TalkTalk filtered access

The internet service provider TalkTalk has said customers will automatically receive filtered access to the internet unless they opt out.

In a blog post, TalkTalk said it would prompt customers to review their settings every 12 months.

Sky announced last week that it would also be activating filters for inappropriate content by default for all its customers.

Talk Talk Internet AccessBT and Virgin have yet to reveal any proposals for automatic filters.

Prime Minister David Cameron has previously called on ISPs to offer services with pre-activated filters in the interests of family safety.

TalkTalk customers are presented with information about the HomeSafe filter activation in their account settings pages.

“We pre-tick the ‘on’ option, but it’s the customer’s choice,” wrote TalkTalk spokeswoman Alex Birtles on the firm’s blog.

“Filters will only ever be applied if the customer has consented and they’re able to change their mind or edit their level of protection at any point.”

Those who have not yet visited the settings page will be confronted with a pop-up box if they try to access a web page that would be blocked by the filter, Ms Birtles added.
‘No silver bullet’

Like most filters, HomeSafe does not block material accessed via a web proxy or Virtual Private Network (VPN).

“There is no silver bullet when it comes to internet safety and we have always been clear that no solution can ever be 100%,” said the firm on its website in a section for businesses who feel their sites have been unfairly blocked by the filter.

According to the website blocked.org, a project by the Open Rights Group (ORG), around 11% of the 100,000 top websites (according to Amazon-owned analytics firm Alexa) are currently blocked by default filters.

“Censorship should never be turned on by default,” Jim Killock, executive director of ORG told the BBC last week.

“Filters block all kinds of websites, including some that provide useful advice to children and young people.”

SOURCE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30982552 – 26th January 2015