Despite our best efforts as parents to protect our children from the dangers that lurk on the Internet, it seems that we are still losing ground. According to a 2006 study by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, since 1999 (date of last study) unwanted exposures to sexual materials and online harassment have increased proportionately among young Internet users.
If it wasn’t obvious before, it certainly should be now, that Internet filtering software should be part of every parent’s arsenal to protect their children from online threats.
NetNanny is one of the best known and most popular Internet filter programs on the market today. It has been around for some time and ContentWatch was recently acquired. In this article we will explore some of the key features of NetNanny and how it compares to other products on the market.
As its name suggests, NetNanny is parental control software aimed at younger children. As a result, it does not have some of the more advanced features included in other parental control software that would normally be used to monitor older children.
what you don’t have Since NetNanny is aimed at younger children, it does not include some of the more advanced monitoring and logging features of some higher priced Internet filters. It does not record keystrokes (keylogger), so you will not be able to see anything that is typed in emails or chat rooms (although it can completely or partially block access to chat rooms and instant messages). Also, the software is not invisible, but instead displays a warning on the monitor if you try to go to a blocked website (although this isn’t such a bad feature for younger kids, as it’s trying to teach them what it is). . and it is not acceptable instead of just spying on them invisibly).
what’s wrong with it Despite the monitoring weaknesses, NetNanny has very good Internet filtering and blocking capabilities. The newest version seamlessly integrates with the “Safe Search” options found in popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, Dogpile, AltaVista, Lycos, AllTheWeb, and MSN. This means that your children cannot search in a search engine and even see links to blocked sites. This new feature allows for better protection against pornographic images when performing an “images only” search. The only way to bypass secure search is with your unique administrator password. NetNanny is also automatically updated, so you’ll always have the latest version and up-to-date lists of porn and other questionable sites installed to provide maximum protection with minimum effort on your part.
Another recently added feature is the remote management feature that allows parents to remotely manage and maintain NetNanny from any Internet connection. Another important feature is the reporting function, which provides a detailed report of Internet activity, both visits and attempted visits. Finally, the software also offers customizable restrictions for each family member and time limits to control the amount of time your children can spend online.
While certainly not the most sophisticated parental control software on the market, NetNanny appears to provide solid Internet filtering capabilities. Just remember that this software is probably best suited for parents with young children (ages 10 and under), as it is not designed to be used as a strong monitoring (spying) device, but rather as a filtering device. Of course, any software is only as good as the person using it. So as parents, we take the time to learn how to properly use our Internet filtering software. But having software that is easily installed and updated only helps us in our quest to keep our children’s online experience safe.