What makes a great Parental Control Software solution?
Even though the perfect Internet Filter or Parental Control
software package does not exist in today's marketplace, there
are a number of great solutions depending on what the family
needs are. Here is a list of what we feel are some of
the best attributes of parental control and filtering software.
- Ease of Use –Is the product easy to install,
easy to set up, and easy to use? Is it easy to
find the functions you are looking for? Is it easy to customize
the filter settings?
- Effective at filtering –Does the Internet
filtering software have a good balance of being able to
filter enough objectionable material and not filter too
much? The ability to customize sensitivity of
filtering by each individual family member is important
as well.
- Filtering algorithm –How is the filtering
accomplished? The best solution is a combination
of URL filtering, Keyword filtering, and dynamic content
filtering. URL filtering is where a particular
URL or domain name is identified and/or categorized as an
objectionable site; www.whitehouse.com a known pornographic
website or www.whitehouse.org a known website talking about
the whitehouse. Keyword filtering is where certain
words and phrases are used to trigger the blocking of web
sites. Such words might include "sex",
"XXX", "porn", "gambling",
etc. Dynamic content filtering is where each
web site's content is evaluated immediately before it is
displayed. Dynamic content filtering can use
a myriad of ways to evaluate content; object analysis, keyword
analysis, source of objects, link analysis, and image recognition.
- Activity reporting –You should be able
to view what each individual family member has been doing
on the computer. This would include viewing
where they have been on the Internet, what has been going
on in chat rooms, and activity based on other functions
within the Internet filtering application.
- Client-Server based – The question often
arises, "What is better, a solution that resides completely
on the client (home computer), or a solution that resides
completely on a server (Proxy based or ISP based), or a
combination of both"? A client-server based
Internet filtering solution allows you the most flexibility
in providing a complete filtering solution.
- Foreign language filtering – One of the
tricks that teenagers have found to bypass Internet filters
is to type in the foreign language equivalent of certain
keywords. By typing in the French, Spanish,
or German versions of the word "sex" or "girl"
for example, you can easily bypass many filters to view
objectionable content.
- Port filtering and blocking – Does the
Internet filter application block or filter most of the
major Internet protocols? These would include
web access, chat rooms, email, peer-to-peer, bulletin boards,
and popup windows.
- Override capabilities – Once you get
blocked incorrectly, can you easily bypass the blocked function
with the use of a secured override function?
- Allow, warn, and block – Does the Internet
filter application block or filter most of the major Internet
protocols? These would include web access, chat
rooms, email, peer-to-peer, bulletin boards, and popup windows.
- Individual profiles – Can you create
a profile for each family member with different filtering
rules?
- Notification capabilities – Can you be
notified at work or at home that un-authorized access or
blocking is occurring?
- Negligible response times – Does the
Internet filter allow you to access the Internet without
noticeable slowdown?
- Remote management – Can you change settings,
change rules, and change profiles from work or while on
vacation without the installed software?
The correct use of Internet filters in harmony with parental
controls can make the Internet a safe and wonderful experience
for the family.
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