IT ministry to evaluate parental control software

SafeNet software, whose development will be evaluated today, is being tested by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). It enables parents to monitor their children's calls and messages, establish content restrictions for them, and observe their live location. With R&D assistance from MeitY, the SafeNet software was created by the Kerala-based Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham's Centre for Internet Studies and Artificial Intelligence.

In a meeting held in November by the Department of Telecommunications recommended that this app should be preloaded by the mobile, computer and laptop manufacturers.

With R&D support from MeitY, the app has been developed by the Centre for Internet Studies and Artificial Intelligence of the Kerala-based Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.

“MEITY has developed an application named ‘Safenet’ for parental control for PC/tablets/mobile phones for use by parents which is under testing. All the participants were served with document of Safenet, provided by MEITY, to take their valuable comments immediately so that MEITY may launch (including uploading the App on Google Playstrore [sic]) the App at the earliest,” as per the minutes of the meeting convened at Sanchar Bhawan on November 23, 2023.

The minutes of the meeting also revealed that the Internet Service Providers Association of India has recommended to pre-install the app in mobile phones, laptops and personal computers. The industry body requested the ministry to “take appropriate action with respective manufacturers”. Members of the association include Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Tata Communications, ACT Fibernet and Hathway, among others.

The SafeNet app allows parents to set up content filters for their children’s phones, get detailed YouTube activity insights, manage how much time a child spends on each domain, and block “age-inappropriate” content, according to its website. If the parent and the child use the same phone, both versions of the app -- meant for parent and child --- can be installed on the same phone.