Finding filtering & other software, Part 2: Insights
from experts
"Filters are of only limited use with chat and instant-messaging,"
said Josh Finer, publisher of Software4Parents.com.
For these communications apps so popular among tweens and teens, "monitoring
software is better." Talking with Josh and Jerry Ropelato, publisher of InternetFilterReview.com,
turned up some helpful insights - not just into what various types of online-safety
software can do but also into parents' current interests. [See Part
1 for an introduction to their Web services.]
Josh's point about monitoring software suggests a
shift in parents' concerns. A few years ago, when he started Software4Parents,
Josh found that parents' No. 1 goal for buying filtering was to block online
porn. Now it's just as much about contact as content - keeping strangers away
from kids.
But every family's unique, he said in a recent phone
interview. "Parents of a 13-year-old boy are more interested in filtering,
while those of a 13-year-old girl are more interested in monitoring software,"
Josh said he's found. "For parents of younger kids, it's filtering." I asked
him if parents give him or his customer service people that much detail, and
he said definitely so. "They typically share their kids' ages. To be honest,
I think they share too much information with me." It's clear there's a need
to find the product that works best for each family's dynamics.
If filtering out "the bad stuff" is in your mix, the
good news is, filters have gotten a lot better. "No product filters 100%,
but I'd give the latest versions a 90%," said Josh, who's written online-safety
software himself. [His accuracy rate is close to that of researchers at Australia's
MacQuarie University, who said some filters are "getting about 87% success,"
Australian
IT reports.]
Filter makers have also added some very useful beyond-filtering
features. For example, "there's something called a privacy filter in NetNanny,"
Josh said. "You tell the software the child's name, address, etc., and if
your child ever tries to communicate that information in an email or instant
message, it appears as all x's at the other end." It's not talked about too
much in advertising messages, he said, "but I think it's an excellent feature."
The other filter he sells, CyberSitter, was PC
Magazine's "Editor's Choice" in its latest annual review of this product
category.
Another key feature, in Josh's view: time controls.
They allow you to schedule when a child can have Web access, can chat or use
other programs on the PC. "I'm hesitant to recommend anything without time
and privacy controls," he said.
A key feature that InternetFilterReview.com's Jerry
Ropelato looks for in a filtering product is whether it will identify file-sharing
and other programs that kids tend to download onto their family's PCs - "will
it give you a list of apps you may be concerned about?" is the question he
asks.
But filters can't go beyond that basic ability to
detect (IM or P2P) on a computer - they don't affect what's going on within
those programs. "If a kid downloads an X-rated video [with file-sharing program
like Kazaa or BitTorrent], there's nothing that'll detect [or block an in-coming
video like that] in today's marketplace," Jerry said. "Most people don't even
know porn exists on the P2P networks" (two US lawmakers brought this to public
attention in the summer of 2001 - see my 8/3/01
lead feature and "File-sharing realities for families" ).
What some filters can detect, using basic keyword technology, is what's in
the text labels associated with porn images or videos, but some such files
are intentionally mislabeled, so this is not a reliable safeguard.
Conflicts among various software products installed
on a PC sometimes come up. Jerry pointed one out: "A lot of Net filters won't
run with Norton anti-virus on their computers, and it's probably not the filters'
fault." McAfee's anti-virus services probably work better with filtering.
What's important to remember, Jerry points out, is
that "a lot of kids can find ways around almost any software protection anybody
comes up with." For example, what wireless connecting "offers." "Kids can
just go buy a $15 or $20 wireless card, install it, and use the next-door
neighbors' router [if they have a wireless hub]." The oldest and most obvious
work-around is simply leaving the house: no matter what precautions parents
take at home, there's always a friend's house or libraries and other public
places with fewer restrictions.
As for work-arounds for filtering software: "Years
ago, kids could get around any [PC-based] filtering product. They really can't
get around the top 3 now," Jerry said. On the other hand, Peacefire.org
- an anti-filtering site that "represents the interests of people under 18
in the debate over freedom of speech on the Internet" - tells people how to
circumvent all "censorware" by getting a friend with a filter-free PC to download
its software called "Circumventor" so they can "get around all Web-blocking
software."
And so the debate about filtering's effectiveness
goes on. Which is why online-safety experts urge parents to stay engaged in
their kids' online experiences and keep working with them to develop the best
filter there ever was: the one that's installed between their ears!
More info
- PC Magazine's picks for both filtering and
monitoring lined up with Software4Parents. Here's its latest survey of products
in the monitoring
category with Spector Pro as its "Editor's Choice." And here again is
its latest
review of filters. An earlier piece looked at filtering
IM, etc., but it needs updating.
- Washington-based nonprofit GetNetWise.org
has software product information provided by the makers themselves (a large
array of products for filtering, monitoring, PC time controls, etc.); a
way to get a feel for the full spectrum of products available, definitions,
and features.
- A team of researchers at MacQuarie University in
Australia found that the best filters were blocking at about an 87% accuracy
rate, but they were over-blocking (filtering out legitimate sites). So they're
developing a new type of filtering that they'd like to see used in
Australian schools. Australian
IT reports.
Here's Part 1 of this little series.
