This section has been designed to provide you with
information on the many resources and tools you can use to help protect children
while online. Even with all the tools in the world it is bestto supervise your child while they are on the Internet.
Learn and enjoy together.
A number of browsers allow you configure
them so that certain objectionable content is not displayed (such as Internet
Explorer’s Content Advisor and Netscape's Netwatch). See Microsoft's web page at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/evaluation/features/indepth/contentadv.asp
for a description of Content Advisor. Further information can be found in your browsers
Help file and at the web site of the Internet
Content Rating Association (ICRA). Rating schemes are voluntary so there is a
massive amount of uncategorised information (both good and bad) out there that will not be
filtered by such systems so you still need to be careful (you can block sites with no
rating but of the millions of sites without a rating and least a few of them may be
useful). Web sites such as this one that are rated with the ICRA may have a button linking them to the ICRA. The button below and on the home page of
this site confirms that it has been rated.
There are a number of initiatives to help protect children while online. GetNetWise is a public service in the United States
which helps to ensure that the online experience of families is “safe, constructive
and educational or entertaining”. It provides a safety guide, information on how to
identify and report trouble (in the US). And links to protection products and child
friendly web sites. You can contact GetNetWise at http://www.getnetwise.org.
In the United Kingdom, the Internet Watch Foundation
(IWF) provides a safe surfing guide at http://www.iwf.org.uk.
It includes tips for parents/careers and children as well as a hotline to report
objectionable content and list of tools that can be used to help protect children while
online. The IWF have been involved in helping the UK government’s Department of Trade
and Industry with their “Wise Up to the Net”
Campaign at http://www.wiseuptothenet.co.uk.
The aim of the site is to provide information to help parents advise their children on
chatting safely online. This has been done under the auspices of the Internet Taskforce on
Child Protection and a booklet is available to download from
the Wise Up site. The IWF is
partially funded by the European Union under the Safer
Internet Action Plan which is the EU’s response to illegal, harmful and racist
content on the Internet. It can be found at http://www.saferinternet.org.
It includes a list of hotlines throughout the world (not just the UK and Europe) for
reporting illegal and harmful Internet content. There is also a newsletter that you can
subscribe to.The Think U Know site
http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk is another site offering advice on safe online
habits for children and teenagers.
Carol Vorderman (UK television personality)
is a supporter of Childnet’s campaign to highlight the dangers of children using chat
rooms. She is also a member of the Internet Task Force. You can access the campaign site
by pointing your browser to http://www.chatdanger.com.
It contains a wealth of advice on chat rooms and links to other resources on the Internet.
Childnet has also created the Kidsmart Internet Safety web site for schools. It
focuses on five key points to help protect children while on the Internet and
using mobile phones. There are currently more than three thousand schools using
this site, which can be found at
http://www.kidsmart.org.uk. Childnet's main
web site, containing loads of additional information and links to other
resources, is at
http://www.childnet-int.org. The
American National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children (http://www.ncmec.org) does an excellent
job in assisting parents, law enforcement, schools and the community in raising awareness
about ways to help prevent child abduction, molestation and sexual exploitation. This
includes the CyberTips line to report child sexual exploitation and the Netsmartz Workshop
at http://www.netsmartz.org. The workshop is targeted at different age groups to ensure that the message is understood and communicated
in a way acceptable to them and uses animated characters and activities to help put the
message across. As well as children and teenagers, the workshop includes resources for parents and
carers to ensure that the educators are also educated.
There is a monthly bulletin that you can
subscribe to keep you up to date with developments.
The National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children works in co-operation with the The
Association of Internet Hotline Providers in Europe (INHOPE). INHOPE is an organisation
supported by the European union whose members are providers of Internet hotline services
dealing will illegal content on the Internet. Their site is at http://www.inhope.org.
SafetyEd
International is run by volunteers and deals in Internet safety education, child
advocacy and child protection. Their site at http://www.safetyed.org/
has a large amount of material and resources to make the Internet experience safe. These
include Internet safety education for parents, teachers, children and teenagers.
You can also report Internet related stalking, child harassment,
exploitation and Child
pornography.
MSN have produced a children's section for
the Stay Safe Online Campaign. American
sports stars Shaquille O'Neal and Tara Lipinski host the site which covers the basic rules
for internet communications, the need to remain anonymous, how to protect personal
information and how parents can identify areas of the Internet unsuitable for their
children. The site can be found at http://www.msn.staysafeonline.com/.
A number of ISP’s (Internet Service Providers) provide parental control options for
users. In the UK, BT Yahoo! provides
parental controlsfor the BT Yahoo
browser and Chat program. This allows you to create age based profiles that
allow you to grant different level of access to different children. For
more information go to http://www.btyahoo.com.
