Parents call on operators to help protect their children from harmful mobile phone content

Staff Writers
Wednesday, 25 February 2009 11:59

IT Policy - Regulation

Mobile internet operators have a moral obligation to provide safeguards that limit access of children and, what’s more, they should consider self-regulation and their social responsibility or face the prospect of regulators demanding that they implement methods to protect children, according to a UK management firm advising that country’s technology, media and telecommunications industries.

According to recent research commissioned by the firm, Mott MacDonald Schema, nearly three quarters, or 72%, of British internet users are concerned that children are accessing harmful content online through their mobile phones.

“The mobile internet has made it much harder for parents to monitor what their children are viewing – they simply cannot be everywhere or looking over their children’s shoulders all the time.  As such, mobile operators have a moral obligation to provide safeguards that limit the access of children.  Operators should consider self regulation and their social responsibility, as regulators may soon demand that operators implement methods to protect children,” cautioned Tom Allen, head of the firm’s information, communications and media business.

Allen said that of the users that participated in the YouGov survey, 71% believed operators should be accountable for monitoring and addressing harmful content over mobile devices.  When asked about ways to stop children from accessing harmful content on their mobiles, he said the research found that over half (58%) of respondents agreed that barring sites and content according to the age of the phone owner would be effective.

“The internet was developed to share information, but we must be sensible about what younger generations can access.  As the internet becomes more accessible due to new delivery platforms such as mobile phones and games consoles, it’s increasingly important we find ways to protect our children from inappropriate content.”

According to the research, another preferred method would be to provide individual users with a pin code that reflects the user’s age and limits the type of content children can access.  Alternatively, respondents agreed with implementing an SMS warning system that would send a message to a nominated ‘Parent phone’ when a child accesses a harmful site.  Both these measures had 46% approval of the participants.

Allen said that, despite their concerns, people may not be willing to share the type of personal data, such as age, that is needed for operators to provide the appropriate security.  According to the research http://www.icm.mottmac.com/news/?id=248225 conducted in December 2008, more than one in three people would be unwilling to reveal personal data to their internet service providers for security purposes whiles online.