TalkTalk is the first ISP in the UK to introduce a content filtering service for home users that enables them to block access to types of website at the network level. The HomeSafe service, launched this week, claims to offer users more effective protection against malware and greater control for parents, for example, over what kinds of online content can be accessed by children in the home.

The HomeSafe system uses Huawei-Symantec technology to filter HTTP traffic over TCP port 80 – when an HTTP access is made the system will pick out the URL and check for matches in a TalkTalk database. If a match is made in one of the categories selected by the user a 404 error code will be returned along with notification that the page has been blocked. Among the “bad” categories are sites that have been scanned by TalkTalk and found to contain known malware – if a HomeSafe user requests a URL that returns a match for one these they will receive a pop-up warning.

In simple terms the HomeSafe system extends to the user some control over blocking that is already in place for all TalkTalk customers – the ISP already runs a system that will block access to websites listed by the Internet Watch Foundation as containing child sexual abuse images, for example. Almost all UK ISPs have some type of blocking system that uses this list. Similarly, TalkTalk filters and email spam at their mail servers and scans for malware.

However, the HomeSafe service launches at a time when online privacy is under greater scrutiny and toughening regulation – as evidenced by new guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), requiring online service providers to inform users about what data is collected about them, what it is used for, and who has access to it. A possible area of concern about HomeSafe is that even customers who don’t opt in to the service will have their URL requests entered into the HomeSafe database, albeit in a form that can’t be linked to an individual, or so it is claimed.

In addition, TalkTalk received a rap on the knuckles from the ICO about an earlier trial of a malware filtering service in September 2010. At that time, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham expressed concern that its customers had not been adequately informed. Privacy issues aside, there is some support for moves to make all ISPs offer something like this service, notably a campaign by Claire Perry MP.

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