Press Releases

05 November 2007

The NSPCC is today (5 November) renewing its call for child safety software to be built into every new computer after discovering that major PC retailers are failing to offer parents programmes to protect their children.

Staff from the children's charity acting as customers, found that only two out of twenty-eight stores visited were able to offer any clear and authoritative advice when asked what software was available. *

Guidance given by stores included offering software which was not child friendly and would not block access to illegal or undesirable sites. Another suggestion was to filter out every unwanted adult site - there are over a million of these** with more appearing everyday - by entering the web address manually. Some stores had no advice or software to offer. 

The warning comes amid increasing concern over children's easy access to sexually explicit material, violent images and exposure to online sexual predators. Despite research showing nearly sixty percent of children access the internet everyday and one in three have a computer in their room, there are scant safeguards to protect them. ***

Zoe Hilton, policy advisor at the NSPCC, said: "The internet has created a whole new world where children are free to come and go as they please. They hang out and make friends, just as they do in the playground at school. We need to wake up to the fact that threats to children online are no less real than in the wider world.

"For some time we have been calling on companies to help by pre-installing software which is set to a high level of security. Parents can also help by educating their children about how to stay safe online. We cannot always protect children from seeing abusive, pornographic or violent material. Nor can we always keep them safe from individuals who are intent on causing harm, but this is a basic safeguard that the industry should be taking."

Parents can ensure that their child is surfing the net safely by:

• Placing the computer where the whole family can use it rather than out of sight in the bedroom
• Talking with their children about what kind of sites are safe.
• Telling their child to keep their identity private online.
• Making sure their child is as cautious of strangers online as they would be in the real world.
• Explaining to children that they should never meet up with someone online without telling an adult they trust.

The NSPCC's latest campaign is calling on the public to Be the FULL STOP and take action to help end cruelty to children. People can lobby the computer industry by visiting www.bethefullstop.com and sending an e-postcard calling for pre-installation of software.

The Home Office will shortly introduce a 'kitemark' scheme to give parents greater confidence when buying child safety software. Manufacturers will have to comply with an independent standard to gain accreditation.

The NSPCC is closely monitoring progress on this issue.

End

NSPCC media office on 0207 825 2835 out of hours mobile 07976 206625

Notes to editors

* The NSPCC visited 28 major retailers acting as a buyer, stressing the computer would be used by a child who would be using the internet. At the first 14 stores we asked what computer was suitable for a young person to use and what software did we need to buy to go with it. No store offered or mentioned child safety software/parental controls. In the next 14 stores when we directly asked what child safety software was available, only two stores were able to offer clear and authoritative advice.

** The number of porn sites has increased eighteenfold, to 1.3 million, since 1998, National Research Council.

*** Statistic taken from CEOP ThinkuKnow educational campaign.

• The NSPCC's purpose is to end cruelty to children FULL STOP. Its vision is of a society where all children are loved, valued and able to fulfil their potential. The NSPCC runs 180 projects and services across the United Kingdom and Channel Islands, including ChildLine, the UK's free, confidential 24-hour helpline for children and young people. The NSPCC helps over 10,000 children and their families every year.
• The FULL STOP campaign was launched following the NSPCC's National Commission of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse in 1996 which took evidence from more than 10,000 people. One of the most resounding conclusions from the inquiry was that child abuse can almost always be prevented providing people are prepared to take positive action. Throughout FULL STOP all sectors of life in the UK, including government, companies and organisations have joined the millions of NSPCC supporters backing the campaign.
• The Kitemark scheme is due to be introduced by the Home Office shortly. It will provide the minimum requirement needed for manufacturers of access control systems to obtain a kitemarked product or service and provide parents and carers with greater confidence.
              
  In order to gain accreditation the child safety software must:-
  - prohibit access to internet-based content that is not suitable or desirable eg adult (sexually explicit) content or material containing violent images, videos and text;
  - prohibit communications via internet-based services that are not suitable or desirable eg instant messaging clients or P2P sharing;
  - prevent unauthorised users from changing or disabling the access control system; and,
  - obtain a default level of protection upon implementation with no user intervention (except install where required).