CyberSecurity Month: Parents & Network Safeguards For Their Kids

A recent report from UK Regulator Ofcom highlighted the continuing concerns of children being online. As the UK's Online Safety Act became law about one year ago it is worth highlighting in October Cybersecurity month the access and concerns the act is trying to address and for those providing communications capabilities there are steps and capabilities to create a safer environment. Our research and that of Ofcom show is now part of everyday life for the vast majority of children.

The Ofcom data[2] shows that nearly all children (99%) now spend time online, and that nine in 10 children own a mobile phone by the time they reach the age of 11. Being online has moved from 'screen time' to an integrated, engaged experience. With concern for the nature of that engagement, parents and guardians are in a difficult position, as it is become more essential but also more difficult to attempt to moderate.

This is the source of ongoing debate in the UK with advocates on different sides either arguing for the restriction of device access (e.g. during school or by amount of time or completely) or others discussing more curation and action by the big content providers. A more nuanced conclusion here is that the complexity of online access means that content providers and communication services providers bothhave a role in helping parents and guardians take action.

Removal of devices completely is not a viable option based on the volume of devices in the market and their use being both educational and recreational; further the access to content and social media being seen as essential by the underage users. How children view their online activity is more nuanced and highlighted in the key findings section of the 2024 Ofcom report[2].

Adding some additional data here; Enea commissioned Censuswide to interview more than 4,000 parents in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain to assess their children's online activity and what additional steps can be taken to provide a safer online experience.

44% of those aged 11-15 and 30% of those aged 6-10 spent between 3 and 6 hours browsing the internet unsupervised every day during lockdown. Even parents of those aged 5 and under reported their youngsters spending at least an hour a day unsupervised on a mobile device.

Taking a look at this handy info graphic from the survey response we can summarise that more than 80% of parents/guardians said they'd absolutely welcome additional parental controls and safeguards, but there were some differing opinions when it came to sourcing these tools. Less than a quarter of all those asked said they'd trust social media providers with their child's online safety. We have seen some action on this from large content providers like Meta to address this throughout 2024 e.g. introducing teen accounts[4]. An interesting side note was that mothers seemed to be less trusting than fathers of any third party when it came to protecting their children from harmful online content.

While the survey revealed an element of distrust toward third parties, nearly 6 in 10 (58%) parents said they'd be more than happy to pay $5 to $14 more per month to provide more effective safeguard controls. Even more surprising, was that more than half (56%) of those asked said they would be willing to leave their current mobile network/communication service provider for one that offered better parental controls at the same price.

The role of CSP in protecting children online

While there are many device-based parental control products available, most children are tech-savvy and can find ways to circumvent the safeguards on laptops and phone apps. However, the parental control solutions that are network-based are harder to by-pass and provide parents with robust safeguarding mechanisms. As such, communication services providers can play a key role to protect vulnerable users on their network.

It is of course not as simple as it sounds as over 90-95% of mobile traffic is encrypted with strong safeguards preventing decryption. Therefore, the challenge for mobile operator is to deploy AI-based traffic classification systems that can instantly identify content based on statistical prediction, behavioural analysis and heuristics. This will help operators to deliver parental control solutions that are effective - now and well into the future.

Acknowledging that it is one part of the puzzle, Enea has such solution options for CSP, to be deployed, in network and with consent. These options can help enable a safer on-line experience.

Download the full exclusive report on mobile operator parental controls from Enea

Check out of traffic classification and parental control options @ https://www.enea.com/solutions/traffic-management/content-filtering/

Ofcom:

[1] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/protecting-children/how-the-online-safety-act-will-help-to-protect-children/

[2] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/children/children-media-use-and-attitudes-2024/childrens-media-literacy-report-2024.pdf?v=368229

Parental concerns on online engagement

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/17/thousands-join-uk-parents-calling-for-smartphone-free-childhood

Meta

[4] https://about.fb.com/news/2024/09/instagram-teen-accounts/

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