Chapter 16
Using Technology to Implement and Enforce Your Choices
Parental Control Software . . . Added Protection
Child computer safety products fall into several types. They either block "bad" sites or only allow you to access "good" sites. Most also filter words and phrases, and some even filter them in context to prevent blocking innocent phrases. Some provide alerts when certain sites are accessed, while others block access without letting anyone know they're working.
Certain software can also monitor offline computer usage as well, such as how many hours (and which hours) the child spends on the computer or playing computer games. A few online services (such as America Online) provide their own proprietary products which work only on their systems. Some of the other software can be used with online services, while others are designed only for the Internet.
You can also use software to block certain incoming information entirely, such as e-mail, or filter incoming information, or prevent certain information from being sent by your children to others (such as your telephone number). Online searches can be blocked, as well.
The programs are either customizable or preset by the manufacturer of the software. Some allow you to set different levels of protection for different children, so you can set more restrictions for younger children than their older siblings. Many of the better systems combine the various options, to give you the greatest protection and maximum flexibility.
I've included below a detailed description of the kinds of protection technologically available. Later in this chapter, you'll find a chart comparing the features of each of the leading programs we've reviewed.
Bad site lists. There are products that block certain sites determined (by either the company or the parent) to be undesirable. These types of software have lists of "bad sites" (updated on a regular basis) compiled by the software company, and access to anything on these lists is automatically blocked. Some also allow the parent to add or delete names from that list, allowing it to be customized for your child.
With the purchase of a product, you usually get a subscription for updated lists for a certain period of time. The cost of updates after the subscription period has expired varies, as do the frequency of updates. Given how rapidly websites are being added to the Web, the more frequent the updates the better.
Before you jump on the "bad site" blocking bandwagon, however, you should know that there has been substantial controversy over how the "bad sites" are selected. Inconsistent determinations, improperly trained or untrained reviewers and lack of real quality-control can result in an unreliable list, either limiting too many sites, or not enough.
A few of these programs allow you to review the list of blocked "bad sites." If you can, you may want to check out the sites and see if you agree with their classification.
Access only to preapproved "good" sites. Some manufacturers, recognizing that they can never keep up with all the new sites being published on the Web, have opted for a list of preapproved, prescreened sites that are considered child-friendly. Each manufacturer screens the sites based on its own criteria, and while a site may be on one manufacturer's good list, it may not be on another's. While using an approved list addresses the problem with "bad" site blocking, not being able to list all the new sites, or even all sites already existing on the Web, may limit your child's access to terrific sites that haven't yet been reviewed and approved.
These programs also include a subscription to the approved list, which the manufacturers frequently update. As with the "bad" site software, there is often a charge for updates after the subscription period has ended, and the frequency of updates varies product by product. The problem with quality control of "bad" site screening also exists with the "good" site screening, since sites may not be included in the approved list based upon inconsistent standards and the application of these standards by often improperly trained or untrained individuals.
Rating Services—PICS. The people who know the most about the Internet have set up a rating system. Unfortunately, it hasn't caught on as fast as it should. Perhaps with the fact that the CDA was found to be unconstitutional, it may gain greater acceptance and usage.
PICS, the Platform for Internet Content Selection, is a technological standard which allows web browsers to read the rating labels for, and block, sites based on their rating. Website operators submit their site for rating by a third-party rating agency. Based upon the information voluntarily submitted by the website operators about content at the site, the site is rated. PICS then sends them a code that must be added to the HTML coding at the top of their site. While this code is invisible to us, it is read by your browser and allows or denies access to the site, depending upon the rating criteria set in your browser. Microsoft's Internet Explorer versions 3.0 and higher support PICS and Netscape's next version of Navigator will include PICS capability too. That allows good site accessibility, and bad site blocking.
Unfortunately, since so few sites are rated, selecting this software means your children can only access the rated "good" sites. Only 40,000 are currently rated. Limiting access to only preapproved sites may err on the side of being overly protective over your children's access to content on the Internet, but if the choice is between allowing your child to access only preapproved content, or not permitting them to be online at all, there's no choice. Even limited access is better than no access.
Until more sites are rated (an effort we support), we recommend using another parental control system, hopefully, one that supports PICS compatible ratings.
