Starbucks response about blocking Sex Education Websites

This blog is blocked in Starbucks free WiFi, I had a little poke around and found a few other SRE sites blocked (some of which now seem to have been unblocked). I sent an email to Starbucks about my concerns and today I received this reply. Always nice to get a reply but sadly it doesn't seem to actually say that much. Why is Sex and Relationship Education information blocked? Is the content of this blog a danger to young people?

Dear Gareth,

Thank you for contacting Starbucks.

We appreciate you sharing your concerns regarding Wi-Fi in our stores and I would like to assure you that we have been working on a solution with our provider, BT, which means that customers get the right balance between the protection and the freedom they want and need online. We are close to implementing this solution and part of it will be to restrict access to sites which are not deemed appropriate to view in a busy public environment.

BT has also shared the following information regarding this issue:

“Wi-Fi at our partner sites has traditionally been a business service, largely paid for by credit or debit card and therefore limited to adult customers. Now that some retail premises like to offer Wi-Fi for free, the need for parental controls has developed. BT will be in a position to offer these to its site partners by the end of the year.”

I can assure you that I have documented your feedback and forwarded it to the appropriate department in our corporate office for their attention.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us. We hope to welcome you back to your local store soon.

Sincerely,

Gretta
customer service

Comments

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