Internet access and usage across the population has grown. At the same time the concept of the web as a vast encyclopaedia has changed as internet applications have become more sophisticated and interactive. Although this development is a positive one, users leading busy lives can struggle to keep up with the rate of change. In particular, there is concern that vulnerable members of society, such as children, do not always receive the assistance they need to control the content they access over the internet.
Since the advent of the web this has been a concern. Filters were developed to block them but parents remain concerned about the instant messaging, email and peer-to-peer file sharing.
The Home Office Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet, a partnership between government, industry, law enforcement agencies and children's charities aims to make the UK the best and safest place in the world for children to use the internet and help protect children the world over from abuse fuelled by criminal misuse of new technologies.
The Internet Watch Foundation was launched in September 1996 to combat the problem of illegal material on the internet, with particular reference to child pornography. It is an independent organisation set up to implement proposals jointly agreeed by the Government and police and two major UK organisations representing internet service providers - ISPA and LINX.
The Home Office Hi Tech Crime Team and Ofcom sponsored the development of a standard and Kitemark scheme for internet service providers and software products with the objective of protecting children from undesirable features of internet technology.
The project was a collaboration involving BSI as the UK's National Standards Body, the Home Office, Ofcom and representatives of ISPs and application developers to raise the standard of filtering, monitoring and blocking applications for the UK market .
