Safeguards in place to protect children from inappropriate content – USF
THE UNIVERSAL Service Fund (USF) has sought to assure that it has adequate safeguards in place to protect members of the public, in particular children, from inappropriate content at locations where it has installed free public Wi-Fi service.
Currently, seven town centres/ locations are connected to free public Wi-Fi, courtesy of the USF, as part of its ‘Connect JA’ project. They are Mandela Park, Devon House, Olympic Way, and Emancipation Park in St Andrew; St William Grant Park in downtown Kingston; Cecil Charlton Park in Mandeville, Manchester; and Junction, St Elizabeth.
“The USF intends to establish at least one public Wi-Fi hotspot in each parish. The plan is to establish four new free public Wi-Fi hotspots each financial year, beginning this year,” said Deleen Powell, director of communications at the USF.
“The next Wi-Fi hotspot is to be established by the USF in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay.”
She said firewalls have been established by the USF to prevent access to inappropriate or lewd content by all individuals that use the public Wi-Fi hotspot network.
“These safeguards have been put in place by the USF as well as by the Internet service provider (ISP) at each location,” Powell assured.
In terms of how often checks are conducted to ensure that the security measures are working, Powell said these are made by the agency’s project officers at each of the sites to verify quality of service, including security measures at least once per month.
“The agency is very satisfied with the system currently in place to block inappropriate content, as these safety measures are being implemented in partnership with the Internet service providers. Plans are also afoot to ramp up the remote monitoring capabilities of the USF in relation to its public Wi-Fi hotspots,” Powell reiterated.
EDUCATE THE PUBLIC
She noted that the USF also works closely with the CyberIncident Response Team based in the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology (MSET) to educate the public about cyberthreats and to inform them of their personal responsibility in safeguarding their data and devices when online to minimise their vulnerability to attacks from cybercriminals.
The USF is an agency under the MSET mandated to ensure access to information and communication tools to facilitate development. It has invested billions of dollars to provide Internet access to Jamaicans across the island.
Up to March this year, the USF had completed more than 300 community access points (CAP) throughout the country. CAPs enable community members to use the Internet at minimal or no cost to them to facilitate research, bill payments, education, communication, business, marketing, and social networking.
– L.S.