Internet monitoring software helps parents supervise their children’s online activities. There are various ranges of software available that limit access to inappropriate sites, control e-mail use, block chat rooms, and enforce access time. Similarly, schools and public libraries also make use of internet monitoring software.
After all, children are a significant part of society and their upbringing should be perfectly done so that society can prosper in the long run. Following is the range of most popular software for monitoring children’s internet activities:
Parental Control Bar
It is a free service. Parents can use this software to control the internet activities of their children. Along with its free public service, its installation procedure is really simple that consists of only three steps. Therefore, parents can install it even if they are not that used to computers.
If a website address is inserted by your child on the address bar of a browser, the Parental Control Bar compares the website with the settings you made. This way, it finds out whether the website needs to be blocked or allowed.
K9 Web Protection
It is an internet monitoring software that uses an advanced technology for filtering the Web. It is also used by governmental institutions and other organizations worldwide. It offers an interface that is user-friendly so that parents can easily make use of it at home. Its usage means that you will block content that is inappropriate for your children.
SocialShield
Besides tracking your child’s online activities, SocialShield has something more to offer for your child’s social safety. It identifies your child’s online friends. The software compares the names of your child’s friends to a set of databases to ensure that they have no association with unlawful online activities. If your child is involved in such activities, SocialShield sends you alerts so that you can take action.
It posts less threatening issues in the parent dashboard. Although it tracks all discussions your child has, it highlights only those issues that are important for your consideration. This way, you are not required to affect the privacy of your child. Moreover, you can use SocialShield to track pictures that were posted by your child. It will cost you $10 per month.
Big Mother
Big Mother safeguards your children by providing an interface that protects the password along with multifaceted features. By using these features, you can block access to things that tempt your children the most. For instance, some illicit online activities that it can block are to upload and download data, games, e-mail, chats, and websites.
If you think that giving your children limited access to the internet is fine, then you can develop different schedules in which you can allow internet access for some time. Big Mother has an edge over many of its competitors, i.e. it enables you make restrictions on uploads and downloads according to their size.
NetNanny
NetNanny is considered to be the market leader in terms of internet monitoring software. It has been in the market for over 10 years. Due to its popularity, parents can download it instantly. It costs $39.95. Unlike others, NetNanny had a clear purpose before its development. It was developed with the help of child advocates, law enforcement, and parents. Furthermore, it helps you monitor and control access to the internet.
Although it is available with monitoring features that are set as default, you always have an option to customize your settings according to the unique needs of your family. NetNanny has integration with Safe Search options. It indicates that these options limit your children’s search on a search engine. These options are also found in famous search engines such as Yahoo, MSN, Google, AltaVista, Lycos, Dogpile, and AllTheWeb.
PC Pandora
Like other internet monitoring software, PC Pandora is reliable software that monitors your children’s online activities. Along with that, it sends you warning alerts so that potential problems can be avoided. PC Pandora tracks all those websites your child visited, chat interactions, keystrokes, and emails. Therefore, it lets you have access to all online activities of your child.
Additionally, it also provides you access to login IDs and their passwords. If you feel something wrong is going on, you can handle the problem immediately. This way, parents are always on track in terms of what their child in up to. PC Pandora will cost you $69.95. It is available from different retailers.
About the Author:
Sara Parker is a Freelance and Staff writer who writes informative & creative articles on Technology for various technology company. Her expertise are in writing articles related to internet providers, internet services in my area , Social media etc.