Keywords and phrases (either in context or not). Certain words tend to be used in most of the sites that contain content you want to screen or block. The technology allows you to block access to any sites that contain these words. (Some products allow you to add words to the list, or delete words from the list.) But if a site contains inappropriate graphics which are not described with any related keywords, or if the site is in another language, these filters may not work.
Choosing effective keywords isn't as easy as it sounds. You'll have a better sense of how to choose them once you've been online awhile, but in the meantime, get as many suggestions as you can from others. Share certain keyword lists with other parents, once you've found some good ones. At our site, we will try to list the keywords you have found and have sent us. (But we will have to do it carefully, or you'll screen out our site!)
One of my favorite inadvertent blocking stories was shared by an Internet father and co-designer of Kids of the Web. (I've discussed the site at length in the chapter It's a Wonderful (Online) Life.) When they moved their website to a new ISP, www.hooked.net, they found that most of the parental control software programs blocked their site. It was a sub-domain of www.hooked.net, and "hooked" was blocked as a drug term.
Some of the words typically chosen are "tobacco," "smoking," "wine", "drugs", "sex," "breasts," various vulgarities, and other descriptive terms and slang terms for sexual activities and organs. Unfortunately, unless your software is smart enough to block these words only when they are used in context with certain other trigger words, let me show you what happens (I made these examples up):
Blocked: "John, a young slave, looked down the tobacco road, wondering why he didn't have the freedom to keep walking until he found where he wanted to be."
Blocked: "Jim Carrey's movie, The Mask, proves that he's really smoking!". (No comments please on whether some of Jim Carrey movies, like The Cable Guy and When Nature Calls, should be blocked as a matter of course . . . we're only talking about protecting our children from serious dangers, not bad comedy.)
Blocked: "Welcome to France . . . enjoy this site and your tour of the wine country."
Blocked: "Parents of sextuplets have problems coping with the workload."
Blocked: "Perdue's fresh roasted chicken breasts make preparing dinner much easier for working couples."
Blocked: "You can buy this comic book at your local drugstore. "
That's why you want a software that screens keywords only in context. That means the keywords are blocked only when they are used in combination with other words. (They also block using algorithms, but I won't bore you with an explanation of how that works. Just trust me.)
You should know, however, that certain adult sites have learned how the keyword blocking works, and have started misspelling words commonly blocked by parents. They'll use words like "penus," and begin words that correctly begin with an "f" with a "ph." They may also add an extra "k" on the end of certain words. It's hard to argue that certain adult site operators aren't seeking a younger audience along with the adult audience when they do things like this. (Of course, the explanation may be as simple as the fact that they just can't spell. . . .)
Alerts. Some of the software lets you know when it's working, others don't. Some alerts tell you when the site has been blocked by the software, "This site has been blocked by ."
Other programs block access, but don't tell you that's why you can't access the site. I don't like that feature. Make sure your kids know what steps you're taking. The Internet is still too finicky for users to know that the reason they can't load the site is because of the software, rather than a problem on the Net. Your kids will spend lots of time trying to get it to work. Why frustrate them unnecessarily?
Monitoring access, with or without blocking. Some of these programs keep track of where your kids have been. They either block access to sites based on criteria you've set, or just let you know that your kids have been to those sites. I like this feature, especially with older children. When you want to be able to educate your children about risks in cyberspace and then trust them to look out for those dangers on their own, this let's you know what they're doing. It gives you the information you need to modify your choices and add or subtract from the parental controls you had already chosen. It's the "fly on the wall" parents always wished they had.
Again, make sure your children know they're being monitored. It's a matter of respecting them and earning their trust. If they still want to see whatever was blocked, first view the site alone, and if it's okay, let them access it too.
Works with a certain online service. Some blocking software only works with a specific online service (like AOL or MSN), while others work with all online services. Even though the most popular online services have their own parental controls (most are based on Cyber Patrol), you may want to customize the parental controls beyond what is offered by your online service. If you use ISP direct access, rather than an online service provider, you don't need this feature.
Works only on the Internet. Many of the programs work only on the Internet but not on online services like AOL or MSN. If you've read the first section of the book, you already know that the Internet includes more than the World Wide Web. It includes Gopher, IRCs, Usenet and FTPs. The blocking programs work on these other Internet areas as well. But don't buy a program that is Internet-only if you use an online service.
