The pornography filtering
system praised by David Cameron is controlled by the controversial
Chinese company Huawei, the BBC has learned.
UK-based employees at the firm are able to decide which sites TalkTalk's net filtering service blocks.Politicians in both the UK and US have raised concerns about alleged close ties between Huawei and the Chinese government.
The company says the worries are without foundation and prejudiced.
On Monday the Prime Minister said TalkTalk had shown "great leadership" in setting up its system, Homesafe, which it has offered to customers since 2011.
TalkTalk told the BBC it was comfortable with its relationship with Huawei, and that the service was very popular.
Homesafe is a voluntary scheme which allows subscribers to select categories - including social media, gambling and pornography - that they want blocked.
Customers who do not want filtering still have their traffic routed through the system, but matches to Huawei's database are dismissed rather than acted upon.
Accountability question Mr Cameron has demanded similar measures be adopted by all internet service providers (ISPs) in the UK, to "protect our children and their innocence".
He said ISPs would be monitored to ensure filtering was done correctly, but that they should choose their own preferred solution.
However, one expert insisted that private companies should not hold power over blacklists, and that the responsibility should lie with an independent group.
source [[ bbc ]]
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