EE UK Boosts Parental Controls Over Children’s Smartphones

Mobile operator EE (BT) has today launched “Set Up Safe” for all UK Pay Monthly customers, which is a free new SMS service that is designed to help parents “quickly and easily set up their child’s phone with safety features” (i.e. block adult internet content, set spending caps and stop them adding extra charges to the bill etc.).

The new Set Up Safe service, which has been developed alongside not-for-profit organisation Internet Matters, offers parents a range of recommended age settings for their children’s mobile phone. By texting “Set Up Safe” to 150 from an EE device, parents can easily select their preference from the options provided over text.

After that EE will then automatically apply these to the device to safely set up the phone with restricted usage, simplifying the process for the 51% of parents who, it’s claimed, previously found the process of adding safety features to be “complicated and time consuming.”

This service includes settings such as an adult content lock, spend caps, preventing charges to bill, and blocking calls and texts to premium numbers.

Mat Sears, EE’s Consumer Corporate Affairs Director, said:

“While technology is now playing a bigger role in family life than ever before, we understand that online safety is just one of many things parents will be thinking about as their children start to head out with lockdown restrictions easing. By providing this new guidance and support to parents, we’re hoping to ease some of these anxieties about online safety and lighten the load, by giving parents the confidence and understanding needed to help children enjoy a safe online experience.”

However, the CEO of Internet Matters, Carolyn Bunting, wisely reminds that “it’s essential parents don’t rely solely on technical tools as there is no substitute to having an open dialogue with your child from a very young age and staying in tune with their digital world.”