Choosing a Child Internet Safety Program: Blockers, Filters and Trackers

Concerned parents can choose from many different ways to improve the safety of their children's online experience. Unfortunately, some may be confused or overwhelmed in the face of so many options. Understanding the terminology used in the discussion of online child protection is a great way to make more informed decisions about the best safety solution for your family.

Most programs will fall into one of three categories: Blockers, filters, or trackers. Knowing what these programs do is a key first step to choosing a child internet safety program that will meet your family's needs.

Blockers

Some programs are described as "blocking" products, or blockers. Blockers use a list of inappropriate sites and prevents access to the sites on that list. Generally, the program comes with a substantial list of predefined "bad sites" and may add new sites to the list regularly, allowing program purchases to quickly and freely access the updates. Some blocking programs will allow parents to manually add additional sites to the list or to make adjustments to it.

Although a blocker may sound like a perfect solution, it does have shortcomings. The number of objectionable sites grows at a rate far faster than any blocking program producer can maintain. No "blockade" will ever be completely secure.

Filters

Filtering programs block access to individual sites buy using a database of keywords and checking sites against it. They filter out sites their algorithms suspect might contain objectionable material. Parents may be able to adjust the list of objectionable keywords and phrases for enhanced control.