Orange offers free security and parental control software

Parental controls and the safety of children online is a hot topic at the moment, and while last week saw a confusing time when no-one was sure whether parental controls would be opt-in or opt-out for new customers at four major providers, Orange quietly announced an offer to give customers free access to controls for 12 months.

Broadband providers offering some form of anti-virus control is nothing new, but Orange are offering both Anti Virus and parental controls via McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2012 + Parental controls free for 12 months for both existing and new customers on Orange's home broadband services. The second 12 months will be half price if people decide to continue to use it.

Last week saw a lot of discussion on network level filters, which carry the advantage of filtering everything from desktop's and laptops, to WiFi enabled phones, tablets and games consoles. Alas, in a household with a varying range of ages these can often be very restrictive, which is where controls that run on the computer itself can be more useful. The correct solution is very much down to the individuals choice at this time, though one can envisage the situation arising when mandatory network based controls are applied. Whether this happens in the UK depends a lot on how individuals and those responsible for children in their care decide to manage internet access for children.