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Posted on October 8th, 2009 by Steve Cassidy
The mystery of Vodafone’s mobile broadband filtering
Whatever your views on porn, I’m sure you will agree with me when I say that content filtering just seems like such a good idea. How nice to be able to decide what you see, especially when it seems that makers of adult materials go through occasional phases of trying their utmost to stick something in front of you when you’re looking for something else.
When that happens, I’d like my content filtering services not so much as a way of protecting my innocence, but more so I can just do my stuff without interruption. So I am having serious trouble understanding exactly what is driving the content filter on Vodafone’s 3G dongle service.
Some days, whole swathes of the net are invisible – not because they are known to be rude, but because Vodafone claims it can’t even decide whether they are rude, or not. Vodafone’s content filter is offline, so to be on the safe side it just bars all accesses to marked sites.
On those days you can read the BBC, and that’s it. Other days the filter is up – and then it just acts in the most absurd ways. I have an email address on GMail, and another on Yahoo UK: the Yahoo one is blissfully silent, the GMail one gets skiploads of sp*m, weird offers from weird sites, all the usual nonsense (I have the great pleasure of a client who actually work on supporting Pfizer, so we had to test their proxy filters to actually pass “V*agra”. That GMail account has never been the same since.)
Naturally, Vodafone decided last week that the Yahoo mail page qualified as “adult”, and the GMail one didn’t. Even a passing read of the GMail one would, you think, have triggered like crazy because last month I ended up at Moorfileds Eye Hospital being treated for Uveitis, and one of the pre-existing triggers for that is Syphilis!
So (as you would) I went away and researched extensively, using the GMail account as my return point for my questions. Happily for me, I got every conceivable type of all-clear both on the eye thing and on it’s possible trigger – and unhappily for Vodafone, their service didn’t even whisper about content blocking that site or those messages.
Ah you say, maybe it’s smart enough to distinguish medical research from prurient one-handed surfing (or the wages of sin): in which case my response is, if that’s so how come it allows in the content of the GMail inbox, but bars the content of the GMail chat service frame within it? And what changed about my Yahoo mailbox between last week (when it was BAAAAAD) and this week, when it is sweet, innocent and blameless?
If the gap between the concept of content blocking and it’s execution is this wide, then I think I’ll take the option of unblocked access, however irritating that might become. Vodafone may feel it has a duty of care to protect the tender eyeballs of its customers and staff, and I don’t disagree with either logic: but the network really has to do a much better job of surfacing its basis for blocking than it’s managing right now!
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October 8th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Orange has similarly silly filtering. They blocked access to one page on a client’s intranet. The client was a pubco, and a drop-down on that page listed a selection of their pubs.
One of those pubs was called the Black Cock.
The trouble with the network filters is that they simply rely on trigger words or phrases, without any sense of context.
October 8th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I live in Italy and have just received a bill of €482.77, mainly for data charges. Apparently I was accessing wap.vodafone.it not web.vodafone.it (a setting I couldn’t change) and despite having a 10 hour a day unlimited data bundle, they have seen fit not to advise me of this for several months and needlessly charge me hundreds upon hundreds of euros. I’m an Italian resident, so it’s not even like I’m being shylocked by roaming premiums! Extortion! Any advice??
October 8th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
contest it, of course, though I can’t say that you’re guaranteed to get a refund. A client passed through NYC on a trip with roaming data turned on and came home to a bill for £1,100: O2 refused to send the traffic logs with the domain names left in due to “data protection” (of course…) but would send the IP addresses of the servers accessed. We pointed out that the phone log and the billing log were nowhere near similar, and perhaps he’d been cloned, unawares: O2 refunded his account – or more accurately, left his phone bill 1,050 in credit.
It was then they discovered that he’s a lawyer.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
My mobile phone company (3) bars access to b3ta.co.uk and takes me to a page that provides links to:
Playboy TV, Planet XXX, Fetish XXX TV, Hot Lesbian, Bi Guys, Non Stop XXX, Gay XXX Videos, Raw XXX Videos and Channel 69 TV. I’m not sure what is on those pages but I presume it’s worse than the occasional swearing on b3ta.
October 8th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Oopsy, I meant b3ta.com
October 11th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I bought a vodafone 3g for use when I’m away. The first time i tried to use was to download a Divx codec and the content filter blocked it. I tried a few other things. Vodafone’s 3G dongle is useless with content filtering enabled.
October 11th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
(yes James, I know. I’m hoping that the strange worlds of Google and PR will conspire to bring my rant to Vodafone’s attention)
October 14th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I work for Vodafone UK, and (even though I’m not a high-up in the company) I can answer a few of these questions. Firstly: Gmail inboxes are encrypted with SSL. There is no way for Vodafone to view this information, nor would it be legal for us to filter it. Please note however that this bar (we call it content control) causes us FAR more problems than you would believe. If we had the choice it would be disabled by default, but unfortunately UK laws do not allow us to do that and to also still sell prepay versions of our 3G internet dongles that do not require registration. Likewise for the other uk network operators that actually offer prepay versions of their mobile internet services.
The bar is designed to block any content that could potentially be inappropriate for people under the age of 18. That includes: Alcohol-related websites, gambling sites, and of course, adult-only content. In addition, it may seem “random” at times because it also filters entire sites based on adverts certain sites show – if they are related to any of the categories listed above, then it will be blocked until the filter is updated (approximately 6 times a day). Please note that that was not an extensive list simply because we haven’t been given an extensive list – however, it would stand to reason that sites with excessive use of bad language may also be blocked, as I have found myself.
@rob That is indeed a setting you have full control over. I’m sure some reasonable middle ground can be arranged between you and Vodafone Italy, but because that setting is stored on your phone (Usually called APN name or access point address, in the internet settings part of your phone), it means your phone was misconfigured. GPRS data is far cheaper for the network, and for you, because it’s billed per byte rather than on a timescale. Older devices with basic internet connectivity often require the older WAP connectivity to be active, and unfortunately that’s billed just like a phone call – per minute even if you’re downloading nothing. I do understand that though, it happens quite often, and even though in the UK we generally offer refunds if it’s below £20, I’m expecting you’ll need to battle with Vodafone Italy to get them to reimburse you. One tip would be to not give up when speaking to customer services, and don’t get angry at the advisor you speak to – quite often there just isn’t anything they can do. If that happens ask to speak to their supervisor or manager, who can usually email the higher-ups to determine a reasonable outcome.
October 14th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Alan, thanks for the response, it’s all interesting stuff. I’d like to be able to have a full conversation on the pressures on Vodafone and others (for instance, I don’t see what the pre-pay issue is, since mine is a contract dongle, and I’d love to understand who actually maintains and justifies the ban list(s))…
If you can ask your internal PR team to get in touch with me, let’s see if we can take this further,.
October 15th, 2009 at 2:51 am
I like this idea. they should just implement into computers already. schools/library etc. In the long run. It probably won’t work…
No need, I tried theres moniters the other day. No reason to make it 3D how about it projects 3D and only can see with those glasses like minority reports.
Two Voices | Two Guys
October 27th, 2009 at 11:24 am
In my point of view vodafone services are the best services
July 10th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I’m trying to access hackaday.com but since the filter list management are clueless I cant. A very good reason why manditory censorship is a very bad idea. Fortunately I can RDC out of the country to a place where this sort of rediculousness does not exist.