Works both on and offline to monitor all computer usage. Some programs also offer monitoring of offline computer use, like games, in addition to monitoring online use. These programs can tell you how much time your kids are spending on the computer and what they're doing. I like this feature, especially with younger children (10-13 years) who spend a lot of time playing computer games. It's also a Godsend for working parents who don't have childcare for those few hours the children are home after school. It lets you know if the kids are sticking to the rules, and also lets you know if their friends are too.
Customizable for more than one child at a time. Some products allow you to make different settings for different children in your household. Otherwise, you're back to your one size fits all setting, where your fourteen-year-old has to live with the same controls as your six-year-old.
Incoming Screening. This is an important feature. Many of the dangers are being home-delivered these days. E-mail messages can have HTML coding that links you directly to adult sites, and people who you don't want to reach your children can send them e-mail and other messages that you don't want them to receive. Incoming screening screens all inbound information, including e-mail. Once your kids are using e-mail on their own, this may be an important tool to help screen out undesirable information and certain e-mail senders.
Outgoing Screening. If I had to chose one feature, this would be it. Outgoing screening prevents your children from sending anyone their telephone number, address, real name or anything else you decide to block. It's particularly helpful when you are dealing with younger children, who might be fooled into disclosing the personal information you agreed shouldn't be disclosed. It also keeps them from being able to fill out most of the registration and survey forms that children's sites want them to complete. They'll need you to help them do that, which gives you control over what information these sites have about you and your children.
Actually, these work by adding your personal information to a blocked keyword list. You have to be smart when you add the info to the list, and remember to list your phone number as both (111) 123-4567, 111-123-4567 and any other variation that your kids might use. Get your kids' help in selecting the keywords for blocking.
In increasing levels of control, I've done a quick review of the types of protection parents can offer their children—from trusting them and educating them to never letting them use a computer. As you gain more control, you limit more information your children can access, both good and bad, and rely less on trust. That's the balance you'll need to strike. And, it's your choice.
Levels of Control and Protection
(in increasing levels of protection)
a. Trust and education e. Parental controls on online services
b. Tracking use and duration f. Limited children-only areas online
c. Filtering g. Locking the computer when you're not
d. Blocking home
i. server proxy h. Living in a computerless home and
ii. customizable local blocking community
Note that there is no way to make sure your children are 100% protected (unless you choose option "h") and decide to live computerless. Recognize that everyone should be accepting some level of responsibility for safe surfing and sometimes things will get through that you wish hadn't. It's a risk we have to learn to live with—to minimize, but learn to live with nonetheless.
We selected four of the most popular brands of parent control software currently on the market to review: Cyber Patrol, CYBERsitter, Net Nanny and Surf Watch.
Cyber Patrol undoubtedly has the most features, and protects more areas than any of the other products. This is reflected in the difficulty in setup. Although it gives parents lots of choices, newbies and even some more experienced computer users will have problems configuring the product. (If you know any local computer geeks, this is a good time to call them and beg for help.)
But the feature choices may be enough to outweigh the setup difficulties, since Cyber Patrol has the best features of any of the programs we reviewed. It can be configured for up to nine different users, so your 16-year old won't be stuck viewing sites approved for your 8-year old. It has bad site and good site lists, and can be customized to add or delete certain sites to either. There are multiple content filtering categories (check them out on our chart). The program works in chatrooms, newsgroups and on the Web, and also on and offline.
Our kid testers told us that it was the hardest to crack of all the locally-installed products we tested. (Locally-installed means installed on your computer, not on the server, like Bess, which we'll get to in a moment.)
Parents can control the number of hours and times of day their children are using the computer, and can generate reports detailing usage. Best of all, Cyber Patrol has addressed parents' privacy concerns with their "ChatGard" feature, which allows parents to choose certain information that their children shouldn't be sharing online with others, and block attempts to send it. Whenever anything from the blocked list is typed in, the letters are replaced with "Xs." This also helps remind kids what information they shouldn't be sending out.
Cyber Patrol is PICS compatible and supports both RSACi and SafeSurf's rating systems. It is offered, without charge, to users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, as well as to members of CompuServe and Prodigy. AOL uses its technology. Just before we went to press we heard that AT&T would be offering it to their members as well.
CYBERsitter's controls allow parents to filter websites, newsgroups, chatrooms and two-way e-mail.
