Some people may argue that spying on children online is not a good way to promote a healthy parent and child relationship, especially when it comes to trust. While this may be somewhat true, most parents believe that they have the responsibility to keep their children safe.
Since children spend a lot of time online, parents need a way to keep their children safe while they are online. One way that parents can try to keep their children safe while they are online is by using software to spy on their children. This article discusses the use of this type of software.
Types of spying software
There are a couple of different types of software that a parent can get to spy on their children’s Internet usage. There is blocking software which allows parents to make a list of websites that their children can go to and block websites that they prefer their children not to view. This type of software will record any attempts that are made to visit the sites that are on the list of sites that the child should not view. This software also has a feature which allows parents to control the amount of time that their child uses the computer.
The other type of spy software which allows parents to spy on their children online is recording software. This software records the information that has been downloaded, received, and sent on the computer. Periodically it will also take a picture of the screen. Since this type of software records quite a bit of data, a parent can also flag certain words. They can flag any type of sex related word or any profanity, and then if these words are used the parent will receive an alert.
Examples of blocking software
There are different types of blocking software, some more filtering capabilities than others. The blocking software, Net Nanny costs around $40. This blocking software is a good choice for parents who have young children using the Internet. It has twenty nine filtering capabilities. Other blocking software, such as Safe Eyes, WiseChoice.net, and CYBERsitter, each have around thirty five filter capabilities. McAfee Parental Controls includes forty one filtering capabilities.
Filtering capabilities include chat blocking, chat monitoring, chat filtering, popup blocking, email filtering, predator blocking, instant messaging port blocking, email blocking, and personal information blocking.
But filtering capabilities are not the only thing that a parent should look for in a good blocking software. They should also look at the reporting capacities of the software as well as the management capacities and the other features (such as warnings, daily time limits, blocking sensitivity settings, etc.) of the software.
Examples of recording software
A couple of good examples of recording software include WebWatcher and eBlaster. These spying software programs cost around $100. WebWatcher records as well as allows parents to block certain websites etc. Other monitoring software includes Spector Pro, IamBigBrother, Golden Eye, SpyAgent, and Invisible Keylogger.
Different monitoring software records different things. For example, monitoring software may record web surfing, chats and instant messaging, keystrokes, and file transfers. A parent should review the software to make sure that it records the things they want monitored.
Each type of monitoring software may monitor certain types of emails only. So if a child has a hotmail account, but the software only monitor’s outlook, then the particular program may not work for the family. Also, a parent should make sure that the software they get can log the particular type of instant messaging the child uses.
