Mandatory Parental Control: Watch Out For Scam Apps

All telephone operators automatically activate Parental Control on SIMs registered to minors, but how to do it on SIMs written to adults?

From 21 November 2023, the obligation to activate Parental Control for SIMs registered in the name of minors came into force. A burden on telephone operators, established by the Communications Regulatory Authority with AGCOM resolution 9/23/CONS, which in turn puts into practice a decision already taken way back in 2020.

The purpose of mandatory Parental Control is to prevent minors from accessing, via smartphone, online content deemed dangerous: videos for adults (including pornographic), sites that talk about weapons, violence, discrimination, religious sects, gambling and betting, unscientific practices that can damage health and, finally, anonymizers (apps that make browsing anonymous).

This system has received much praise but also some criticism, and the main one is that AGCOM has established that operators must prevent minors from accessing this content but has not said how. And this leaves a massive door open for scammers, who, with the excuse of activating parental controls, can convince users to download dangerous apps.

Parental Control: How It Works For Minors

The first thing we need to know to protect ourselves from the risks just described is that if the SIM is registered to a minor, then there is nothing to activate, nothing to download: Parental Control is started” from above ” by the operator’s telephone.

In this case, therefore, if we receive a message saying that it is necessary to activate Parental Control or that we can do it ” at this link “, it means that it is a scam.

If we remember who the SIM is registered to, however, we avoid falling into the trap. For this reason, it is helpful to call the telephone operator’s customer support and ask to speak to an operator who will be able to remove this doubt.

Also Read: Types And Types Of DDoS Protection

Parental Control: How It Works In Other Cases

The most frequent case, however, is another: that of a SIM purchased by an adult and then passed on to a minor. In such cases, the activation of Parental Control must actually be requested by the SIM owner, and it is not automatic.

And here, the donkey could fall because not all telephone operators have the same procedure for activating and deactivating Parental Control on a SIM registered in the name of an adult.

Most operators allow you to do this from the official app (MyTim, My Vodafone, MyFastweb). Still, some operators require the user to send an email to customer service to activate or deactivate Parental Control.
Customers of Very Mobile, i.e. WindTre’s virtual operator, must, for example, send an email to the address servizioclienti1929@pec.verymobile.it specifying in the subject ” Activation of Minors’ Protection ” or ” Deactivation of Minors’

But WindTre customers need help to do that: Customer service recommends downloading third-party apps, like Google Family Link.

For this reason, if you want to activate Parental Control without risking anything on a SIM registered to an adult, we can only advise you to contact your operator and check, case by case, whether it is possible to do so from the official app or if you need to download a third-party app.

However, under no circumstances do we recommend clicking on a link received via email or SMS.

Also Read: What Is The QR Code, And What Is It For