitative content involving minors, identifying photos without authorization, civic reports that re-identify minors), how Map.ca handles sensitive locations connected to children (schools, childcare, youth programs, support services for young people), age-appropriate defaults on public-facing features, and the path mandatory reports take to law enforcement and child-protection agencies.
It applies to Map.ca staff, schools and youth programs that partner with Map.ca, parents and guardians, every civic reporter, and any vendor whose tooling touches youth data. AI-only decisions are not allowed in this domain (Constitution §2 principle 4).
Principles this policy enforces
- AI assists, people remain responsible
- Consent must be meaningful
- Civic reporting must be useful without becoming a public shaming system
- Public data and personal data are not the same thing
- Community benefit must survive scale
What it requires
- Protect photos that identify minors with explicit-authorization gating.
- Protect the locations of children’s programs as sensitive-location data.
- Route child-safety incidents to the documented escalation path.
- Honour mandatory reporting obligations to the relevant authorities.
What it forbids
- Do not publicly identify minors without explicit, documented authorization.
- Do not publish Civic Pins near schools that could identify children.
- Do not use minor data for advertising or for training external AI models.
- Do not let AI alone be the final authority on a child-safety decision.
How it applies
- Map.ca staff
- Schools and youth programs
- Parents and guardians
- Civic reporters
- Vendors whose tooling touches youth data
References
- Map.ca Policy Constitution §2 principle 7
- Map.ca Policy Constitution §2 principle 4 — AI assists, people remain responsible
Related policies
Sensitive Location Data Policy
Protects homes, shelters, children’s programs, places of worship, support services, vulnerable populations, and safety-sensitive locations.
Civic Pin Policy
What can be reported as a Civic Pin, who can report it, how it displays, and how it routes to municipalities.
AI Training and Data Use Policy
How Map.ca's user content is and is not used for training AI — Map.ca's own systems and external vendors alike.
Civic Safety and Abuse Policy
Prevents Civic Pins from becoming tools for harassment, doxxing, false accusations, neighbour disputes, or public shaming.