CYBERsitter's privacy controls offer a special feature over those of its competitors. Its Advanced Phrase Definitions Capabilities lets parents select certain word combinations, to maximize blocking of outgoing private information.
Its bad site list is not customizable, which is a problem. But the program supports the PICS standard, and ratings using that standard.
Two of CYBERsitter's best features are its keywords in context system, which prevents accidental blocking of innocent sites, and access to inappropriate ones, and its ability to log the sites accessed by your kids while not blocking them. This is a particularly good feature for your older kids and teens, when you just want to keep an eye on where they're going even if you choose not to block their access.
Net Nanny uses a parent's input to form the access filtering and blocking database. The program comes with a sample dictionary of filtered keywords designed to be customized by the parent. It can control access to both chatrooms and the Web, and Windows and DOS programs offline. It screens incoming and outgoing messages, and can be customized to filter certain private information your child may attempt to supply to others online. One of their best features (one that my sister could have used when her three-year-old got carried away with Oscar the Grouch's trash encouragement) is the blocking of your children's ability to delete files on your computers.
Net Nanny also logs attempts to access blocked sites, for reports to parents. And, if a parent selects its special feature, the computer will shut down after a set number of attempts to access blocked sites.
Of the most popular locally-installed parental control programs, Surf Watch has the largest database of both good and bad sites, which can be customized by the parent. Surf Watch protected the best out of all the products we tested against our own list of sites, by blocking 75 percent of the sites tested. (This is compared with the 19 percent blocking results of the other three programs.) In a face-to-face comparison in March, 1997 CNN found Surf Watch the most effective in blocking offensive sites as well.
Surf Watch screens websites and chatrooms using both a bad site list and keyword blocking. In its new release, Surf Watch 3.0 allows parents to block their children's access to chatrooms entirely unless they are accompanied by their parent. It doesn't, though, block outgoing personal information. Representatives from Surf Watch explain that outgoing filtering is too easy to bypass to be effective, but it's a feature I miss. (Its new chatroom blocker was designed to avoid the problems associated with children giving out information in chatrooms, but doesn't address children filling out forms and surveys online with personal information.)
In addition, Surf Watch blocks access to the general search engines, if parents select the "SearchWatch" feature, limiting their searches to Yahooligans!, Yahoo!'s search engine for kids. Parents who are afraid of inadvertent gaps in filtering can select an "Allowed Site" function that allows their children only to access approved sites, and those selected from Yahooligans!
Of all the locally-installed programs (those installed on your own computer, as opposed to your ISP's server), Surf Watch is also the easiest to set up. It's the one newbies find most user-friendly, even without some of the privacy features other programs supply.
Comparing The Products
A quick rundown . . . comparing each product, the good and bad
Cyber Patrol (v. 3.30.007)
Microsystems Software
Sales: (800) 828-2608
$29.95
Features GOOD BAD
• easy installation • difficult set up
• message is clear when • cannot be used on the same
it blocks computer with any other
• can monitor hours online filtering programs
• customizable for up to • does not log hits
9 children • user must pay for updates
Updates: $29.95 for 1 year subscription, $19.95 for 6-month subscription available
weekly (see "New Version" below)
Technical Support: available 8:30 a.m. –11 p.m. EST, 10 on staff
Customizable for More than One User: yes, up to 9 users
New Version • daily update feature
(v. 4.0, available • a little faster
September 1997): • improved filter technology to be even more precise
• ability to use any PICS rating system, including new ones as
they come out
CYBERsitter (v. 2.11)
Solid Oak Software
Sales: (800) 388-2761
$39.95
Features GOOD BAD
• easy installation • cannot be used on the same
• easy set-up computer with any other
• free updates filtering programs
• does not consistently give message
that it is working to block a site
or search
• can't see list of blocked sites
• not compatible with Macintosh
• no "good site" list
• not customizable for more than
one user
Updates: free, updated daily
Technical Support: available 9:00 a.m. –5 p.m. PST, number of staff not available
Customizable for More than One User: no
New Version • CYBERsitter 97 allows third-party filtering and can access filter
(available now): files of other organizations
• Will never give message that it's working
Net Nanny (v. 3.1)
Net Nanny, Ltd.
