Phucking phones....

[cosmolinguist]

My phone contract is nearly up, and I've been dying to get a new phone because mine's going all weird (not loading web pages until you hard-reset it, randomly restarting itself, losing mobile signal for no reason, etc).

I can get a new phone (and a cheaper tariff) as soon as I get back from Brighton next week, and I've been looking forward to that.

But I just got this text from O2 that makes me want to look for another phone company (though I suppose they're all shit in their own special ways).

O2: With BlackBerry, we're changing the way you access age restricted websites on your smartphone. You don't need to do anything now but in the future if you want to access 18+ websites, you'll need to age verify by calling 61018, free (you'll need your credit card to hand as proof of age).

Fuck. That. I don't know if any of the websites I try to access on my phone are age-restricted, but that's hardly the point. "You don't need to do anything now"; indeed, so why can't it stay that way?

Also I'm dubious of why a lot of things are "age restricted" anyway: LGBT stuff is notoriously likely to be blocked (the recent row with a US bi group and Google has at its base the problem that Google think any search for "bisexual" is likely to be porn).

Anyway O2 certainly don't need my credit card details. They have no need of them.

It sounds like a good time to shop around (if I can manage the grimness that phone-shopping is).

Comments

[matgb]

Dreamwidth'll be listed, very likely. Orange think it's a "dating social network". Fortunately because I'm on a moren than 10 year old contract I just did the "I don't need to prove my age, I did that when I signed the contract form ten years ago" routine and they lifted the block.

Unfortunately, most phone providers do this automatically and the lists are dodgy as hell.

[cosmolinguist]

Yeah, I was afraid of that :/ Really would rather not give them my custom but probably won't have much choice. And I knew the lists would be dodgy, they always are; why shouldn't I look at "dating social network" sites anyway? (not that I'm going to, they don't sound like much fun!) ::is a grumpy liberal and doesn't approve of this sort of thing::

[skibbley.livejournal.com]

Am currently in dispute with Vodafone about their blocking policy and possibly equality failings in it.

[diffrentcolours]

I don't think you'll have much luck with any other telco - ISTR there's vague legal / governmental pressure on them here. I need to switch telcos after Vodafone screwed me over getting my broken N900 repaired, but they're like computer shops - every one has its detractors and supporters.

[cosmolinguist]

Bah. I picked O2 for reasons that don't exist any more, and have no real reason to be loyal to it except for that I can't think of anything bad they've done to me. And inertia. And being able to get a new phone a month before my contract is up. So that's probably enough reason right there :)

[fearmeforiampink]

I keep on meaning to sort that out on my T-Mobile account. Though it'll be made more difficult by the fact I don't have a credit card…

[cosmolinguist]

Yeah, that was another thing I shouted (mentally, I was on a bus at the time) when I got the text: not everyone over 18 has a credit card! I think I have one but never use it and would have to find it :) This wouldn't be an easy thing for me to do even if I wanted to.

[rocketeddy.livejournal.com]

I don't think switching providers will help, this is encouraged by UK Gov and most if not all of the other providers do the same thing already. I'm fairly sure I have to prove to T-Mobile that I'm over 18, since I never did so, despite the fact I've had a contract with them (via One2One) since '97.

Edit: Hell, I'm tempted to phone up now, just to ask them how old they think I was when I signed the contract.