Ways of blocking in Parental Control Software
There are three ways by which parental control software block sites or their contents:
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(i) They check requested URLs against a list of blocked sites in their repository, which is automatically updated like anti-virus updates.
(ii) The software checks the text on the site for banned words. If it finds any such words, it blocks the site's content, if not, it moves on to the next step.
(iii) The software then checks the images on the site. Using a special algorithm, it determines whether the image contains too much "skin color", and blocks it.
(ii) The software checks the text on the site for banned words. If it finds any such words, it blocks the site's content, if not, it moves on to the next step.
(iii) The software then checks the images on the site. Using a special algorithm, it determines whether the image contains too much "skin color", and blocks it.
If the site that is being requested fails test 1 or 2, you get an error page. If the site passes test 1 and 2, but fails test 3, then the site gets rendered without the possibly offensive images.
The setting is controlled via the options, and different software have different settings. As a result, some software might actually block the entire site if any images fail test 3.
Considering that a home might have children of different ages, many parental control software allow for the user accounts to be created. Each account can have different "paranoia" settings. So, for example, you can set the security level to maximum for your 8-year old, but relax the setting for your 15-year old.
However, these software are still not, and chances are that some clearly disguised adult content may get through. Also, it is more likely that a lot of innocent content might get blocked. For example, web pages that talk about "breast cancer" might be blocked because of the word "breast".
Most parental control software allow to admninister the browsing habits of the children, so not only can you see what sites that were trying to visit, the sites can also be approved that were inappropriately blocked. The pros of these software outweigh the cons a million to one in this case, and if there are Ne-savvy kids, the parental control software is highly recommended.
