STRATEGIC PARTNERS
August 2, 2016
LinkNYC has converted a large number of pay phones into Wi-Fi kiosks. However, some New York City residents are using the kiosk to access porn and pleasure themselves, and the kiosk software is unable to stop them, according to a report by CNN Money.
Many of the people using the kiosk for porn are homeless. Ruth Fasoldt, community affairs manager for LinkNYC, told CNN Money that the kiosks use a filtering system that many libraries, businesses and schools use. The company also uses Google SafeSearch, but the system cannot block everything, according to the report.
Users are likely using keywords that aren't blocked by the filters. "The problem is that the internet is very big," Richard Ford, CTO of Forceprint, said in the report.
Ford suggested that LinkNYC can modify the system to look at the URL of the website and analyze the content of the site, such as links. This might help prevent some porn searches, but this method is also, "more invasive and more intensive," according to Ford.
