Parental Control Software is a popular tool used by parents to keep children safe online. It provides a convenient way to help protect children from Internet predators and unsuitable content. But what features should a parent be looking for in Parental Control Software? This article investigates.
Basic Monitoring
All Parental Controls should have some basic monitoring features. These should include:
- monitoring instant message or chat conversations in things like MSN Messenger or AOL Instant Messenger.
- monitoring web sites accessed.
- monitoring emails sent and received either locally (via things like Outlook) or remotely (via things like Hotmail).
- monitoring keystrokes.
Advanced Monitoring
The better Parental Control Software will also have advanced monitoring features. One particularly useful feature is the ability to take screenshots; this the gives the parent a good visual picture of what happened on the child's computer and makes reviewing the logs a lot easier.
Another feature that is very useful is the ability to monitor email attachments. Many products miss this feature, but an attachment is just as likely to contain unsuitable information or images as the email body.
Good Parental Control Software may also contain more advanced monitoring features such as specific logs of what a child has entered into search engines, or logs of peer-to-peer (P2P) downloads. Whilst these may not be considered 'essentials', they do increase the level of monitoring and add that extra bit of protection.
Blocking
Blocking was what the old 'Net Nanny' software used to do. Whilst blocking alone is not enough these days, it is still a useful component to have in your Parental Control Software.
The basic form of blocking is by URL only, but the more advanced products will also allow you to block sites when certain keywords or phrases are found in the text of that site. This is much more convenient to set up than plain URL blocking.
Reporting
There are 4 different ways that a parent can view the reports and logs created by Parental Controls. Most Parental Control Software uses only one of these methods:
1. The parent signs onto the child's computer and view the logs directly. This is the oldest and most inconvenient way. It means the parent needs access to the child's computer to see what went on. This can be even more inconvenient if the parent does not want the child to know they are being monitored as it means they need to access the computer when the child is not around.
2. The logs are emailed to the parent. This is okay to a certain extent, but it can lead to a lot of email traffic and it means that the parent has to wait until the logs are emailed - there is no real-time access.
3. The logs are stored on the child's computer and the parent accesses those logs remotely, from a different computer. This is much more convenient for the parent, but the logs can only be accessed when the child's computer is switched on and operating correctly. Because the logs themselves are store on the child's computer, they are open to tampering and at risk of being unobtainable in the event of a failure or file error.
4. The logs are stored on a remote server (provided by the vendor) and the parent accesses those logs remotely, from any computer in the world (including, if necessary, the child's own computer). This is the most secure and efficient method.
I highly recommend you look for Parental Control Software with a type 3 or 4 reporting mechanism. For the best protection for your child, a type 4 mechanism is preferred.
Other Considerations
This sort of software should install in what's called a 'stealth mode' so that it is undetectable on the target computer - all the better products will do this.
The individual features of the product should work together smoothly and through an easy-to-use interface. This is an important consideration.
It is also worth checking that vendor provides good support preferably by telephone - and that the documentation is easy to understand.
$100 will buy you the best Parental Control Software on the market and my opinion is that it is worth saving up for rather than buying a lesser product.
About the author: I'm a techie with some 26 years experience of software and IT. I hope you find my article about buying parental control software useful.
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