- The EU pushes ISPs to impose stricter parental control
and content blocking solutions;
- SimplifyDigital.com welcomes the goals companies set in
to in order to make the Internet a safer place for
children;
- Simplifydigital.com's reveals its pick of
child-friendly broadband packages.
The firms have included the following actions in their
strategy:
- Building a better abuse reporting system,
- Basing privacy settings on age,
- Parental controls which are easier to navigate,
- Merciless bans for child abuse websites,
- A generally better system to help classify content.
Amongst the 28 firms that will help to filter the internet to
make it child-friendly are BSkyB, Google, Apple, BT,
Facebook, Nintendo, Opera, Vodafone as well as
Microsoft.
Geoff Slaughter, Head of Online at SimplifyDigital.com, an Ofcom
accredited broadband comparison service, commented:
"It is encouraging to hear that such a variety of
technology, software and telecommunications firms pledged to ensure
that the World Wide Web is a safe place for children. Making
privacy settings age-appropriate means that consumers can rest
assured knowing that all of their family members can use the
internet safely without being subjected to abusive
content.
"However, it might be worth noting that ISPs have a huge
journey in front of them in order to achieve this goal without
blocking legitimate content thus causing losses in revenue to
genuine businesses."
| Simplifydigital.com's pick of child-friendly
broadband packages |
| Provider |
Package overview |
Available parental control |
Installation |
Monthly Cost |
| Simplifydigital recommended! TalkTalk |
TalkTalk Essentials • Up to 24Mbps Speed • 40 GB download
allowance • Free Evening & Weekend Calls to UK landlines |
• HomeSafe includes network level protection for all of the
devices connected to TalkTalk broadband. • A website filter blocks
harmful content and homework times can be set to block social
networking and similar sites during specific hours. |
Free |
£3.25 for 12 months, £6.50 thereafter (plus £13.80 line
rental) |
| Plusnet |
Plusnet Value & Evening and Weekend Calls • Up to 20Mbps
Speed • 10 GB download allowance • Free Evening and Weekend calls
to UK landlines |
• Plusnet's Parental Control powered by McAfee enables specific
content to be blocked, tools to manage time children spend online
and a facility to alert parents when children attempt to access
restricted content. |
Free |
£3.25 for 9 months, £6.49 thereafter (plus £11.99 line
rental)* |
| BT |
BT Broadband & Evening and Weekend Calls • Up to 20Mbps
Speed • 10 GB download allowance • Free Evening and Weekend calls
to UK landlines |
• BT's Family Protection powered by McAfee enables specific
content to be blocked, tools to manage time children spend online
and a facility to alert parents when children attempt to access
restricted content. |
Free |
£4 for 4 months, £13 thereafter (plus £10 line rental)** |
| Sky |
Broadband Unlimited and SkyTalk Freetime • Up to 20Mbps Speed •
Unlimited download allowance • Free Evening and Weekend calls to UK
landlines |
• Sky's Parental Controls powered by McAfee is free 12 months
and £3 per month thereafter. The software enables specific content
to be blocked and manage time children spend online. |
Free |
£10 (plus £9.95 line rental)*** |
*Plusnet's line rental changes from 3rd December to
£14.60
**Customers must take BT line rental saver, £120 to be paid in
advance.
*** Customers must take Upfront Line Rental, £119.40 to be
paid in advance.
Notes to editors:
Based on news from:
/news/articles/2011/12/eu-pushes-isps-to-apply-stricter-parental-control-and-content-blocking-measures/
(01-12-11)
Simplifydigital.com offers a free and impartial "Switching
Support" service for anyone looking to get a digital TV, broadband
or phone package.
Its London-based impartial experts are available for free over
the phone, to answer all those tricky questions and match the
family's needs to the best deal available.
Simplifydigital.com's experts are available for free on 0800 1
388 388 seven days a week (Lines open Mon-Fri 8am-8pm; Saturday
9am-5:30pm; Sunday 10-5:30pm).
You can also use Simplifydigital.com's Ofcom accredited
comparison engine online at www.simplifydigital.com.
