Marketplace - O2 Ireland

O 2 Corporate Responsibility Report 2010
Marketplace
Child Protection Programme
O2 is committed to “creating an environment in which children can safely use information and
communication technologies”. That is why we provide parents and children with the tools and
information they need to use our products and services safely. Throughout 2010 we continued to
implement this policy objective. We follow the principles of the Irish Cellular Industry Association’s
(ICIA) voluntary Code of Practice on the responsible and secure use of mobile phones.
Chambers Ireland CSR Awards
We are members of the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) and we abide
by its code. We also promote hotline.ie, the online specialist reporting service from the ISPAI to
combat illegal child pornography online. We have a number of controls to help parents and their
children stay safe while using a mobile phone. Internet access controls are in place where parents
can register on their child’s mobile phone account and tailor or block their child’s access to the
internet. We have age verification procedures where anyone who buys a prepay phone must
show proof of age in order to be granted access to age-restricted content.
Under the Telefónica umbrella, O2 in Ireland is a signatory to the European Framework on Safer
Mobile Use by Younger Teenagers and Children and we are committed to providing advice, raising
awareness and ensuring proper controls are in place regarding access to inappropriate content.
During 2010 we concentrated on training up our frontline retail staff on our child protection
measures. The aim of this training programme was to help retail staff to assist parents with
queries about keeping children safe while using a mobile phone. Throughout the year, we also
updated our Checklist for Parents and our Child Protection website - www.o2.ie/childprotection
Cyberbullying - Block It
Cyberbullying refers to bullying using technology such as mobile phones, email, internet forums,
chat rooms and social networking sites and remains an issue in our sector. In 2009, we launched
a new service called Block It to help overcome the problem of bullying on mobile phones. Block
It is free of charge and allows customers to block unwanted text, picture and video messages
from other mobile phone numbers. The service can block messages sent from any Irish mobile
network and works on any mobile handset. To initially set up the service, customers can simply
text BLOCK IT START to 50216. Once registered, to block a number the customer texts the
word BLOCK and the mobile phone number go 50216. This will stop all text, picture and video
messages coming from this number.
During the year Block It received national and international recognition. In September 2010, Block
It helped O2 to win the Marketplace Customer section at the Chambers Ireland CSR Awards.
Block It was also chosen as an example of a Best Practice Corporate Responsibility initiative by
CSR Europe. As a result, O2 was selected to showcase Block It at the CSR Europe Enterprise 2020
event in Brussels in October 2010. This event featured a showcase of Best practice CSR examples
amongst 40 leading European businesses.