Overview
The parents’ struggle to keep the internet as a safe learning tool is still on nowadays. One important tool to help parents achieve controlling unwanted data at home is called a software filter. Filter is designed to block web sites containing sexually implicit, violent, and racist images or text. Tough, filters became very sophisticated today, experts pointed out their limitations. Technically These limitations has to do with the constant changing of web pages and web sites, and the degree of a user’s expertise to use the software. Legally, many organizations are protesting over some blocked Internet sites intended to address important issues concerning the community, and freedom of speech.
Filters work much like Internet search engines. Once the user inputs words or phrases within the search box, the filter detects them, and it immediately creates a list of unwanted sites related to those words. A user, a child in this case, would not be able to access none of the sites from the list. For example, just by typing the words safe sex within a website address or a search box, the filter would block any site containing similar words. In fact, there are many different software vendors, which offer filters with different blocking qualities. Each company has their own proprietary list of blocked sites, and each has a different approach to have the users (parents) learn the technology.
Companies
that focus on customization: Cyber Patrol, Surf Watch, Cyber Sentry
·
They
block internet access by using site lists, word filters, and content categories
·
Parents
can modify lists as needed
·
Parents
can control children’s access to games or other applications with violent content
with Cyber Patrol’s “check content”
·
Multiple
password-protected filters enables protection for a particular age group or
individual
·
Parents
are able to limit access based on times of the day or total usage
Companies that focus on control:
Net Nanny and Cyber sitter
·
They
allow you to block words, phrases and sites all according to a “user-defined”
dictionary
·
Control
applies to every internet activity, including FTP, Usenet newsgroups and E-mail
·
Software
provides users with a report of attempted accessed to blocked sites. Some filters
even report
records of all internet activity
·
Some
servers also have filtering features, and they are designed to run as a proxy
behind a firewall. Corporations use this filter to monitor employees.
It is critical that users update their list of unwanted sites because of amount of new sites, and transfers going on every day. Some filter would do the updating for you automatically. Some would give instructions to update lists, and others would have you download files to update the filters.
Experts have tested filters frequently. From every evaluation, software manufacturers have been able to fill in the gaps about their products, especially when filters do not guarantee total blocking of all unwanted sites. Even today, experts say that software filters are not to replace parents’ supervision. Statistical facts support this inefficiency; one out of four children between the ages of 10 and 17 were exposed to online pornography. A March 2001 issue of consumer reports states that filtering software failed to block at least 20% of undesirable material. Some organizations such Peacefire found error rates that ranged between 20 and 80% for filtering software.
It also has social implications. Teachers must support the parents’ degree of control at the school. Experts suggest that there should be a feedback between parents and teachers interacting closely with the children. It may happen that some school does not support filtering programs, or teacher is not aware that children are under Internet control at home. Also, children can become confused if they are allowed to Internet sites at the school, which would be restricted for them at home. Parents are not to expect that children have strict control by their children when surfing the Internet. Parents need to make sure that the degree of control between home and school must be consistent.
It has to do with the blocking of Internet sites, which affects other content safe websites. Some advocacy groups complain that important information such as safe sex guidelines and other health sites containing words ranked as inappropriate by filters are being affected. Lesbian and gay groups, and some school officials are also rejecting the use of filters because of violation against freedom of speech.
Educational sites such as Environlink offering environmental information are also blocked somehow. Just imagine the hundreds of content safe websites that are blocked when you type the words “Mars exploration”. If you link the letter “s” from Mars to “ex” from exploration, the filters would be blocking websites with great educational material as well.
Given the implications, our government should take a stronger step towards creating the right filtering policies. They should not include any political agendas or individual interests when blocking Internet content. They also have to realize what technology can do for the people, and its limitations as well. At this time, it is impossible to have one type of software that is 100% efficient on blocking all unwanted material. Yet, technology have made possible for parents and educators to use this tool to reduce children’s access to pornographic and violent sites, and it will do the same in the future. Right now, researcher are trying to develop an “intelligent agent” which would select which email messages are important for users, and which are not. This is one more example that technology could support current filtering issues, and that we must be prepared to understand future technological efforts.
TBD