AOL also provides parental controls for users, details can be found at http://www.aol.com/info/parentcontrol.html.
Contact your local ISP for information on parental controls available with their service.
There are a number of applications you can
install that will provide you with some parental control facilities. Reference to products
here is for information only and not meant as a guarantee of their suitability. You should
check the suitability of products before purchase or use.
Remember, you know your child best. Experience the Internet with them. You can
protect them and learn together.
CyberPatrol Web Filter
The product uses a mixture of lists (which you can add to)
and content analysis to restrict access to web sites, newsgroups and filter
offensive text from webmail and chat programs. You can
also block the use of applications (including chat programs) completely if you
wish. In addition to offensive text, you can block the transfer of personal
information such as phone numbers and credit cards to protect your family's
privacy. Different profiles can be set up and access can be restricted to certain times of day.
Configuration can be password protected. More information,
free trail and purchase information can be found at
http://www.cyberpatrol.com/.
CyberSitter
This allows blocking by way of category
filtering, similar to Net Nanny. It allows you to override
blocked sites, add new sites and specify time limits for access. It uses a “content
recognition” system to to block content which has not yet been added to the filtering
list. The list is updated automatically, without subscription charges.
You can record instant message conversations in order to
review your Child's activities in order to ensure that they are using the PC
responsibly. Configuration is password protected to stop tampering. All
activity is monitored so that you know what sites are being visited. Further details, including purchasing
info and free evaluation can be found at http://www.cybersitter.com.
This product blocks access to inappropriate
websites using a database containing millions of sites categorised by type (e.g. drugs,
sex, hate speech etc.). You can also add sites of your own choice to the blocked list
and specify when your children are allowed to access the Internet (and review
what they have been doing by looking at the activity log). The
product can prevent personal information (real names, addresses, phone numbers, credit
card numbers etc.) from being sent when browsing, chatting or emailing.Filtering levels
are customisable to let you adjust the product to your needs and the system can be
password protected to prevent tampering. The password mechanism also allows you to encrypt
your family's passwords and log on details to keep
them private. The cookie manager The database is updated daily over the Internet and updates are free with
your subscription. For more information, and to purchase the product, go to http://www.freedom.net.
The product is also available as part of the
Freedom Security & Privacy Bundle.
Guardian Monitor
This is a monitoring solution (it doesn't stop your kids
doing anything) that lets you see how the computer is being used. It can record incoming
and outgoing messages and traffic for web
browsing, email, Instant Messaging and file downloading from peer to peer systems such as KaZaA. It
can record keystrokes typed (including both sides of a chat conversation) and is able to record video style footage of
all actions undertaken on the PC. The system can also watch out for certain
words that are used such as those relating to drugs, sex etc using an editable
list. It works with most browsers and the settings can be password protected and
the system activity can be hidden. For more information, and to purchase the
product, go to
http://www.guardiansoftware.com. Guardian Software also have a free to use
product on their web site called Guardian Viewer that lets you scan your PC for
traces of inappropriate content that may be lurking in your PC.
ICRAplus
This product from the Internet
Content Rating Association.(ICRA). It allows you to use the ICRA rating system
as a basis to define what web sites your children can and cannot visit.
For additional protection you are encouraged to purchase
additional filters For more information go
to
http://www.icra.org/_en/icraplus/.
This product that allows you to monitor your
child's use of the Internet and email e-mail.
It uses a database of
web sites, newsgroups and chat rooms. You can add your own sites and edit the existing
list. It can be used in a “white list” or “black list” fashion,
allowing access to all sites except those deemed inappropriate or only allowing access to
specific sites. It can stop personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers
and credit card details from being given out over the Internet. You are allowed
a large number of profiles so that different members of the family can have different levels of
access depending on your preference. Filter list updates are free. All activity is
monitored so that you know what sites are being visited and you can specify time limits
for access. Additional features include control over words and phrases used in
communication. Further details, including purchasing and free
trial info can be found at http://www.netnanny.com.
Net Nanny's Chat Monitor
This product monitors both sides of a chat sessions and
filters personal information and offensive language. Recorded sessions, and
activity reports can be emailed to a parent or guardian for review. You can
limit what chat programs can be used and how long for. When rules are a broken a
personal message from a parent or guardian can be automatically displayed,
reinforcing the family Internet rules. You can also set the system to close down
a chat session if rules have been broken (such as if you child receives an
offensive message). The system can be password protected to prevent tampering
and works with many popular chat programs (check the web site for details). Got
to
http://www.netnanny.com/products/chatmonitor/description.html for more
details.
