The internet industry needs to provide better controls over web content for parents with children on the net, says industry expert, Adam Hildreth. With reports of illegal content still on the increase, technology needs to be improved to protect children, and to give parents an easier way of monitoring activity.

The report issued by the IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) shows a 24 per cent increase in reports of illegal sites and images over the same period last year, the majority being hosted in USA, Russia and Japan. See link to full report below.

"This report should set alarm bells ringing at ISPs", said Adam Hildreth, founder of teen web site Dubit and child protection technology company, Crisp Thinking. "In their frustration, parents are increasingly pointing the finger at ISPs and chat room hosts for not providing adequate controls. The technology exists, but ISPs have been slow to take it on. Litigation has started against the industry in the US, and the UK won't be far behind."

Just last week the children's charity NCH warned that almost half of young people know how to disable parental controls on PCs, citing the "alarming gap" in technological knowledge between generations.

A third of children in the UK use blogs and social network websites but two thirds of parents do not even know what they are, according to the NCH report.

"The problem is the piecemeal way ISPs simply send parents a piece of somebody else's software to install on home PCs. Many don't know how to do it or will let it lapse. Worse than that, children with good computer skills can get around it - and we all know that most children have these skills." The industry needs to adopt technologies that monitor web traffic within the ISP and provide a simple analysis to parents, no matter which PC or software is accessing it from within a household.

[This is an issue that needs to be addressed quite urgently - see also the editorial in ISB Vol 11, issue 3 (April 2006). --Ed].

Related links: (Open in a new window.)
www.iwf.org.uk
www.dubit.co.uk
www.nch.org.uk/

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