The Code of Practice

How the shared network operates, 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.

01 · Purpose

Why this network exists

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.

This is mass communication for the people who keep others safe. One signal reaches every licensed officer around you at the same moment. Police advisories reach the net the same way. 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.

A licensed security officer

02 · Membership

Why you are on it

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.

Using the shared network means you agree to this code, and to the deal at the heart of it: you report. 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.

03 · Conduct

Your responsibilities

  • Send what helps other people. If officers beyond your site need to know it, and it is happening now, send it.
  • Your training goes to work here. Officers across the industry have done counter-terrorism awareness training (ACT). What it taught you to notice is exactly what the network carries: hostile reconnaissance, the same face at three access points, questions about shift patterns, a vehicle loitering where it should not be. Trust your instincts: send it to the officers around you, and report it to the police the way your training taught you. In confidence: 0800 789 321. In an emergency: 999.
  • Internal matters stay on internal channels.A theft in your stockroom, a staffing issue, your venue’s day-to-day: report those through your company’s own channels. If you are a member of a private team network, your employer’s communication policy applies there, and what you say stays inside your network. This code picks up the moment you send to the shared net.

Goes on the net

  • An attack under way. A weapon seen. A vehicle used as one.
  • Someone about to be hurt, or someone dangerous moving in a direction: yours or anyone’s.
  • A suspect on the move: “male, grey hoodie, heading north past the station.”
  • A missing person who could be nearby.
  • Hostile reconnaissance: the same person checking out three sites in an hour.

Stays internal

  • A theft inside your stockroom.
  • A regular who is banned from your venue.
  • A staffing or rota issue.
  • Anything about how your site runs.

03 · Conduct

On the network

  • 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.
  • 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.

04 · Alpha One

How the AI works

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. Every alert is checked for relevance 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 by the AI before they go out. Anything inappropriate is blocked and never broadcast.

A licensed security officer

05 · Your data

Your data

OnSiren complies with UK GDPR. We collect the minimum we need and use it only for safety purposes the law recognises: preventing crime, responding to emergencies, protecting people.

  • Your data stays in the UK.
  • Alerts are kept for a limited time, then deleted.
  • Everything on the network is audit-trailed.
  • Delete your account and your data goes with it.

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 a limited time, then deleted. The privacy notice sets out the full detail.

06 · Removal

What gets you removed

False reports. Repeatedly sharing things that are irrelevant to the network. Abusive behaviour or foul language. Sharing inappropriate images or content. Misusing personal information. Any of these and your account is removed.

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

Code of Practice — The Shared Network | OnSiren