Working with Safeguarding experts, we have developed industry-leading safeguarding technology and policies to protect the welfare of our students in the digital world.
Safeguarding by design
Zero Gravity is built on a safeguarding-by-design methodology. This means that every element of the platform has been built with safeguarding at its core.
Zero Gravity’s safeguarding is built upon four pillars
- Mentor verification and training
- Communication exclusively through Zero Gravity’s mentoring platform
- Tracking, recording and monitoring
- Continuous feedback and safeguarding reporting
Mentor verification and training
- Verification: All mentors are identity verified via their university institution before they are onboarded by Zero Gravity - we have the details and university status of every mentor.
- Anonymity: No identifiable or sensitive information is shared between mentee and mentor. Personal identities of mentors and mentees are semi-anonymised on the Zero Gravity platform, with no identifiable details or data shared between mentors and mentees (i.e. profile names are displayed as ‘Tom C’).
- Training: All mentors complete safeguarding training on the platform as part of their onboarding to join Zero Gravity. They must do this before they’re able to be matched with a mentee.
- Community Expectations: All mentees and mentors must attend a webinar on Zero Gravity and the expectation of its members before they're matched. The expectations are upheld by our members and overseen by the Zero Gravity team - neither mentee or mentor are able to be matched until they have attended the webinar.
Communication exclusively through Zero Gravity’s platform
- Controlled communication: All communication between mentees & mentors occurs through the Zero Gravity Platform, with no communication outside the platform. All communication is tracked and recorded.
- Controlled matching: The Zero Gravity platform uses a personalised matching algorithm to match mentees and mentors, meaning the selection process is operated by Zero Gravity and not the students.
- Chat filtering: Our technology identifies and blocks attempts to share information that would allow matches to disintermediate from the platform.