@j-o-h-n: It also won't kill your kid if they don't see underage girls getting slime violated by tentacle monsters.

I meant cell phone companies that would choose to profit off of customers twice; first through normal billing, then through selling conversations.

Way to go; you sound like a good parent.

I don't really care because you have to be a moron in the first place to buy such software...it's because you can't talk with or watch your kids in the first place.

@RvLeshrac: Really? I had trouble finding that. I found alot of pay software, but no free software.

@heypal: Actually I am a parent. I have a daughter that is a tween as she prefers to be called. I follow everything I said with her.

@Con Seannery: The parents of the columbine boys trusted them to have their computers in their rooms. So do parents whose children meet predators in chat rooms and on facebook.

@strathmeyer:

I was wondering about the legality of this as well. The laws don't cease to apply just because a parent has installed the software.

@KTK1990:

There is plenty of software available to do that.

Most of it is illegal if anyone other than you and your child use that machine.

@heypal:

A good parent would never fail to vaccinate their children.

A good parent would never become a parent without a stable financial foundation.

A good parent would never need parental control software because they'd actually have taught their child about responsibility, self-control, and the world in general before letting them loose in what amounts to the wild-west of the modern age.

Why is it that people won't let their children go clubbing, but have no problem with allowing them to do whatever they want on the internet with absolutely no one-on-one supervision?

Alternately, some parents have no problem letting their children run around the city unsupervised, but go apeshit whenever there's some article about the dangers of OMGINTERNETCHAT.

Believe me, I am no prude. My kid sees me naked all the time because she walks in on my showers. Whatever. It's just the human body.

And sex is no big deal either. I have no qualms about explaining sex to her and she's already asked some basic questions and received some basic answers.

But I really don't need her to end up on a site that objectifies any gender in any way. I don't want her to think that lesbian sex is a way to turn on men...if she turns out to be a lesbian, I want her to reach that through her own healthy means, not via male-centric porn.

And if she wants to get into BDSM later in life, that's her business, but right now she's 4 and we have enough trouble with tantrums and hitting and don't need to associate it with any kind of pleasurable activity, thanks.

I think she can wait a long time before being exposed to any kind of sexual lifestyle, be it mainstream or alternative.

The answer to the last question is that a computer does it, and uses a third-rate filter that doesn't work very well. The other answer is they don't even attempt it.

You are clearly not a parent. Nobody who is a parent would ever say: "A good parent would never..." While I agree that parents should pay attention and not enough of that is going on, you sound like an idiot.

Too bad there isnt a free program that monitors that, chat logs, screencaptures, find site passwords, track when the kid goes there, and doesnt go outside the local network. Or doesnt collect that info.

I guess we know how Hitler could've gotten away with killing all those people.

How does this not violate international data collection laws on children under 13?

I remember one day when our son was in that phase and thought typing "big butts" into google image search would be the funniest thing ever. Instant teachable moment.

(we do keep all the computers in the den though)

Of course, you can have a kid who waits until their parent leaves the house or goes to bed to cause mischief, but there's greater risk involved on their part. It's also still easy for kids to accidentally stumble on something, so talking about good internet habits and explaining what to do is necessary, but keeping screens in public areas is just as good as a blocker to monitor your kids. Plus it shows them that you trust them to make good decisions, which is always nice.
I'd disable web access and maybe text on my kid's cell phone though. It's not necessary at their age, it's costly, and it's becoming a big in school distraction.

Worse, part of that trust cultivation involves a marketing strategy designed to scare parents to death in the first. Pedophiles, bullies and porn, oh my!

What's next? Cell phone manufacturers that sell everyone's private conversations to the highest bidder? Why stop there? Let's put recorders and transmitters in home smoke alarms! Baby monitors! Hell, even the clothes we wear!

Oh, please. Not everybody has the luxury (or OCD) to hover over their kid every second of every day, let alone every online session. You have to let them go and hope what you taught them holds sway. But parenting is a process and letting go happens in degrees.

This kind of software is just a back-up tool for those who find themselves in the midst of those degrees.

Most parents can easily do an internet filter through any router as well just look at your router manufacturers website for details. That is free as compared to paying a subscription for software.

@kaceetheconsumer:

The only stories I have heard of good kids going bad was when the parents didn't talk to their kids or when the computers were located in private areas - like kids bedrooms.

I grew up in a generation where having a computer in the house was once a luxury and where having your own computer was unheard of until you were in college.

I got my first computer in senior year of high school and that was SO cool for my friends. They thought my parents were the best lol.

I never did anything on the computer because I knew mom and dad would kill me.

*stands on soap box * A good parent would not need parental control software. They keep the computer out of the bedrooms, watch what their kids are looking at and pay attention to what the kids are doing. That would require actual parenting though and I am still convinced it does not happen enough. *gets down from the soap box*

most parental control programs that are overpriced and slow the computer down, they can easily be disabled by writing a simple batch script which ends the task of the process (works even if disable the task manager)

As she gets older, I really hope to have taught her some sensibility about life and computers and the 'net so I don't have to nanny-bot her. I don't want to censor her.

We'll simply keep computers in highly visible locations as much as possible (already getting harder with web-enabled phones and all of that) and have regular talks about sensibility and responsibility, and make it damned clear that she gets trusted as long as she doesn't do clearly stupid/forbidden things, and if she does, the trust goes away. AND SO WILL THE COMPUTER.

I'd only buy nannyware if I had a habitually problematic kid. Which could happen, I'm not naive. But I think most kids aren't assholes or idiots unless they're pre-treated as such.

PS if someone wants free parental control, there many free web proxy servers that offer this, no software slowing down the PC needed

all parents need to do is change the proxy settings then lock the children down to a limited user account where they cant change the proxy settings

It is also targeted at stupid people who are willing to pay to give up their privacy.

it doesn't matter if they offer a opt out (it needs to be a opt in process),
these companies make it opt out but hide it in such a way that people will have no idea whats going on unless they really inspect whats going on.

This statement makes it seem like every word from every conversation, which in my view, should be illegal. There is no fucking way I'd let anyone sell my complete chat logs, even if my name weren't attached. That's way over the line.

instant messages, blogs, social environment communities, forums, and chat rooms.

I don't know if they are selling actual IM logs (didn't read the press release), but content posted blogs, communities, forums and chat rooms is available for the public to read (unless it's in a password protected area).

When you install this software, you're giving it permission to look at exactly what your kid is doing online, for the purposes of blocking unwanted content on the incoming side. If all they are doing is looking at the number of times Hanna Montana is mentioned, and noting that it's increased 500% from last week, or noted that the work "sucks" is in the same sentence a lot, I don't have a problem with that. It's no different than the data aggregation on Amazon or any other website that tracks what people are searching for, buying or talking about.

Hey, it could even help if they notice a lot of kids talking about how their favorite toy bursts into flames - the software notices that have massive of kids posting about that all over the country, someone might put it together and realize the tickle me elmo dolls have have finally gained sentience.

@madanthony:
I agree.

That is an invasion of privacy to spy on someone's kids. Now any pediphile could just get a job at one of the companies, or even just pay for access to your childs communications.