You're in control with parental controls

Disney+ offers safeguards through profiles for each user. To control the types of movies and shows that you and your whānau are able to watch on the Disney+ service you can set a content rating level for your profile, or you can create a Kid's Profile. More detailed instructional information can be found in their Help Centre at disneyplus.co.nz.

Learn more about Disney+ settings:

• Content ratings on Disney+
• Parental controls on Disney+

Microsoft enables you to set up parental controls on the accounts in a family or household. This is created using the Microsoft Family Safety App. Within a Family Group you can see activity reports, set age limits, and set time limits.

Microsoft also offer Kids Mode safe browsing on their native web browser Microsoft Edge. The Kids Mode doesn't require a child account or profile, but does offer kid-friendly content, browsing based on an allow list, Bing SafeSearch set to strict, and a password requirement to exit.

The Xbox Family Settings tools, including the App, allow parents and caregivers to manage your whānau gaming by managing screentime, spending limits, friend requests and viewing activity reports.

Microsoft Movies & TV has the following parental controls available:

Ask to Buy

Tamariki and rangatahi need to raise a purchase request to parents for purchase of content on Microsoft Movies & TV. The parent or caregiver will receive an email to approve or reject the request. As a parent or caregiver you approve the request, which completes the transaction. The movie or TV show can only be viewed once the caregiver has approved the purchase.

Content restrictions

Parents can block the Microsoft Movies and TV website on Microsoft Family Safety under “content filters”. This will block the access to the platform for kids.

Learn more about Microsoft settings:

• Microsoft Family Safety
• Learn more about Kids Mode in Microsoft Edge
• Xbox Family Settings App | Xbox

There are three ways to control the types of movies and shows that you and your whānau are able to watch on Netflix’s service: you can set a content rating level for your profile, restrict certain titles for your profile (regardless of the age rating) or you can create a Kid's Profile.

Set a content rating level

You can set the viewing restrictions for your profile when editing your profile. ‘Maturity rating and title restrictions’ for a profile mean the age rating levels that you want to show on the profile.

Netflix’s viewing restrictions slider has seven age levels to choose from, which use NZ age rating levels to guide you: G / PG / M / RP13, 13 R13 / R15, RP15 / RP16, 16, R16 / RP18, 18, R18.

Title restrictions

Enter a show or movie title name to select it for restriction in your profile.

Netflix Kids experience

You can change any profile into a Kid's Profile by selecting this option in ‘viewing restrictions’. A Kid's Profile will include television shows and movies with a rating suitable for all ages (G - general, and PG - parental guidance, rated content).

Learn more about Netflix settings:

• Parental controls on Netflix
• How to get the latest parental controls
• Maturity ratings for TV shows and movies on Netflix

Prime Video offers two ways to control the types of movies and shows available to view or purchase on your device: set a content rating level for your profile or create a Kid's Profile.

Set a content rating level

A Prime Video profile allows you to set a pin code and set your restrictions.

Currently, Prime Video has age rating levels for an international audience: choose from ALL / 7+ / 13+ / 16+ / 18+ across the content restriction slider.

In early 2023 Prime Video will be updating their levels to reflect NZ age ratings so you can choose from G / PG / R13 / M / R16 / R18 settings.

Kid's Profile

A Kid's Profile is restricted to only show “G” and “PG” ratings. That is content appropriate for all audiences.

Learn more about Prime Video settings:

• Parental controls setting page

There are two ways to control the types of movies and shows that you and your whānau are able to watch on the NEON service: you can set a content rating level for your profile or you can create a Kid's Profile.

Sky’s NEON currently displays Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) ratings as they work on updating their platforms to display NZ classifications and ratings. Therefore the content rating restriction options available suit the BSA ratings currently on their service.

Set a content rating level

When you create a general profile you have the option to select a content rating level that suits you or your whānau.

The content rating options for this type of profile are General (G) / Parental Guidance (PG) / Mature (M) / Restricted (R). You will see content up to and including that rating.

Kid's Profile

You can select from ‘For Older Kids’ or ‘For Little Kids Only’.

The content rating options for a Kid's Profile are General (G) for Little Kids Only, or Parental Guidance (PG) for Older Kids. An Older Kids profile will be able to see and access G and PG content.

Learn more about Sky NEON settings:

• Setting up your parental controls on Neon
• Classifications on Neon

Google’s parental controls allow you to control age restrictions when purchasing or renting movies and shows on YouTube Movies. You must have a Google account to purchase or rent movies and shows.

