Content internet filter software - censorware

Content filters are software programs that sit between your PC and the internet. Their job is to filter out any content that you deem unwanted. These filters are used by businesses to keep their employees from being distracted during work hours and by parents to protect their families from online predators and unsuitable content.

What should a good content filter be like?

• Easy to use - The more effort they put into making it easier the better.The really good ones are dead easy to use.
• Balanced filtering - It should filter only bad content. It should for instance allow a breast cancer site, but block an adult site.
• Reporting - The software should be able to generate a report, so you can see what has been happening on the PC.
• Flexibility - The filter should be usable by both single PC home users and small business network servers.
• Port Filtering - The software should be able to block Instant Messaging(AOL messenger), online chat, web pages, peer to peer networks(Kazaa), forums, emails and web popups.
• Foreign Languages - The filtering algorithm should be able to filter objectionable content in other languages.

Free Internet Filters

K9(Windows 2000, Vista, XP)



K9 is free for home use. It only blocks web pages. You can add and remove pages to the list of blocked pages. Clearly K9 isn’t the best solution, but if all you need to do is to block web pages, it is the best free solution.

Free Shield(Windows 2000, XP, 98, ME)



Free Shield is a web browser tool bar. So you manage it from inside the browser. It will only work for preteens, as it is possible to bypass it. It does all the basics that K9 does. Free Shield has a logging system, so you will be able to check which sites your child has visited. It also blocks popups and can be set to auto delete cookies.

Parental control filters that you can buy

Net Nanny(Windows 2000, Vista, XP)



Net Nanny is my number one pick, because it has consistently stayed ahead of the competition by delivering superior filtering and ease of use. Of all the systems I looked at Net Nanny was also the cheapest. The software supports all 4 the major browsers IE, Firefox, Opera and Netscape. Net Nanny supports time limits, so you can decide your child can spend 1 hour a day on the PC then Net Nanny enforces that. Net Nanny had the best reporting and support facilities. Net Nanny has blocking, but not filtering for some programs, for instance chatting and emails. It does not have blocking for ftp, popups and personal information sharing.

CYBERsitter(Windows 2000, NT, XP)



CYBERsitter does a few things that Net Nanny doesn’t. It has filtering of emails and chatting and blocks ftp, popups and personal information sharing, so if that is important go with CYBERsitter. It supports the major browsers and has time limit support.

Safe Eyes(Windows 2000, NT, XP, Mac, Vista)



Safe Eyes came in third because of it’s good cross platform performance. It does not support Opera. Further than that it does mostly what Net Nanny does.

final thoughts

None of these these products are foolproof, so here are some additional things that you can do:

• Move the PC to a shared living area
• Talk to your kids about what they are doing on the internet and about the dangers
• Change your filter password regularly