Parental Monitoring Software

[thatPC]

Hi guys,

Do you get much request to install parental monitoring software, such as NetNanny? If so do you have any recommendations?

Also, when installing such software do you get the customer to sign anything to take responsibility off you if something goes wrong with the software and allows a child access to something they shouldn't be seeing or do you just assume the software developer is the responsible party?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

[NickCat11]

I don't get many requests but in the past I have used Spectorsoft's products. They do just about everything. In regards to liability, I basically show the parents how to use the software and then after that it's up to them. The software is very easy to use and I've never had any callbacks on it.

 

[MobileTechie]

I shouldn't think you could be held responsible for that, nobody can be.

Someone recommended K9 which i've been looking at and it looks OK and is free.

Thing is kids generally find a way around almost anything if they really want to, depending on their age. So I think it's important that the monitoring side is up to scratch for older kids - so parents can see if their kids are trying to circumvent it.

Some recommend OpenDNS but they need to ensure they have limited accounts and that their admin PW is system is secure etc as it relies on the kids not being able to change the DNS settings. Of course how secure a Windows password is is a matter of debate.

You can get some consumer-level router-based systems. I'd be interested to know how well these work as, on the face of it, they would appear to solve some of the problems with client-based ones.

 

[Alan22]

I don't get many requests but in the past I have used Spectorsoft's products. They do just about everything. In regards to liability, I basically show the parents how to use the software and then after that it's up to them. The software is very easy to use and I've never had any callbacks on it.

Same here. Most parents I deal with don't want to block anything, but they do want to know what their child is doing. Some of Spectorsoft's products do an absolutely great job of recording everything and I've been thanked many times over. Just need to disable antivirus/security software before installing and possibly set some exceptions so the software can run properly.

 

[Jimmyb]

Just add my 2 cents for Blue Coat's K9 Web Protection software. It is free and I taut the fact that it is designed by parents and supported by parents. Has done a good job when I installed it, although can be a pain in the arse for us adults who wish to use it.

My son took a novel approach and when his girls were younger, turned off the IE icon and just copied Internet shortcuts for the websites they could go to. As far as they know, these were the only site sout there (until they got older)

 

[GamerX]

Just add my 2 cents for Blue Coat's K9 Web Protection software. It is free and I taut the fact that it is designed by parents and supported by parents. Has done a good job when I installed it, although can be a pain in the arse for us adults who wish to use it.

My son took a novel approach and when his girls were younger, turned off the IE icon and just copied Internet shortcuts for the websites they could go to. As far as they know, these were the only site sout there (until they got older)

Wouldn't Windows 7 Parental Controls do just as much as K9 Web Protection? I've played with it a little but would love to try it on kids see how well it works!!

 

[pcoverhaul]

I've used Spectorsoft for this as well. While it does give the ability to record everything, you can also customize it to only send reports for certain keywords. So the kids still have their privacy and the parents feel secure knowing they will be notified when those terms are typed.

 

[bsd13]

Just add my 2 cents for Blue Coat's K9 Web Protection software. It is free and I taut the fact that it is designed by parents and supported by parents. Has done a good job when I installed it, although can be a pain in the arse for us adults who wish to use it.

My son took a novel approach and when his girls were younger, turned off the IE icon and just copied Internet shortcuts for the websites they could go to. As far as they know, these were the only site sout there (until they got older)

K9 is easy to get around. It offers virtually no protection/filtering. Don't need to know a thing about computers to circumvent it.

 

[MobileTechie]

So how do they get around K9? Just proxies?

 

[chrisaroz]

I use a combo of Windows Parental Controls and Windows Live Family Safety Net (Free Download).

 

[allanc]

Same here. Most parents I deal with don't want to block anything, but they do want to know what their child is doing. Some of Spectorsoft's products do an absolutely great job of recording everything and I've been thanked many times over. Just need to disable antivirus/security software before installing and possibly set some exceptions so the software can run properly.

Won't the exceptions be readily visible if the child goes into the anti-virus and anti-spyware programs?

 

[DrModem]

The best blocking tool I have seen came with my router... I have it set with a whitelisting approach, and all sites not on the list are inaccessible. The people under it have to ask if they want a site added to the whitelist.

So far I have not found any circumvention method, short of bypassing the router on the network entirely which isn't possible on my network.

 

[techytype]

OpenDns is handy. I figure that most kids don't know what a dns is, much less their parents.

 

[Jim Perth]

OnlineFamily.Norton is a good product for families with young kids.

 

[DavidF]

You could try opendns. I use them for a home solution.
In a business environment you could use Untangle

 

[PcTek9]

vista & 7 both have parental controls built in...

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/parental-controls.aspx