As I have said countless times, a layered approach is the best way to protect children from harmful internet content. The base layer should be controlling DNS, something that is fairly simple to do for the devices that use your home router. This post about Whole Home Protection goes into much more detail, but DNS uses the internet “phone book” […] Read more
Filed in : Parental Controls, Router Filtering
CleanBrowsing was started by parents in the technology industry who appreciated what OpenDNS was doing for families but saw the need for some additional features. This quote from their website perfectly describes the problems with so many of the filtering solutions offered: “This project was started by a group of engineers and security professionals, that were also concerned parents unable to […] Read more
Filed in : Parental Controls, Router Filtering
I have always recommended DNS control at the router as a first layer of parental control protection in the home. See previous post about Home Network Filtering. DNS control is also good for individual devices when they are away from your home network. You can set the DNS servers for each individual network that the device uses, but then you […] Read more
Filed in : Android, Apple, Products
On May 8th Net Nanny® rebranded their Zift mobile protection application to Net Nanny® 10. That was probably a good branding decision since Net Nanny® has been a leader in this space for years and the name “Zift” lacked product explanation. Tom’s Guide, which named Net Nanny® 10 the best parental control application for iOS, has updated their detailed review […] Read more
Filed in : Parental Controls, Parenting in the Digital World, Router Filtering
Protecting children from online threats isn’t easy, but parents often make it more difficult that it needs to be. Implementing safe technology in your home starts with making safe technology the number one priority for all technology related purchases. Since the majority of what we do with technology involves the internet, that is where we have to start. EVERY SINGLE […] Read more
Filed in : Parental Controls, Products, Router Filtering
The router is the part of the home network that all other devices go through to connect to the internet. Typically it is connected to either a cable modem or DSL modem connected to your internet service provider. In most homes today the routers provide wired and wireless connectivity. So any device that has to use that router to get […] Read more
Filed in : Parental Controls, Products, Router Filtering, Safe Browsers
Parents need to understand that when we put technology into our kids’ hands we also need to accept responsibility for protecting them and that there might be costs associated with that. However, some of the best ways to protect your family devices are free. I always recommend a layered approach to protection and these free options also happen to be […] Read more
Filed in : Apple, Filtering, Parental Controls, Pornography Concerns, Router Filtering
What about the kids who use their products? Apple iOS offers basic and lackluster options for filtering access to undesirable websites so they are only really useful for very young children. A report last year from Research Methodology highlights a plethora of programs that Apple has implemented for Social Responsibility. The list adds up to multiple billions of dollars for […] Read more
Filed in : Filtering, Parental Controls, Products, Router Filtering
Sensible Cyber Parenting always recommends starting home online protection with the router as the best practice, first-line defense. (see Router-based parental controls post and our Getting Started page) Sadly, however it is impossible to use OpenDNS (or other router-based parental controls) if you have AT&T U-verse without adding an additional router which involves putting the U-verse router into “bridge mode”. With the […] Read more
Filed in : Discounts, Parental Controls, Products
October 2018: The post below was from June of 2016. Mobicip has recently produced a more comprehensive parental control product which I am in the process of evaluating and I will update the SCP Mobicip information accordingly. For the most current information on their product you will want to visit www.mobicip.com. As you can imagine, my kids have put up with […] Read more