BT internet filter to protect all devices including smartphones and tablets

BT has announced today that its new parental controls for filtering adult material will apply to all devices including smartphones and tablets.

New subscribers will automatically have the controls implemented and they will be given a choice to opt-out at sign up. According to BT, existing customers will be contacted throughout 2014 and asked if they want to set up the controls.

Although parental controls are nothing new, they usually apply to the home desktop PC. The move to extend them to all devices is new territory.

"Strict, moderate and light" filter levels will be available to the account holder alongisde the option to turn the filter off at particular times to act as a "watershed".

Wise up

To prepare customers for the changes, BT has been quietly testing the new controls with customers and "interested groups", including Mumsnet, the UK's biggest network for parents.

BT is also working with other ISPs to "increase awareness and education around online safety for children." In a pan-ISP marketing campaign called 'Internet Matters: Learn about it. Talk about it. Deal with it' BT has dedicated £1.5 million to a joint marketing fund, although it's not clear who the other ISPs are and how much they've contributed.

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