Choosing an app for your organisation
Our digital app checking tool is a practical resource for sports organisations across the UK who want to choose safer digital platforms and promote trusted online spaces for children in sport.
Choosing the right digital platforms for your sports organisation can be complex and confusing. Our digital app checking tool supports designated safeguarding leads and welfare officers to make quick, confident decisions about apps used for communication, livestreaming, gaming or team management. It puts children's safety at the heart of decision-making.
Step 1: This free tool guides you through five simple yes/no questions, helping you assess:
- privacy,
- contact risks,
- moderation options,
- exposure to potentially harmful content,
- and alignment with your online safety policies.
Step 2: You’ll then count your score and receive a clear green, amber or red rating.
Step 3: The tool shows whether the app may be suitable for your organisation, with safeguards in place, only with conditions or is not suitable at all.
Step 4: No platform is 100% secure and safe, but the tool can help you to decide if an app can be used in your sports organisation with children and young people.
If you answer 'unsure' on any question, do further research before completing the tool.
Tool limitations
The tool is designed to support organisations in considering potential risks when evaluating digital apps for use in sport and physical activity settings.
The information and prompts provided are for guidance only and should not be taken as confirmation that any app is safe, compliant, or suitable for your organisation.
Your organisation is solely responsible for carrying out its own checks, making informed decisions, and ensuring any digital platform used with children meets your safeguarding, legal and data‑protection requirements.
The NSPCC do not endorse individual apps and accept no liability for decisions made or actions taken based on the use of this tool.
Further steps to keeping children safer online
All digital apps should have safeguards in place. By doing due diligence before and during use, and learning from anything that worries you, you can help keep children safer.
In addition to this tool, we recommend:
- carrying out a full risk assessment and a data protection impact assessment
- updating your online safety policy, acceptable use statements and codes of conduct for using the digital app
- training staff on the platform’s use
- confirming which authorised staff have access to administering the app (these staff should have gone through safer recruitment checks and training)
- make sure all parents and young people know how the app works and who to contact if they have a concern
- keep security and privacy controls up-to-date
- reviewing the platform regularly for any changes that impact suitability
Any digital safeguarding concerns should be dealt with in the same way as any other safeguarding concern, by following your organisations policies and procedures.
> Download digital app checking tool - eform
> Download digital app checking tool - print form
For further learning and guidance
- We have a range of information on online safety and social media in sport and photography and filming in sports and activities
- NSPCC Learning have resources on social media, online communities and safeguarding
- The ICO has clear guidance on the Children’s Code (Age-Appropriate Design Code) and getting started with data protection and UK GDPR
- The government has information on the Online Safety Act, including child safety duties and risk assessments
- Internet Matters has a range of information on keeping children safe online
- Common sense media gives a breakdown of the safety measures used by specific apps and digital platforms