Parental control

[Lupanar]

I'm 66 old and I don't know why sky tour on the parental controls in my phone, I'm trying to turn it off but they ask for my credit card number and I don't have any, I hold just a debit card, but the system doesn't accept it, what kind stupid rule is that? Am I now forced to have a debt card to have control over my phone?

[PandJ2020 · Accepted solution]

The reason why a credit card is required as these can only be issued at 18.  (Debit cards can be issued to children)

If you have a credit agreement with Sky then call them (150) and ask for the control to be removed.

Alternatively, borrow a credit card from someone (it's not charged).

[caesarome]

Do you have a mobile phone contract with Sky or do you just pay for a sim each month ?

The reason I ask is because if you are paying for a mobile then you will have signed a credit agreement as this is someone that is aged 18 and over is so Skybwill already know that you are f an age that the parental controls settings can be changed.

[Lupanar]

Considering your explanation that a minor under 18 cannot have a credit card, what guarantees that a minor would not secretly take the parent's credit card to turn off parental control? The parents will never suspect (and much less Sky) since no amount is debited from the account.

[63johnw]

Nothing @Lupanar  but sky have to put things in place, sky can't be responsible if people are going to act illegally. If you can suggest a better method we can forward it to sky ?

[Lupanar]

I think that if I have a contract, if I pay my bill with my debit card and not with a credit card, Sky should also accept this option since no one is obliged to have a credit card and, as I have demonstrated, there is no security whatsoever in this only option. I also think that in the name of our freedom of choice, parental control should be turned off and it would be up to me, as the owner and user of the line, to turn it on or off. the company cannot and should not, in my opinion, try to control its customers, besides it being a waste of time having to call customer service and having to occupy attendants and supervisors with a personal issue that I could resolve myself or not have to deal with.

[63johnw]

But if it's turned off by default then children receiving their new phones would have access to adult sites, more of an issue for me than having to get it turned off but that's just my opinion. 

[Daniel0210]

@Lupanar 

I agree with @63johnw there. The onus should be on the account holder switching the parental controls off. This would appear to be Skys thinking as well. Safeguarding customers particularly children will be a high priority. 

[PandJ2020]

I think we'd be seeing a lot more complaints if it was off by default...

There's no perfect solution but, on balance, I think it's right.

If you do have a credit agreement with Sky then they do accept this as evidence of being an adult even if you pay by debit card.

No solution is foolproof but I doubt many kids are raiding their parents wallets to access blocked content.  Ofcom would expect reasonable measures,  not foolproof ones.

[Lupanar]

For a child to have a mobile phone, their parents need to buy it and give it to them, and it would be up to them to control these mobile phones and not the company, that's what I think.

[Lupanar]

I still think that a password is much safer than a credit card. The sky could ask for my password to let me control my phone. No child has access to their father's or mother's password. It is much more difficult to discover someone's password, as long as it is not a hacker than to secretly reach into the parents' wallet, which is normally visible, and secretly take the credit card and copy the data to use later.

[Lupanar]

This is what banks do with their customers, they ask for the password and not for a credit card to confirm that I am over 18