Helping families stay safe online
We know that the internet provides great opportunities for us all but we are aware that it also presents some risks. At Sky, we feel it’s our responsibility as an internet service provider (ISP) to do all we can to protect our customers whilst online, particularly children.
To ensure we are doing all we can to protect children while online, we have a Sky Child Safety & Security Forum. This group meets regularly to discuss how best to support our customers in using parental control tools and increasing their knowledge of the internet thereby helping them to protect their families. Our child safety strategy covers three main areas, outlined below:
- Blocking illegal or harmful images
We are members of The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), who will alert us if illegal images or content are found on our websites. We will block access to these through our server once we have been made aware of them. The IWF is the only authorised organisation in the UK to whom the public can report illegal content online. Please see their website tor more information on the IWF (opens in a new window)
- Providing advice and education to families and children on safe use of the internet
We provide information to families on the safe use of the internet through our Sky security centre site, and work with Childnet International (opens in a new window), a charity that works to make the internet a great and safe place for children. Take a look at our advice for parents (opens in a new window), including educational videos, at the Sky security centre.
- Providing the tools to families to enable them to make choices on how they use the internet
We have teamed up with McAfee to provide parental control software to all our broadband customers for free. In addition to this all Sky Broadband customers are offered the full McAfee security suite when they join Sky. For more information on parental controls and advice on internet safety, take a look at our security centre site (opens in a new window)
Online Gaming
Sky offers a range of betting and gaming services under the Sky Bet, Sky Poker, Sky Vegas and Sky Bingo brands. We want our customers to enjoy our great games and sports betting products but we don’t want anyone to get carried away and spend more than they can afford.
We make it easy for our customers to gamble in a way that is fun but responsible, and have a number of self-help tools to help customers manage their gambling, for example customers can set deposit limits or, if they want to take a break, can request a 24 hour ‘cooling-off’ period.
Customers who want to stop gambling with Sky Betting and Gaming for a longer period can self-exclude from using our services for between 6 months to 5 years (any outstanding funds in the account will be returned, and we will not send any marketing materials to the customer.) We also have stringent age and identity verification measures to ensure that under-18s cannot play.
We work with GamCare, a charitable organisation that provides help and counseling to those with gambling issues, and we have been awarded with the GamCare Certification kitemark.
GamCare only awards this certification to operators that have successfully implemented the GamCare Code of Conduct for responsible gambling. We also work with a number of other independent charitable organisations who can offer further help and advice.
For more information on our responsible gambling processes please see Sky’s Keeping Gambling Fun (opens in a new window)