Sales: (800) 340-7177
$39.95
Features GOOD BAD
• easy installation • 19 percent effective—allowed
• easy set-up access to 13 of 16 adult sites
• only software tested tested
with a "Shut Down" • must cut and paste site list into
option a words and phrases list in order
• free updates to be compatible with AOL,
CompuServe, and Prodigy
• incompatible with Macintosh
• not customizable for more than
one user
• very small "good site" list
Updates: free, updated twice a month
Technical Support: available 8:00 a.m. –5 p.m. EST, staff of 3
Customizable for more than one user: no
New Version 3.1: • V. 3.1 has customized integration with Internet Explorer and uses PICS
• Now working on changing lack of compatibility with AOL,
CompuServe, and Prodigy
• V. 4.0 will look at words in context and will be customizable for more than one child
Surf Watch (v. 1.6)
Spyglass, Inc.
Sales: (888) 6-SPYGLASS
$49.95
Features GOOD BAD
• easy installation • monthly updates; fee after first year
• easy set-up • cannot block outgoing personal
• gives clear consistent information
message that it is • does not log hits
working when it • must pay for updates
blocks
• 75 percent effective
allowed access to
4 of 16 sites tested
Updates: free first year, then $30.00 per year thereafter, available monthly (see "New Version" below)
Technical Support: available 7:30 a.m. –6 p.m. PST, staff of 6
Customizable for more than one user: no (but see "New Version" below)
New Version: • automatic daily updates
• can completely eliminate chat rooms
• can customize for more than one user
Our Awards . . . Please Limit Your Acceptance Speech to 30 Seconds or We'll be Here All Night
I hesitated to give awards. Everyone was always asking me which product was best, and I couldn't give them an answer. Instead, I'd have to ask them questions. How much do you know about computers? Are you willing to take the time to customize options? How well do your kids listen? Only then could I recommend the best . . . and it was a "best fit," not a "best product."
Therefore, I can't choose a "best overall," because there isn't one. Instead, I've focused on certain important criteria.
When it comes to choosing the right product, there are three main criteria I felt were the most important. The first is ease of set-up. The second is the best variety of features and options. The third is how effective they are in blocking and filtering the things you want blocked and filtered.
Ease of setup (Drumroll please . . . )
Hands down, the easiest one to set-up was Surf Watch. All of the tech support people were terrific at each of the software companies, but we didn't have to use tech support to set-up Surf Watch. I suspect that over the years since its release, they've worked out most of the set-up bugs.
Best features and options
And the winner is . . . (as the envelope rips open and a tall spokesmodel smiles into the camera) Cyber Patrol! Cyber Patrol has, unquestionably, the best features of all the programs we reviewed and tested. One of the things we liked best about Cyber Patrol is that you can use different settings for different children. It has up to nine different settings. It also monitors time spent online, restricting children to certain hours of the day or the time spent online, as a whole. Cyber Patrol can also block access to parents' applications like your finance manager.
Cyber Patrol is an interesting product. Relatively new to the market, it has taken the online services by storm. Each week there's another announcement about someone adding Cyber Patrol to their parent control arsenal. The most recent was AT&T's announcement that it was offering Cyber Patrol to its ISP subscribers.
Cyber Patrol has terrific features. It obviously has its thumb on the pulse of parents. I wish it were easier to set up, though.
The new release, Cyber Patrol spokespeople promised, is much easier to install and customize. I'm sure that they'll address this concern in the same professional way they do all the others.
Most effective in blocking and Filtering
I'll cut to the chase, since I'm running out of witty things to say. Surf Watch blocked 75 percent of all the sites we selected for our testing. Surf Watch has been at this the longest, and has the largest database of good sites, and (next to CYBERsitter which only has a "bad site" list) the largest database of bad sites. (I wish that Surf Watch allowed parents to block outgoing personal information, since that is one of the most important features in our opinion. It is the only one that doesn't have that feature. Surf Watch . . . are you listening?)
The information relating to test results of the other software programs is set forth in "How We Conducted Our Review and Testing of the Software."
Miss Congeniality . . .
There are several options and features I want to draw to your attention. As long as I'm handing out awards, I thought I'd give out a few more.
Best updates.
When it comes to updates, the more frequent, the better. Also giving free updates is better than charging for updates (I'm just venturing a guess . . . but I suspect you might agree with me on that last one . . . )
Surf Watch's new version has free daily updates, too.
Best single feature. It's a tie.
