Friendly Wifi Certification

Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Senior Deputy Speaker]

The noble Lord raises another very important issue. Parliament already has extremely strong cyber defences beyond filtering and blocking technology. Parliament is clearly a high-profile target that is under cyberattack every minute of the day, and our specialised cyber defences protect against these. I should also say that the filtering software in place to ensure safe wifi across Parliament categorises new content continuously as it comes online to ensure ongoing protection.

[Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Lab)]

My Lords, when I asked my noble friend about the background to this question, I was both puzzled and quite surprised by the answer and information that she gave me, given the number of public bodies and others that have signed up to this scheme. Although I appreciate the points made about the quality of the techniques that we currently have, surely it is in the interests of children that it can be perceived that Parliament is supporting a scheme that is of much wider applicability than just to us. Could the Senior Deputy Speaker say that it is surely to the advantage of Parliament and the wider public to show that the institution of Parliament is promoting this scheme?

[The Senior Deputy Speaker]

My Lords, again, it was the Prime Minister of the day who forwarded and promoted this scheme. As I say, my understanding is that the Friendly WiFi scheme is primarily directed at retailers, hotels and transport companies—all the areas I have mentioned—specifically because of the access to wifi in that regard, whereas visitors logging on to our guest wifi have to agree to the terms and conditions of use, which clearly state that inappropriate material is blocked. The protection of children is clearly essential; that is why anyone logging on realises immediately that inappropriate material will be blocked.