"There are a handful of people who will be remembered for having changed the face of the Internet for the betterment of children. Paul is one of them."

Parry Aftab, Executive Director, WiredSafety.org

Kids’ Internet Safety Alliance (KINSA)

KINSA, incorporated as the Kids’ Internet Safety Association in 2005 and now known as the Kids’ Internet Safety Alliance, was established as an aggressive and proactive response to the negative aspects of the Internet that harm young people. While addressing this grave social problem, KINSA also acknowledges and celebrates the positive, creative and inspiring ways children and youth are using the Internet.

KINSA’s unique combination of expertise in law enforcement, prosecution, business and technology ensures the organization’s ability to achieve necessary results with government, industry and other partners. KINSA’s advocacy efforts as well as training, research, and awareness initiatives will result in an increasingly effective and collaborative response to the abhorrent behaviour of those who prey on young people online. Details of KINSA initiatives and successes will be highlighted here on the Paul Gillespie Consulting Web site and showcased on the organization’s dedicated Web site at www.kinsa.net.

KINSA is about:

• Advocacy: We work with government and industry to help protect children from being exploited in online environments provided by new technologies, as well as initiate and respond to policy changes.

• Awareness: We raise awareness of these issues with kids, parents, teachers, business leaders and political leaders.

• Training & Research: We are currently developing world class training programs to assist with Internet challenges both in Canada and in developing nations, as well as funding research.

By working together, we can prevent further victimization and work towards our ultimate goal to eliminate the online sexual exploitation of children and youth. Learn more here about how you can support KINSA’s efforts.

Background

In April, 2004, Paul Gillespie was introduced to Bill Hutchison by Bill’s daughter Cathy, the President of the Ontario Probation Officers Association. Cathy felt that Bill could help the Toronto Police Child Exploitation Section improve the response time for feedback they were receiving from one of Canada’s communications carriers. Bill ultimately helped solve that problem. Last year Bill was identified by a panel of business and technology editors as “One of Canada’s Top 30 Movers and Shakers over the Past 30 Years”. He has created ten consortia and associations and in June 2006 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Intelligent Community Forum in New York (www.intelligentcommunity.org).

During future meetings and conversations with Paul and others, Bill learned about the extent of the problems and perils faced by young people on the Internet so Bill decided to create an association and charitable foundation to tackle the problem. The result was KINSA, the Kids’ Internet Safety Alliance (www.kinsa.net) – a non-profit organization established in response to the need to protect the rights and interests of children on the Internet.

Alliance Initiatives

The KINSA Alliance focuses on advocacy, education and awareness. In those realms, KINSA is currently pursuing initiatives in the following areas. The links below will take you to more detailed information on the KINSA Web site:

• Internet Service Providers
• Legislation – including conditional sentencing and age of consent

Resources for Kids and Families

Resources for kids and families are part of the long-term vision KINSA. KINSA aims to provide the best educational resources from around the world and here in Canada that children and parents can access. For now, KINSA believes there are numerous excellent resources already being developed and our desire is to not duplicate effort, but enhance it where we can and fill voids where appropriate.

One such effort is Be Smart Online, which kids' channel YTV launched together with KINSA. Click here for more information.

Parents, teachers and caregivers can also check out the Resources section on this Web site for more useful and interesting links, articles, publications and more.

How You Can Support KINSA

The KINSA Foundation focuses on training and research. KINSA is currently developing world class training programs to assist with Internet challenges both in Canada and in developing nations.

You can support KINSA by making a donation today. Click here for more information.

Note: KINSA is a Canadian non-profit entity currently in the process of seeking to obtain official charitable designation. When KINSA successfully attains this status, we will be in a position to issue charitable donation receipts, but we cannot do so currently.

KINSA Salutes “Heroes of the Fight”

The KINSA First Annual Award of Distinction Dinner on May 2, 2007 raised awareness and celebrated the great work being done to make the Internet a safe and wonderful place for children. Funds raised on this evening go to support Youth and Parent Education, Internet Safety Advocacy and the establishment of the KINSA Centre for Child Rescue and CyberCrime Investigation.

KINSA board members and honorees take a bow – Left to right: David Butt, KINSA Board; Scott Newark, Former Vice Chair, Ontario Office for Victims of Crime; Craig Healy, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); Justice Lauren Marshall, Ontario Court of Justice; Myron Thompson, Conservative M.P. Wild Rose, Alberta; Bob Mathews, Former O.P.P. Detective Inspector; Alex Smith, Director, Law and Technology, Ministry of the Attorney General; Michael Eisen, Vice President, Law and Corporate Affairs, Microsoft Canada; Dan McTeague, Liberal M.P. Pickering-Scarborough East, Ontario; Detective Constable Doug Rees, Hamilton Police Service; Dr. Roberta Sinclair, Royal Canadian Mounted Police National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre Ottawa; Paul Gillespie, Vice-Chair of KINSA



Each KINSA honoree received a striking plaque in the shape of a computer screen.



KINSA Gala celebrants enjoy the festivities, held at the
Ontario Science Centre in Toronto.