Parental Controls from Your Online Services
Each of the online service providers offers some type of parental control feature for no additional cost. These range from children and teen only areas and the ability to block e-mail and instant messaging features, to providing Cyber Patrol (or its technology), for their members' use.
Kids Only and AOL's Parental Control
America Online (AOL) parents can restrict their children to their "Kids Only" forum or a teens level of access, with prescreened content and monitored chatrooms. Parents can also prevent their children from receiving e-mail or
instant messages, and may prevent them from entering chatrooms or accessing the Web. AOL also provides its members with Cyber Patrol technology at no additional cost.
Strict terms of service enforcement has also helped AOL maintain a safer environment. (Remember when my account was closed for my daughter's friends' flaming match?)
Prodigy's Parental Control
Prodigy provides parents with the option to control access to its individual bulletin boards, chat areas, or newsgroups. Parents can also block complete access to the Web for certain users.
Prodigy offers kids and teens their own chatrooms, as well as special Web areas exclusively for them. Prodigy also makes Cyber Patrol available to its members. Within Prodigy's monitored chatrooms and public forums, users are prevented from posting items deemed unacceptable for children.
Prodigy's kids' online area is located at http://kids. prodigy.net. (Don't all rush there. It's only viewable by Prodigy members.) Prodigy has designed its kids area to appeal to kids of all ages.
CompuServe's Parental Control
CompuServe offers parents the option of controlling which areas members of the family can enter by using passwords. No chat areas are available for children. Parents have the option of having e-mail sent to them first for screening before a child receives it. CompuServe also makes Cyber Patrol available to its members.
MSN child protection
The Microsoft Network uses RSACi ratings. When you open your account, you are asked to designate which rating levels you prefer. If you fail to make a selection, the system automatically uses the most restrictive levels of RSACi ratings as your default setting.
You can, of course, choose not to use any rating blocking, and need to click on that option when registering your new account, or the default setting will be used. MSN is a strong proponent of RSACi ratings, and uses them as a default setting in their Internet Explorer releases 3.0 and higher.
MSN doesn't have any special areas only for children, other than Disney's Daily Blast. But it does prescreen certain newsgroups based upon their hardcore sexual content or the fact that they promote criminal activities, such as computer piracy or pedophilia.
Server blocking or filtering is when the parental controls are installed at the ISP or online service company level, not on your computer. That way, you're blocking or filtering at the source. With server-level blocking parents don't have to worry about updating lists or setting up the software either. Most serve blockers, however, aren't customizable.
Bess
Bess is a server-based filter, which is installed at your Internet access server. Bess is purchased by your ISP, and offered as their parental control. It doesn't require any installation, and can't be customized by the parents. It filters incoming
and outgoing e-mail and newsgroups and prevents all access to chatrooms.
Bess is also tamper-proof, since it's not located on your computer. It is the easiest of all the products to use, since like parental controls on AOL you only need to turn it on and it's working. There's nothing to configure.
Also, Bess is updated automatically, which allows Bess staff to update blocking for all its users quickly. Bess performed better than all the others in blocking access to links from Nasa.com. Many were already blocked, while the others were blocked within an hour of the news leaking out about the site. (The automatic updating also saves newbie parents from having to struggle with downloading update lists from the Internet, or installing updates from disks.)
One of the best features of Bess is that it gives parents the ability to contact them directly when a site is blocked, should the parent feel that the site shouldn't be blocked. I hope that it will also make a form available to its users when they encounter an offensive site, to request that a site should be blocked. Many parents and teachers have worked together with Bess administrators to help review sites and individual pages.
The biggest problem with Bess is that it's not being used or offered by ISPs for server-level blocking. I wish its public relations were as good as its product. (Hint . . . hint)
Net shepherd
Net Shepherd rates sites using its own system, classifying sites as "general," "child,"
"preteen," "teen" and "adult." It also uses the PICS standard, which allows the software to block or allow access based on RSACi or SafeSurf ratings.
Currently it only works on websites, not chatrooms or newsgroups, although the company expects to add a newsgroup feature soon. It also cannot filter unrated sites for content or keywords.
It does, however, block access to all unrated sites, as well as use a "good list" system of allowing access only to those sites selected by the parent. It currently has the most rated sites out of all the programs reviewed, estimated at 300,000, relying on volunteers to help rate the sites, and its own rating system.
