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Home > Internet Filters > Detailed Reviews |
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Cyber Patrol is one of the most feature-rich Internet filtering products in our review, blocking websites, newsgroups, search engine images, and even objectionable words and phrases used while chatting or instant messaging. This product uses a layered filtering technology that involves the CyberList database and a dynamic filtering technology. This combination makes a very powerful filter that is capable of capturing sites that are not yet in its database. Cyber Patrol gets high ratings for all of the extra features it offers. Some of these include
CyberPatrol makes use of categories to group potentially objectionable material. These categories can be turned on or off for individual user profiles. A couple of the more interesting categories include:
Updated material is available for download on a weekly basis. Free technical support is available online, and by email and fax. However, no phone support is offered. One drawback to Cyber Patrol is its interface. It is one of the more complex interfaces in our roundup; being technically savvy is definitely a plus when configuring this program. Another drawback lies in its reporting; the reports are simple but should be improved. In spite of these drawbacks, Cyber Patrol delivers on its promise of a feature-rich internet filter. The layered filtering technology and range of blocking capabilities give this product high marks.
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B SECURE
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Net Nanny, formerly Content Protect, is a fully featured internet filter solution that works for the entire family. An easy-to-use interface, robust blocking strategies, and remote monitoring capabilities give this product our highest ranking.
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Cost: |
$49.95 |
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Features: |
10 day free trial |
B Secure relies on its servers to block objectionable material before it is ever delivered to your pc. This material can be defined differently for each user profile that you set up.
Configuration of B Secure is a simple process. First, you set up a profile for each user in your household that will access the internet. Next, you decide which "categories" of material you want to allow for each user profile. B Secure groups objectionable material into 32 different "categories". Examples of these categories include Gambling, Pornography, Personals/dating, and Web-based email.
For each profile, you block or allow entire categories of material. This makes configuration of each profile a very simple and timesaving process. And in other timesaving move, B Secure assumes the responsibility of categorizing new websites into one of these categories for you. Of course, you also have the ability to allow or block individual websites for each user profile. And, you can define the time periods for each day that each user can access the internet.
One of the most thoughtful features we liked was their online help system. B Secure provides a very thorough seven-page, 136 Q & A support section for customers looking for help. In addition to this they offer a free telephone help line that is open 7am to 11pm Monday thru Sunday. They are one of the few companies in this industry to offer free phone support, especially with such long hours.
For reporting, B Secure boasts a "tamper proof reporting option" which is a nice feature. Three reports per week can be generated and emailed to whomever to show which websites have been visited that week by that computer. They also provide instant email notification if someone tries to access blocked material on your pc. If your pager supports text messaging via an email address, you can send these alerts to your pager for notification wherever you are.
With secure server-based internet filtering, and an easy to use interface, B Secure receives some of the highest marks in our review.
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I PROTECT YOU
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Cost: |
$34.95 |
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Features: |
14 day free trial |
I Protect You has a clean and easy-to-understand interface, although it looks a bit outdated. Each main category has clear descriptions that help guide you in using its features.
Installation is quick and painless. Upon configuration, you can set up different users, and groups of users, with different access rights to objectionable material. In fact, there are four different levels of responses that can be utilized when restricted matter is encountered, based on maturity, interests, habits, and parental control needs. This allows for a great degree of customization.
I Protect You allows you to filter harmful websites and newsgroups. In addition, you can block emails, online chat programs, instant messages, and file sharing services. The database has an auto-update feature that ensures its content is current.
I Protect You also lets you restrict when, and for how long, your child can access the internet. This is useful if you want to restrict the total amount of time that your child spends online, in addition to the time periods they are allowed to access the internet.
One unique feature of I Protect You is its ability to limit the amount of data that can be sent or received via your computer. This can be used as a way to help restrict any software that gets downloaded. We'd like to see other internet filter packages adopt a similar option.
The website itself has a number of useful articles which make it a great resource for learning more about internet filters. This makes the site a good starting point for parents who want to learn exactly how things like peer-to-peer networks and spyware work. However, the layout of the website was not intuitive or easy to navigate through.
Customer support is all via email. They provide customers with a form to fill out and say they should receive an answer within one to three business days. We'd like to see better support offered for their customers.
I Protect You is a decent internet filter with some interesting features. We'd like to see an updated interface and better customer support options to round out this product.
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PC TATTLETALE
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Cost: |
$49.95 |
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Features: |
7 day free trial |
PC Tattletale's website takes a real scare tactic approach towards parents. While there are plenty of dangers lurking in cyberspace, there are many solid reasons to purchase an internet filter that aren't based on fear alone.
Built primarily to monitor and capture a user's whereabouts while online, PC Tattletale has rather limited filtering capability. Simply supply a list of keywords that you find objectionable. If the child tries to go to any web site that contains the targeted keywords, PC Tattletale intervenes and displays a "Page not found" error instead. The theory is that your child will soon tire of trying to display that page and move on to something else.
Unfortunately, this level of rudimentary filtering is severely lacking when compared with the other products in our review. First, you must maintain the list of keywords yourself; no one else is monitoring this list for you. Second, a keyword may be objectionable in one context, but not another.
For example, health-related sites may contain keywords that would be objectionable if used on adult-oriented websites; but the method used by PC Tattletale will block all sites regardless of how the word is used. Third, no attempt is made to filter emails, chat rooms, or other forms of communication.
On the monitoring side, PC Tattletale provides some useful features, such as screenshot captures and color-coding different chat personalities for ease of recognition.
PC Tattletale has features that make it more appealing to monitor, or review, the activity that takes place on your pc, rather than stop it from happening in the first place.
Internet Filters In The News |
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