For years we have been getting questions from concerned parents about effective methods to keep their children safe online. Often they are seeking specific advice about one product or another they may have read about or been pitched. Almost universally, we have recommended against using one of these software packages.
Our resistance to these packages were based on several factors:
- The software may - or may not - be secure. As an arbiter between your PC Screen and the Internet, it becomes another potential point of vulnerability.
- The software in most cases is poorly written and represents enough processor and memory overhead as to seriously degrade the performance of your machine.
- If kids want to get past it, they will. Guaranteed.
Our advice has always been to talk openly and honestly with children about what is and isn't acceptable in your house.
- Set high expectations of behavior and then give them the responsibility to live up to them.
- If it is a family computer, position it so that the monitor is visible to the entire room. Make it uncomfortable and inconvenient for them to be looking at things they know they shouldn't be.
- Prepare them to deal with predators and the inevitable undesirable content by arming them with knowledge. You can't keep the world away from them, so arm them with knowledge to effectively protect themselves.
Now, we see that there are even more reasons to avoid monitoring software - some of the companies offering it are using your childrens' data for marketing. This article introduces some of the recent revelations regarding the unscrupulous (in our opinion) practices of these companies.
"...one of the top providers in the space doesn't just monitor what kids do for parents, but collects all the data -- including the text of chat room discussions -- and resells it to marketers. You have to imagine that this isn't exactly what the FTC (or parents) expects of such tools."
Be wary. Be open. Be responsible.
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