CSAE Protection Standards

Last updated: June 6, 2025

Purpose and scope

Frendee is committed to the highest standards of safety and accountability. These Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) Standards establish the principles, protocols, and technologies that Frendee deploys to prevent, detect, and respond to CSAE risks. These standards apply to all users, contractors, employees, and third-party partners who interact with or support the Frendee platform.

1. Zero tolerance statement

Frendee enforces a zero tolerance policy against any form of child sexual abuse or exploitation, including:

• Possession, creation, or distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
• Child grooming or solicitation
• Sexual communication with or about minors
• Use of the platform to traffic, exploit, or harm children directly or indirectly

Any account or activity that violates this standard will be terminated and reported to appropriate authorities without exception.

2. Age verification and platform access

To prevent underage access and adult misrepresentation:

• Minimum age requirement: All users must be 18 years or older.
• Verification measures:
  • Government-issued ID verification during onboarding (as needed)
  • AI-based facial age estimation and behavior pattern analysis
  • Phone and email verification, with device fingerprinting to prevent duplicate underage accounts
• Ongoing monitoring:
  • Real-time and periodic user behavior analysis to detect underage activity
  • Auto-lockout and manual review of accounts flagged as potentially underage or falsified

3. Content moderation and technology safeguards

Frendee employs a multi-layered content moderation strategy:

• Automated tools:
  • Hash matching (e.g., PhotoDNA, Project Arachnid) for known CSAM
  • AI classifiers for detecting nudity, grooming language, and CSAE patterns in text and media
• Human moderation:
  • Trained safety teams review high-risk content, edge cases, and user reports
• Prevention controls:
  • Chat restrictions for new users
  • Image upload filtering and metadata stripping
  • Real-time chat monitoring for CSAE-related language (e.g., codewords, coercion, age play)

4. Grooming and behavioral risk detection

Frendee proactively detects and disrupts grooming and coercive behaviors by:

• Scanning for linguistic patterns consistent with grooming (e.g., secrecy requests, age verification evasion)
• Tracking repeat interaction attempts with perceived minors
• Using machine learning models trained to identify longitudinal grooming behaviors
• Flagging accounts with unusual engagement patterns (e.g., rapid message bursts to younger users)

Flagged accounts are reviewed by a dedicated Trust & Safety team.

5. User reporting and emergency response

Frendee empowers its community to report CSAE-related concerns:

• In-app reporting: Every profile, message, and photo includes a “Report Abuse” function
• Emergency priority: Reports mentioning minors, threats, or exploitation are triaged for same-day review
• Anonymous tips: Users may submit anonymous CSAE-related tips via our public portal

Response SLA:

• Urgent CSAE reports reviewed within 6 hours
• Confirmed CSAE cases escalated to law enforcement or NCMEC within 24 hours

6. Reporting to authorities

All confirmed or strongly suspected CSAE content or behavior is:

• Reported to NCMEC (U.S.-based users) under 18 U.S.C. § 2258A
• Shared with law enforcement as required by applicable jurisdiction
• Preserved in secure evidence storage with detailed audit logs

Frendee does not notify perpetrators prior to law enforcement notification.

7. Staff roles, training, and governance

Trust & Safety oversight

Frendee designates a CSAE Compliance Officer responsible for:

• Coordinating investigations
• Liaising with law enforcement and NGOs
• Reviewing policy updates and enforcement metrics quarterly

Moderator and developer training

All content moderators undergo:

• Trauma-informed training on CSAE recognition and escalation
• Legal compliance and secure evidence handling protocols

Engineering and product staff are trained on:

• Privacy-preserving CSAE detection systems
• Building “safe-by-design” features to reduce grooming vectors

8. Collaboration and industry alignment

Frendee actively collaborates with global safety organizations, including:

• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)
• Thorn, INHOPE, and the Tech Coalition
• Participation in signal-sharing hubs and cross-platform CSAI alerts

We commit to adapting our systems to evolving threats and sharing threat intelligence responsibly.

9. Transparency and accountability

To promote accountability, Frendee publishes:

• Annual transparency reports including the number of CSAE reports received, enforcement actions taken, and referrals to law enforcement or child protection agencies
• Audit logs of moderator actions for internal review and external legal compliance
• Incident reviews for all confirmed CSAE cases

10. Data retention, privacy, and victim safeguards

Frendee balances safety with user rights through the following:

• CSAE-related evidence is retained for a minimum of 90 days and shared only with legal authorities
• Victim-identifying data is redacted from internal case discussions and preserved only as legally required
• Access to CSAE case records is strictly role-based and logged

11. Policy violations and sanctions

Violations of CSAE standards result in:

• Immediate account suspension or termination
• Permanent ban of device, IP address, and payment instruments
• Referral to authorities, with preservation of all relevant user data
• Denial of re-registration under any alias or identity

12. Ongoing improvement and audits

Frendee reviews these standards quarterly and:

• Incorporates feedback from child protection partners
• Adapts systems to address emerging CSAE tactics (e.g., AI-generated CSAM)
• Conducts external audits every 12 months to validate policy enforcement

Contact

To report a concern involving a minor, use the in-app “Report” feature or email support@frendee.com.