Contents |
What is an Internet Filter?
Internet filters, also known as content filters (and, pejoratively, censorware), are computer programs designed to block objectionable Web sites. There are many excellent filters on the market today that will greatly reduce the risk of viewing undesired Internet content. Internet filters are essential for two reasons:
- It's easy to accidentally stumble upon pornographic or otherwise inappropriate websites. Having a good filter will prevent you and your kids from accidentally viewing objectionable content.
- Curious kids and teens may attempt to deliberately access bad websites. Having a good filter will hinder them from easily searching out filth.
No filtering software is perfect: inappropriate websites will occasionally not be filtered and, conversely, completely appropriate websites will occasionally be filtered. New websites are created every day and it's hard to keep up with such rapid growth. So although your chosen software may let a few bad websites slide through the cracks or may occasionally block access to a perfectly wholesome website by mistake, having a filter is certainly worth any minor problems they may cause.
Installing some sort of filtering software on your computer is the most important thing you can do aside from good parenting to keep your kids safe online--and it doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.
There are three basic ideas the software operates on: blacklist, whitelist, and dynamic filtering.
- A blacklist is a list of entities (usually websites, URLs, e-mail addresses, etc.) that are not allowed.
- A whitelist is a list of entities (also usually websites, URLs, e-mail addresses, etc.) that are always allowed.
- Dynamic filtering refers to when the software decides whether certain content should be allowed or not as it is being downloaded.
Content filtering software is most effective when all three ideas are employed. Using only one approach could lead to inappropriate content being accessed. Using all three helps the filtering software be most effective. Here are some scenarios:
- Using only blacklist
- Advantage: Explicit control of which websites are not allowed
- Disadvantage: Must manually add a website when it should not be allowed; somewhat time-consuming
- Only whitelist
- Advantage: Explicit control of which websites are allowed
- Disadvantage: Must manually add a website when it should be allowed; somewhat time-consuming
- Dynamic filtering only
- Advantage: Able to flag and not allow inappropriate content as it is downloaded
- Disadvantage: Why try to filter content on the fly if it comes from a known appropriate or known inappropriate website?
- Blacklist, whitelist and dynamic filtering
- Advantage: Explicit control of which websites are or are not allowed, as well as flag and not allow inappropriate content as it is downloaded.
- Disadvantage: Must manually add a website when it should or should not be allowed; some content may be flagged incorrectly.
With these scenarios in mind, parents can discuss with children the family's needs for content filtering and make decisions how best to proceed. Although no solution is completely perfect, the best defense is to be prepared with multiple layers.
What is an Internet Monitor?
Internet monitors are quite different from their near relations, Internet filters. While a filter attempts to block inappropriate sites, monitors do not have any effect on what sites can or cannot be accessed from your computer. Instead, monitors keep a record of everything a person does online. This detailed record is then sent to a master user for review.
Monitors are only effective if you as a parent are committed to reading the monitor's reports in detail and talking with your kids about their Web habits. This is quite a time commitment. For this reason, many people choose to opt for a filter instead--or better yet, use both monitoring and filtering to keep their kids as safe as possible online. By doing this, you can prevent your kids from seeing inappropriate websites without feeling obligated to check what the monitoring software has to say every five minutes. The monitoring reports come in as a powerful tool because you can use them to stay in touch with what your kids spend time doing online. A monitoring software report could alert you to problems like bad sites that your filter is missing or could show any attempts made by your child to access inappropriate content.
Many of the Internet safety packages in the table below include some sort of monitoring component in addition to Web filtering services.
What are Parental Controls?
Obviously, both filters and monitors are forms of parental control. However, we use the term here to refer to the specific settings found on Web browsers (like Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari) and operating systems (such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Mac OS) that parents can set and adjust.
Parental settings generally include an option to use some kind of filter as well as set time limits on their child's computer use. Using timers is a great way to prevent your child from developing an online gaming addiction or spending excessive time on social networks like MySpace or Facebook. Take the time to get acquainted with the controls your operating system offers. The following pages can help you get started:
- Parental Controls for Mac OS X
- Parental Controls for Windows XP
- Parental Controls for Windows Vista
- Parental Controls for Windows 7
- Parental Controls for Linux
Internet Safety Software We Recommend
To view a list of software we recommend, please see Content Filters.
Disclaimer
There is no such thing as perfect Internet filtering. Do not assume that you are "safe" because you have an Internet filter.
Be smart about how you use and allow your children to use the Internet. Specifically, do not search or surf websites which host illegal or pirated software, music, or videos. Not only are such activities ethically wrong, but such sites and searches are often the source of accidental pornography viewing.
Reviews
Links
--Zaz 05:44, 12 February 2010 (UTC)
