The Code of Practice

What it is for, and what we expect from everyone on it.

This code governs the public network: the shared net that connects officers across sites and companies. Private team networks run under your employer’s communication policy. This code applies whenever you send to the shared network.

999 first. Always. OnSiren is not an emergency service. It does not replace 999, 101, your radio, police reporting channels or your employer’s emergency procedures. Never delay contacting the emergency services to send an OnSiren alert. Send an alert only when it is safe to do so.

The shared network is an emergency and incident network for licensed security officers. It is there for the moments that matter: an attack under way, someone about to be hurt, someone dangerous moving in your direction or anyone else’s, a missing person, an incident unfolding near you. One press alerts the licensed officers around you: the few hundred metres where the next pair of trained eyes is standing.

You decide what the emergency is. You are trained to notice, and the network trusts your judgement. Use the shared network when you have a reasonable, good-faith belief that there is a current or imminent risk to people or public safety, that officers beyond your site could act on the information, and that what you are sending is timely, factual and necessary.

This is mass communication for the people who keep others safe. One signal reaches every licensed officer around you at the same moment. Official advisories from the police reach the net the same way: clearly labelled, and transmitted only from verified, authorised sources. Nobody rings around; everybody who needs to know, knows at once.

It is a personal safety app. It keeps you aware of what is happening around you, it keeps you safe, and it keeps the community around you safer. That is the purpose, and everything else in this code follows from it.

OnSiren adds to your safety arrangements; it does not replace them. It is an additional communication tool. It is not a substitute for adequate staffing, radios, lone-worker systems, risk assessments or any other workplace safety control your employer is responsible for providing.

Because you are a licensed professional. Every officer on OnSiren holds a valid SIA licence, checked when you join and revalidated against the public register. Every account is a real, named person.

Your access is linked to your licence. If your licence lapses or is revoked, the app stops working for you.

Your account belongs to you, not your employer. It moves with your career, and you can delete it at any time. Your employer does not receive your location, your alerts or your data from the shared network.

Using the shared network means you agree to this code, and to the deal at the heart of it: you report relevant risks promptly, when it is safe and reasonable to do so. When you see something that puts people at risk, you alert the officers around you. You keep them safer, they keep you safer, and the public is safer for it.

The network holds you to the standard you already hold. Everything this code asks lines up with what is already expected of a licensed professional: the standards of behaviour the SIA expects of licence holders, the counter-terrorism awareness the industry trains for, and the duty everyone at work has to the safety of the people around them. Nothing here is new to you. The network gives the standard reach.

• Report what you saw, not who you think did it. Descriptions and facts: “male, grey hoodie, heading towards the station.” No names, no accusations, no guesswork. Concentrate on observed conduct, clothing, location, direction of travel and vehicle details. Include personal characteristics only where they are relevant and necessary to identify someone connected with the incident. Never report someone merely because of their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, sex, gender identity, age or appearance.
• Photographs and video. Capture and share only what is necessary. Avoid unnecessary images of victims, children, medical treatment or private areas. Never stage, materially alter or misleadingly crop what you share. Keep the original where it may be evidence, and follow your employer’s body-worn-video and evidence-handling procedures. Material from the network stays on the network: no reposting, screenshots or sharing to social media.
• Respect the people on the network. This is a professional network, not social media. No abuse, no foul language, no time-wasting broadcasts.
• Stay off your phone. OnSiren does not need watching. Being on your phone on duty is not professional, and OnSiren is built around that. There is no feed and nothing to keep checking: it stays in your pocket until it has something for you. An alert arrives as a notification: you look, you know, you act. The voice channel runs on the phone’s built-in push-to-talk, so you hear it like a radio.
• 999 first. Your employer’s procedures first. In an emergency, call 999. If an attack is under way, your training comes first: Run, Hide, Tell, and 999 when it is safe. On shift, follow your assignment instructions as you always would. OnSiren works alongside them: the officers around you finding out fast is what the network adds.

Alpha One is the AI in the system, and it works for you. It gives you situational awareness: a briefing when you sign on, then what is happening around you and what is changing as the shift moves, so you are always aware. Through the shift there is no feed, nothing to scroll, nothing to keep checking: alerts reach you as notifications, and the voice channel you hear like a radio. Busy when something came through? Ask Alpha One for the summary when you are clear.

It also keeps the network worth listening to. Alpha One assists with checking every alert for relevance and inappropriate content before it goes out. Something that does not help anyone beyond your site will not be broadcast. When the network speaks, it matters.

The same goes for images. Photos and videos shared to the network are checked before they go out. Anything inappropriate is blocked and never broadcast.

Automated checks are not perfect. They may occasionally make mistakes, and they do not replace your professional judgement, your emergency procedures or direct reporting to the police. When you send, the app tells you whether your alert was broadcast or not. If your alert is not broadcast and you believe it should have been, you can ask for human review at conduct@onsiren.com.

A blocked alert never stands between you and help. Nothing the system does prevents you from calling 999, using your radio or following your employer’s procedures. If OnSiren is ever unavailable, fall back on those channels as you always would.

OnSiren complies with UK GDPR. We collect the minimum we need and use it only to keep people safe: preventing crime, responding to emergencies, protecting people. Our privacy notice sets out the full detail: who the data controller is, what we collect, our lawful bases, who receives it, how long we keep it, how we secure it and the rights you have.

• Your data is held in the UK. Where an approved service provider processes data on our behalf, it does so under contract and to the same standard.
• Alerts are kept for the retention periods set out in the privacy notice, then deleted.
• Everything sent on the network is audit-trailed, so the record of what was sent, when and from where can support any complaint or investigation.
• Your employer does not receive your data. Your account, your alerts and your location on the shared network are yours. The shared network is not a workplace monitoring tool.
• Delete your account and we delete or anonymise your information. We keep the minimum necessary where the law requires it or where it is needed for safety, complaints, investigations or legal claims, and we delete it when that need ends.

What we record when you send. A signal, the place it was sent from, and the time. The system determines whether it will benefit others: if it will, it is forwarded to the officers who need it; if it will not, it is not broadcast. Either way it is logged, kept for the period set out in the privacy notice, then deleted. Your location is used to route alerts to the officers near you; it is not shared with your employer.

Knowingly or recklessly false reports. Repeatedly sharing things that are irrelevant to the network. Abusive behaviour or foul language. Sharing inappropriate images or content. Misusing personal information.

A good-faith report is never misconduct. If you report something honestly and it turns out to be wrong, that is the system working. What puts your account at risk is dishonesty and misuse, not an honest mistake.

Our response is proportionate. Depending on the seriousness, frequency and circumstances, we may warn you, restrict your account, suspend it temporarily or remove it permanently. Where necessary to protect people or the network, we may suspend access immediately. Except where doing so would create a safety, legal or investigative risk, we will explain the decision, and you can ask for it to be reviewed by a person.

If you see something wrong on the network, report it: conduct@onsiren.com.

• Owner: OnSiren Ltd, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG.
• Version: 1.1 · Effective on publication · Reviewed at least every six months, and sooner where practical experience suggests amendments.
• Changes: When this code changes materially, we tell you in the app before the change takes effect.
• Conduct on the network: conduct@onsiren.com
• Privacy: privacy@onsiren.com
• Security incidents: security@onsiren.com
• Complaints and appeals: conduct@onsiren.com, and we will route it from there.