Google’s parental controls are available on Android devices, via web browsers or the Google apps (including YouTube). You can restrict the content that can be downloaded or purchased from YouTube based on a ‘maturity level’.

YouTube

YouTube offers two family-friendly versions of YouTube so you can set the content restrictions appropriate for your whanau: YouTube Kids or ‘supervised’ YouTube.

YouTube Kids has content for young children. You can choose content settings back on three age groups:

• Preschool (ages 4 and under)
• Younger (ages 5–8)
• Older (ages 9–12)

A ‘supervised’ YouTube account is designed for children under 13. Age limit options range from ages 9+, 13+, or ‘most of YouTube’. A supervised account doesn’t include content for ages 18+.

Read more about Parental controls and settings for YouTube Kids profiles and supervised accounts at support.google.com.

Safe Search on Google

When SafeSearch is on, it helps hide explicit content on Search.
When SafeSearch is off, you’ll see the most relevant results for your search, which may include explicit content like images of violence.

While SafeSearch isn't 100% accurate, it’s designed to help block explicit results, like pornography, from your Google search results.
It can be turned on for:

• Personal accounts or browsers
• Children’s supervised devices and accounts using the Family Link app
• Workplace or school devices and networks

SafeSearch only works on Google search results. When it's turned on, you can still find explicit content through other search engines or by directly visiting a site with explicit content. Learn more about how to change SafeSearch settings and set up parental controls.

Learn more about Google's (Alphabet) YouTube settings:

• YouTube: Understand your choices as a family
• Age-restricted content on YouTube

EA encourages parents to create an EA Account and then make a separate account for their child. Child accounts cannot purchase games using the online store front and must redeem product codes bought elsewhere. When redeeming a product code the EA App will check the age using the birth date that is associated with the account in order to decide whether a game is able to be played or not. Find out more here.

This storefront and games platform allows people to purchase games as well as providing free games for people to add to their gaming libraries. Those games can vary from puzzle games to horror and from age rating levels All Ages to R18.

Parental controls can be set up for the Game Store by enabling a PIN option. The PIN can be used to restricted game play by age categories, as well as requiring a PIN for any download and purchases. The Epic Games Store allows you to select the rating system to be used for the restrictions (ESRB, PEGI, and GRAC). Find out more here.

You can place age restrictions on software either through the console itself, or through the associated mobile app. A PIN can be used to override this. The mobile app also tells parents what pieces of software their children have been accessing and for how long. Nintendo outline their parental controls here.

Parents can create a “sub account” (child account) after they’ve set up their own profile. When creating a child account the user must enter a birth date which restricts the child from purchasing content above their age. Parents can set a monthly spending limit on the child account as well. You can find out how to create a child account here.

It’s also important to set up parental controls for non-digital content (such as disc-based games, DVDs and Blu-rays), as well as games that have already been downloaded to the console by another account. This can be done through the console itself. Find out more about age ratings for PlayStation here.

Parents are able to set up Family View in order to restrict material in their library on a case-by-case basis, and to decide whether kids have access to the online store. If you decide to give your children access to the online store, remember that Steam doesn’t keep track of users’ ages, and they can put in any birth date in order to access restricted content without further verification checks. A 4-digit PIN is used to leave Family View. Find out more here.

Once a Family Profile has been set up, parents can choose if they want to restrict access to apps and games by classification (such as G, PG, or R13). Find out more and download the Xbox Gaming Safety Toolkit here.

Apple allows users to set up restrictions for TV shows, movies, and games. TV shows and movies use official NZ ratings. A passcode can be used in order to change the settings later on.

In addition to setting up restrictions for content like movies, TV shows and books, you can use restrictions to block or limit specific apps on mobile Apple devices.

Learn more about setting restrictions on iPhone and iPad.

Parents can set up parental controls in the settings tab of an Android smartphone or tablet, which can restrict downloads and purchases based on Google’s rating system. You can learn more about Google’s parental controls for Android devices here.

Google also offer Family Link, an app parents can download onto their own phone (which links up to their children’s phones), which allows them to keep track of what apps they’re using and downloading. You can find out more about the app here. 

When you’re using a desktop PC/laptop, be sure to sign out of your Google account if your kids are going to use Google Play Movies without your supervision, or they may be able to purchase and view content using this account.