Net Shepherd is available for use as a locally-installed program (for installation on the family's computer), but is also a very good product for ISP server-level blocking. It is updated automatically, as more sites are rated.
How We Conducted Our Review and Testing of the Software
Throughout this book, I have tried not to sound like a lawyer, but unfortunately need to put my lawyer hat on for a moment or two. I want you to understand what the review and testing represents and what it doesn't. In order to do this, I've described the test settings and how results were obtained. Your experience may differ from ours.
Which software we selected for testing
We selected four different brands of child protection software, Cyber Patrol, CYBERsitter, Net Nanny and Surf Watch, and one server-blocking software, Bess, and Net Shepherd (which defies categorization).
We tried to select the most popular products, although many companies refused to disclose annual sales or sales to date. As far as we can judge, Cyber Patrol, CYBERsitter, Net Nanny and Surf Watch are the most popular. Of the four, Surf Watch has been on the market longest and claims the most users (approximately 3.5 times as many as its nearest competitor). Cyber Patrol, though, seems to have captured the online service market and is catching on with certain ISPs.
How we conducted our testing
In order to test each software, we installed them according to the manufacturer's instructions and used the default settings (the ones that came with the software), rather than customizing the programs. Each was tested on the same Pentium 133 machine, with 16 MB RAM and a 28.8 KBPS modem. The computer used Windows 95 as its operating system. All programs were installed on the same computer at the same time, and deactivated while the others were being tested.
The same person conducted all the tests. Each software was tested against 16 sites we selected at random based upon their sexual content or provocative value (as in the case of an organization that encourages adult and child relations). We also tested each against the nasa.com site, when that controversy was announced. (A list of the sites used has been provided to the software manufacturers so that they can review those sites and take any action that they feel appropriate. I will also supply the list to any reader who requests a copy, in writing, and includes a self-addressed stamped envelope. All requests should be mailed to my attention, c/o Aftab & Savitt, P.C., East 80 Route 4, Paramus, New Jersey 07652.)
In addition, random testing was done with each product searching for offensive sites (including topics other than sexual content claimed to be blocked or filtered, using the default settings, like drugs and alcohol). We surfed using each software, testing its effectiveness with sites and links from those sites. The actual effectiveness rankings were done only with the 16 selected sites and each product was tested against those sites repeatedly to confirm consistency.
The results of our testing
Although we believe that our test results are accurate, under the conditions tested, Cyber Patrol has informed us that their product does not work properly when installed on a computer which has another filtering product installed also. (Their product instructions, however, do not warn of such a problem. I have suggested that they add that warning to avoid parents having the same problem that we did. Since we suggest that parents shop around, and try different programs in order to find the one best suited to their needs, this problem is likely to occur frequently.) CYBERsitter informs us that, like Cyber Patrol, their product doesn't work properly when other filtering programs are installed on the same computer. (Unfortunately, they do not warn their users of this problem, either.)
Cyber Patrol's company representative also informed us that 12 of the 16 sites we tested were on their blocked sites list as of the date our tests were conducted, and that their product, if installed alone on our computer, should have blocked access to those sites. Had Cyber Patrol actually blocked those sites in our test, it would have tied with Surf Watch for our Most Effective in Blocking and Filtering Award. We have elected not to redo the award, since it was given for the products as they performed under the test conditions. Because CYBERsitter works differently from the other programs, in that it does not rely heavily on a blocked site list, we cannot determine how many of the tested sites should have been blocked on the test date, had it been installed alone on the computer. However, CYBERsitter informs us that as of September 19, 1997 it blocked all but three of the sites (one site was no longer available).
This testing is only a small sampling and may or may not be indicative of a larger sampling. Other groups have conducted much more extensive testing and if you have the time and patience to review their test results, I suggest you review Karen G. Schneider's site for the Internet Filter Assessment Project (she's working on a book on filtering) www.bluehighways.com/tifap. In addition, good reviews of the programs appear at the FamilyPC site, www.familypc.com, and are also available at the website www.neosoft.com/parental-control.
In the chapter A Little About the Products, I've provided the information on how many sites are rated and included in their good and bad lists by each of the major software companies. Our test results were consistent with that information. The companies with the largest databases blocked better.
But don't base your decision on our test results alone. All of the companies will provide a demo version, and we've listed all their websites (as well as linking to them from www.familyguidebook.com). Try them out and decide for yourself.