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Thread: Looking for parental control tool

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    Looking for parental control tool

    I’m looking for some recommendations on some good parental control software. With monitoring all web browsers, programs, files, e-mails. My child is now 12.

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    Re: Looking for parental control tool

    Don't worry about it if you live in the UK, David Cameron's got you covered

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    jim
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    Re: Looking for parental control tool

    Quote Originally Posted by fire230 View Post
    I’m looking for some recommendations on some good parental control software. With monitoring all web browsers, programs, files, e-mails. My child is now 12.
    Speaking as a former child, web browsing/site filters are one thing, but programs, files and emails? That's a bit creepy.

    What's the usage scenario? Do they have their own desktop/laptop that they use in private, or a living room PC, or mobile devices?

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    Re: Looking for parental control tool

    Education, Education, Education.
    I'd have to agree with Jim. Such strict control seems a bit OTT. Your best defense would be to sit down with your child and have a free open discussion with them about the internet and its usage. I work in a school as an IT tech and have often spoke to parents who just rely on their teachers to tell there children everything about the internet but in all honesty, E-Safety is a bit of a joke in the curriculum.

    It's never going to be possible to completely monitor what your child is doing, in this day and age there are SOOOoooo many ways around any kind of restrictions you set in place (Take note Mr.Cameron) The number of ways for people to get in contact with you is just increasing by the day, new social media sites keep appearing and disappearing it is so difficult to keep track of them. Training children to become good E-Citizens with respect for their own privacy and how to properly conduct themselves in a pseudo-anonymous environment is key. Alot of my students tend to think they are invisible on the internet ... It's always fun to proove them wrong.

    I'd either do some basic web filtering using something like Untangle (Also gets the benifit of Ad-blocking and Virus Scanning across the network). It's a bit fiddly to set up, but isn't that the point in Tech? I wouldn't put up so many blocks up, just on the sites that I REALLY don't want them gaining access to, but you could look at the records to see what sites are being frequented then if you feel further action is required you can escalate it from there. Raise the issue with your child and then if they ignore your advice, block it then. Or an easier setup would be configuring your router to use a DNS sever separate from your ISP like OpenDNS or Sophos DNS. This would affect ALL devices connected to your network without any additional configuration With OpenDNS, you can set up your own filter to block specific access to sites.

    If you really want to see what they are doing, you could install something like iTALC on their machine. I've never used it myself but it looks similar to the software I use at work with the benefit of it being Free. This would allow you to see their desktop remotely. Personally I would only use this in the most extreme of circumstances, and never without your child's consent. Aside from the moral implications are ... i'm not to sure what the legal responsibility would be ? I mean, we have to get Staff and Students to sign a document saying they agree to allowing us to view their machines.
    Last edited by PsychoPoo; 30-12-2013 at 12:28 AM. Reason: Original post contained software not available to general public

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    Re: Looking for parental control tool

    OpenDNS have some servers which are filtered and you get some extra tools if you make an account. That's probably the best way tbh, just set the DNS servers on the PC or router.

    http://www.opendns.com/home-solution...ntal-controls/

    At the end of the day though, bypassing any filter is trivial for someone that knows how and kids do tend to learn things quickly

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    Re: Looking for parental control tool

    If its a single pc I suspect the best parental control is just sitting it in the living room/anywhere else its likely to be overlooked. If its several devices you're getting more complicated, basically you need to be looking into some form of connection level firewall/proxy device. Smoothwall will do it out of the box, or if you want to do something yourself then quid can be set up as a transparent filtering proxy. All you'd need is a spare, relatively low power machine with 2 NICs. You then have to deal with whether you're whitelisting or blacklisting, and of course come up with a kid proof way of disabling it for daddy time.

    I suspect the most practical solution would be a DD-wrt/open wrt compatible router, then use iptables to force all dns traffic through opendns. It still doesn't get you round everything.

    Tl;Dr; you might be able to manage for a year or so, but give it a bit, and the kid will know more than you, unless you want to turn it into some kind of arms race, common sense & education are probably the only way.

  7. #7
    OilSheikh
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    Re: Looking for parental control tool

    K9 web protection
    Norton Family

    Both are free and good.

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    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    Re: Looking for parental control tool

    I read the title, and I thought hmm yes I do need something to control what my parents can do on their computers.
    throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)

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    Re: Looking for parental control tool

    I can recommend you NetNanny. Probably the best available software atm. If it won't suit you, check WebWatcher or PCWebControl.

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