Kenya: Orange Introduces Parental Control Feature on its 21Mbps Modems
By Staff Writer
NAIROBI-- Integrated telecommunications services provider Orange has recorded yet another first in data services, with the introduction of a Parental Control feature on its new high speed modems.
The 3G (21 Mbps) modems, that were introduced earlier in the month, will give parents and guardians the ability to restrict access to some websites, with a view to protecting minors under their care from being exploited by the increasing number of cybercriminals.
Launching the unique and timely feature, the Chief Executive Officer of Telkom Kenya - Orange, Mickael Ghossein, noted that the move was informed by concerns across the world, regarding the protection of children from unwarranted content on the internet.
“As we continue asserting our position as an integrated telecommunications services provider, we do attach great importance to ensuring that the technology that we deploy is put to the best use, that is most beneficial to both our customers and those that they interact with,” he said.
The new value added feature assigns parents the network administrator’s role, giving them the power to effectively restrict web content that unsupervised minors can access. Users will be required to enter a password that is mapped to different levels of protection assigned to the different levels of protection. “Parents/ guardians will be able to select from three levels of control: Junior, Teenager or Adult, based on the users of the computer - and there are different icons that indicate the status of the features,” Ghossein explained.
He added, “While the benefits of the internet when used correctly are innumerable, we are also aware of the fact that it poses numerous risks such as pornography and other cyber crimes”.
Ghossein added that with the modems, parents will enjoy some peace of mind knowing that by deploying the password controlled feature, their children will not be able to access websites that would predispose them to unwanted and unfavourable content.
To activate the parental control feature, parents and guardians will only be required to get on to the Orange website www.orange.co.ke, to install the parental control feature. They will simply be prompted to put in a password that will activate the feature.
The CEO added that the parental control feature has also been designed to run automatically, whenever the computer is switched on.
The launch of the new feature comes just days after stakeholders in the ICT sector held an Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi, to discuss strict measures aimed at protecting children against cyber-based crimes.