Monitoring Children on the Internet

[rpratt19]

Greetings all,
I would like to put a program on my computer which monitors where exactly my evil little ones are going on the internet, with so much rubbish out there. I would like something like a keylogger program, but I find that the word "keylogger" is associated with spam. Is there a safe, legitimate program out there that you recommend? Cheers.

[Ant]

Yes indeed. The one we used a couple of years back is still available. Info here (www.ilp4parents.com).
It was so good at hiding itself on our teenager's computer that it prompted me to write this (http://www.pprune.org/computer-internet-issues-troubleshooting/262473-do-we-really-stand-chance-against-spyware.html) !!

[cessnapuppy]

always good to teach your children how to live in a police state!



How about sitting down, talking to them, establishing a rappor and communication and then lead by example?

[mad_jock]

Don't put key loggers on it only ends in tears. And I agree it really is a bit much looking at all your kids personal correspondence.

Right the best way in my opinion is to use a safe Internet proxy for the little darlings. There are tons of them out there and you can usually change the account so as they get older you can relax some of the sites.

a google for "child safe internet proxy's" stay away from the sites run by god bothers in the US or your kid might come a way thinking Darwin was an anti christ.

The way it works is you give the kid an account which doesn't have any admin rights and set all the internet to go through this proxy server. The server has a list of banned sites if the kid tries to access one it just won't let them through.

You can if you wish while logged on in your own account switch back to none proxy Internet.

I have worked at sites which have gone to extremes with page keyword searches and nipple recondition software. That solution is just a pain. You get heaps of users locked out because of trying to get recipes off the web and if you have any dealings with Scunthorpe county council you are knackard.

[Mac the Knife]

I have a solid relationship with my son. Ever since he was small he's had access to the internet and I've never blocked him from anything. He's known about frauds and phishing and viruses for ages and is suitably cynical.

Snooping on his internet browsing habits just seems wrong to me (like reading other people's letter as someone said). I'm sure he's looked at porn (big deal) and I'm equally sure that after the initial buzz he finds 99% of it as banal and boring as I do.

"How about sitting down, talking to them, establishing a rappor and communication and then lead by example? "

Agree - he knows I trust him and he doesn't want to forgo that trust.

Mac

[SyllogismCheck]

nipple recondition softwareWhat? It actually restores them? Now that's what I call a clever bit of programming! :)

[mad_jock]

:p fair cop you try being stitched up with being the porn police to a county council site when all that filtering bollocks got started.

[cargosales]

I'm sure he's looked at porn (big deal) and I'm equally sure that after the initial buzz he finds 99% of it as banal and boring as I do.

Umm, actually it could be a very big deal indeed if he looks at the 'wrong sort' of porn, even accidentally. Up to three years inside, and placed on the Sex Offenders Register if you want to be precise. I kid you not.

The new Extreme Porn law: Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (c. 4) (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080004_en_9#pt5-pb1)

When it was proposed many different groups objected, for various reasons, with many saying that it would at least lead to 'unintended consequences'. Those concerns were steamrollered or just plain ignored by the Noo Labour moral crusading bandwagon because 'it knew best'.

Lord Hunt's advocacy of this Bill in the House of Lords (the only time it was actually debated) was at best cringeworthy and at worst very, very sinister. Think 1984 and the arrival of 'the thought police rolled into one'.

Originally Posted by mad_jock
nipple recondition software
What? It actually restores them? Now that's what I call a clever bit of programming! http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/smile.gif

LOL, nice one but it reminds me of a prosecution going on right now.. As we understand it, a man is currently being prosecuted under this 'Extreme Porn' law apparantly because he had, on his computer, a single image of a pierced nipple (or a nipple being pierced).

Mac-the-knife, I strongly suggest that at the very least you invest in a browser cleaning programme like Window Washer and make sure it's installed and working on your lad's pooter.

CS

[Two_dogs]

In a similar vein, can anyone recommend a (free of course:ok:) software solution to limit the time a user spends connected to the internet?

My kids would rather play internet games than do their homework.
I would like to limit their access to certain times of day and also the duration of their sessions.

Running XP Pro, wireless broadband home network.

Cheers.

[cessnapuppy]

Umm, actually it could be a very big deal indeed if he looks at the 'wrong sort' of porn, even accidentally

You make a very valid point, one I mention to the kids that I teach as well, the importance of choosing your companions wisely.

Your browser will download anything you send it via a web page, and store it for as long as your cache settings allow (and longer)

<img src="nasty_childporn.jpg" height="1px" width="1px">


^That bit of code will ensure that your browser downloads the image, store it in your cache, and you dont even see it or know that you did.

Granted, it has to be done deliberately, but it wouldnt take much for a vengeful classmate to send you an email to some site like that or even enter such a code in a myspace or facebook page, then edit the page back to what it was after you've looked at it. - Note: No web nanny software could protect you from an attack like that as the offending target image could logically be hosted anywhere and on any webhost.

The CIA used to do stuff like that (and , I suppose the KGB as well) to accuse some professional with a lot to lose with possessing child porn or some heinous thing and get them to do "errands"

Not much you could do to defend yourself against something like that, I'm afraid, but again, that would involve you being specifically targeted.

I guess keeping high privacy settings and automatically clearing your cache should do the trick - and stay away from those peer to peer downloading tools or codecs..that should keep you safeish...safer than crossing the street,anyway

[goldfrog]

In a similar vein, can anyone recommend a (free of coursehttp://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gif) software solution to limit the time a user spends connected to the internet?

I use K9 Web Protection - Free Internet Filtering and Parental Controls Software (http://www1.k9webprotection.com/) which does filtering/blocking and time limiting and it is free.

[cessnapuppy]

vista has that built in - Parental Supervision options or some such.. you have fine control over internet browsing as well

Most routers also allow you to limit certain IP and mac addresses on your network, you can set times and even limit certain protocols (FTP, ssl, http for example)

since many sites switch to a ssl mode (https) for logging in, blocking https effectively means they can look but cant log in to spend all day updating status on Facebook!

question: How can kids have a "Status" if they never "do" anything??? :P

[Mike-Bracknell]

OpenDNS | Internet Navigation And Security (http://www.opendns.org)

:ok:

[Mike X]

Mike's back. :D Where you been ?

[cargosales]

Cessnapuppy, thank you. Your post about kids choosing their friends wisely reminded me of something I meant to include in my post last night..

The law on extreme porn extends way beyond computers and covers any device capable of holding/displaying an image. These days, every child has a mobile phone right? Now I'm of an age where my mobile is used to call people or send them texts and that's it. Technology is leaving me behind and CSjunior thinks I'm some kind of dinosaur because I have no idea how to send video clips to all my friends, as teenagers apparantly do...

and this teenager probably now wishes his mate hadn't done :
Teen fined for offensive porn image on mobile phone - Evening Star 24 (http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=IPED13%20Oct%202009%2018%3A31%3A32%3A730)

Thankfully, he didn't get sent down but thanks to something that happened when he was 15-ish and wasn't then illegal, he now has a criminal record for the rest of his life. Scary stuff !

CS