Search Engines and Filters

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  • prevent the display of most material promoting illegal activities such as drug use, drinking, gambling or bomb making.
  • prevent the display of most material promoting hate groups or their messages.
  • limit the total number of hours or the time of day that your children may be online.
  • create multiple, password-protected identities for your family.
  • monitor the use of your computer.

Some commercial filters will also allow you to:

  • prevent FTP access (so your child cannot upload or download files from the Internet)
  • monitor email usage
  • prevent chat room participation
  • prevent selected personal information (such as your credit card number or address) from being sent from your computer.

What are the Drawbacks of a Commercial Filter?

Although commercial filters offer you peace of mind on what your family can view, they restrict them to viewing just the site that are allowed by the software company who wrote the programme. These decisions can be subjective or controversial in themselves. Often, filters cannot distinguish between complex searches, so may block a website that deals with tackling anti-social violence because it is trying to block websites with violent content. And, as the companies who produce much of the software are American, the websites allowed may reflect a conservative, religious bias.

It is best to find a commercial filter that offers you an allowed list of sites that you can change. In this way, you can be sure your child sees what you are comfortable with them viewing. Here is a list of some good commercial filters. Check with friends and relatives for advice on using a commercial filter and remember that, no matter which filter you choose, you must still monitor your family's Internet usage. Keep reminding your children about what they should and shouldn't view online.

  • ContentProtect Home 2.0
  • CyberSitter 9.0
  • Net Nanny 5.1
  • Cyber Patrol 7.5
  • FilterPak
  • Cyber Sentinel 3.0
  • McAfee Parental Controls
  • Cyber Snoop
  • BrowserLock 7.3
  • Parent Interactive