Parents may soon have another front on which to wage the battle to protect their kids from indecent content cell phones. Playboy magazine recently announced that they are developing technology that will allow wireless phone users to download adult-theme pictures, ringtones, and games to their cell phones. Other adult-content providers are sure to not be far behind in trying to cash in on this new distribution channel.
With more and more teens and pre-teens carrying cellular phones, concerned parents should start thinking now about ways to protect their children from content they might not be comfortable with. Some common sense tips to help protect your children include keeping an eye on your monthly wireless phone bills. If you see unexplained charges for wireless downloads (anywhere from 99¢ on up), be sure to check with your children to see what they are downloading.
Check with your wireless carrier to find out if there are ways to prevent access to and downloading of adult content. Also, your wireless carrier may be able to recommend handsets that do not have access to advance web browsing or downloading capabilities to begin with.
Subscribers often pay a monthly fee for a wireless data or Internet package. If you rarely use these services and want to make sure that your children can’t use their phones to get online, consider removing those options from your calling plan.
"Source: Telecommunications Research and Action Center. http://www.trac.org"
Note: Our prepaid VIVA (CDMA) and Locus/Oxygen (GSM) services protects your children by denying Web access.
