Our reputation as a business people can trust is influenced by many factors. By day-to-day experiences of our products and services, how we respond to issues that concern our customers, how we operate as a business and the way we support and develop our people. As a business we know that we have responsibilities to all of the Sky community. Find out more about Sky by visiting the Sky Corporate site (opens in a new window)
Focusing on the right things
To make sure we are getting this right each year we ask those that have a stake in Sky’s success what they expect from us. We share with them our existing plans and seek their feedback on our activities. We have focused our initiatives in The Bigger Picture on three areas in particular where we believe we can make a real difference: opening up the arts to more people, encouraging participation in sport and helping create a healthy environment. Our contribution is underpinned by a commitment to taking responsibility and to doing the right thing, for example in areas such as child safety.
Through this years engagement process we were told that we could use our influence as a broadcaster to a greater extent; that delivering great service to our customers is essential; that we need to continue to provide the tools to our customers to help them use our products responsibly and safely; and that as a major UK company we should help our suppliers become more sustainable. We are constantly working to ensure that we meet and exceed these expectations.
Giving families the tools they need
Today more than ever we benefit from greater access to information and entertainment made possible through advances in technology. From multi-channel TV, which brings hundreds of new channels and programmes into our lives, to the internet which can open up the world to children but could also present risks to them. With so much going on we know our customers want to make sure they can manage what their families watch on TV and access online.
Parental controls and PIN protection on TV
Sky provides market leading controls to help families manage what their children watch. Our parental control features include age rating filters to prevent the viewing of selected programmes. They also let customers restrict access to specific channels completely or from 8pm, and the adult channel can be completely removed from the listings screen. Parental control can also monitor spending on Sky Box Office and online. Access to classified films broadcast during the day is also protected via a PIN.
Helping families stay safe online
This year we set up a Sky Child Safety Forum which meets regularly to discuss how best to protect the safety of children online. Our internet child safety strategy covers three main areas: blocking illegal or harmful images; providing advice and education to families and children on safe use of the internet; and providing the tools to families to enable them to make choices on how they use the internet.
To this end, we have teamed up with McAfee to provide an internet security suite on all Sky Broadband products for the first 12 months, and this year extended this to include free McAfee parental control software to all our broadband customers for life. For more information on parental controls and advice on internet safety, take a look at our security centre site (opens in a new window).
We are working with a number of organisations who are supporting us with our online safety aims. For example, we have a relationship with Childnet International, a charity that works with others to make the internet a great and safe place for children. Take a look at the Childnet International website (opens in a new window) and download the Know it All guidance and advice.
We are a member of the Internet Watch Foundation, the only authorised organisation in the UK which provides an internet hotline for the public to report their exposure to illegal content online. It also aims to minimise the availability of potentially illegal content.