Japanese telecommunications giant introduces remote-control system for kids’ iPhone use

According to The Asahi Shimbun, parents can remotely monitor and control their children’s iPhone use in a new service to be introduced this month by Japanese telecommunications giant KDDI Corp., operator of mobile service provider AU, the company announced Jan. 9.
In the service due to be launched Jan. 25, parents who are AU customers can disable certain features, such as the LINE messaging app or games, on their children’s iPhones without having physical access to the devices.
Moms and dads can also check which apps their kids used the previous day and receive alerts if they are overusing their smartphones.
iPhones already have a parental control function that restricts app use, but it needs to be set manually on the device by typing in a password. KDDI’s new service, however, allows parents to install filters and make changes remotely.
Similar services are already offered by other mobile service providers for Android phones, but KDDI is the first to offer one for Apple Inc.’s iPhones.
Parents will be able to control Internet use, including filtering adult content, preventing downloads of new apps, and disabling already-installed apps through the remote-control system.
They can also set weekly timetables for when children are allowed to use their phones and particular apps.
From April, parents can also monitor how many times their children accessed specific websites and the types of content they have viewed.
The system requires both parent and child to be AU customers, and the monitoring and filtering system will be available free of charge.

Ref: http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201801100034.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/iphone-kddi
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