Windows 8 internet filter

A bit of research revealed that the social media filtering feature has been taken offline while it is fine tuned for re-release at a future date.

Parents who want to manage their children's time on the Internet can use NetNanny's time management feature to limit how long their kids are online on each day down to the half hour. There are reports of the total number of web pages blocked and warned for the week, top blocked domains, a list of web site categories blocked, and alerts for your license and subscription status.

NetNanny also provides an accountability feature. If a family member struggles with a content addiction, their accountability partner can see a report of what they browse and intervene when a problem arises.

NetNanny's remote management feature gives you the ability to change profile settings, check usage reports, and block content wherever you or the controlled devices happen to be. They promise to complete responses by the end of the next business day. If you want to try self-help options, there are plenty, with separate FAQ sections on the website for every operating system, passwords, downloads, business solutions, and returns.

Their helpful knowledge base is a good tool to use when researching problems. There is also a newsletter if you want to stay up-to-date on the latest happenings with the software and filtering in general.

A review of the complaints and ContentWatch's responses shows that they are responsive and are handling the complaints in an acceptable manner, including refunds, when the software doesn't meet the needs of a user. NetNanny continues to top the heap of internet filtering products available today. The price is both affordable and competitive and it has good support and robust features. The NetNanny product name has longevity and brand recognition that shows it has made critical improvements over time.

You may recognize the name McAfee from the familiar anti-virus software installed on most new computers. You may have even purchased and configured the Safe Eyes software McAfee publishes to help you filter and monitor your kids' activities online.

Mac OS devices seem to have been left out of their offering at this time, which is unfortunate since Mac is becoming a more popular platform than Windows for family computing. The difference in name and price and which platforms were available at each price was a little baffling. There is a day money-back trial available if you want to see whether it will work for your family. Safe Eyes lets you see each device's activity, including websites and applications accessed as well as the device's current location and places where the child used its check-in feature.

So, for example, if your child is away from home going to the movies with friends, you'll get an alert when they arrive. If you have a need to set rules and timeframes for access on a device, website, or app, you can use pre-defined age-based rules and customize them based on each child's needs.

If there is any kind of exception needed for a particular rule, you can allow your child to request extra app time or access blocked apps or websites. Don't be surprised if you're confused as you try to figure out what Safe Eyes offers. When we reviewed the website, we found a three-column list of features which said the ones common to all platforms include:.

However, we found that some of the iOS-only features it lists are "checked" on the three-column list. A link on the page specifically for iOS devices noted that the experience on Windows and Android devices differs from iOS because iOS is more advanced. For example, on iOS you can use "geofencing" to define "places" to send automatic notifications when your child arrives at or departs from the geofence. But those features are also listed for Android and Windows.

On iOS you can be alerted in an activity feed when a child tries to uninstall Safe Eyes or disable features, but Windows and Android also show a list of installed apps for each device. The truly iOS-only features seemed to be reports of time usage limit violations on texting, phone or other apps that aren't blocked by Safe Eyes and seeing the last known location of your family member's device.

Support is available only via a McAfee general support portal website for all its products and not just for Safe Eyes. That site presents a lot of self-help and community-based options up front, but buries the contact Support button below the scroll line. On the direct contact page there is yet another list of categorized support options, now including social media, but, again, the "submit a case online" link is buried below the scroll line.

That link only leads to a simple contact form where you submit your description and then wait for the page to refresh showing you a button to initiate chat. We were able to connect with chat in about 2 minutes. But an inquiry into the confusion of features on different platforms took about 20 minutes to complete, with the representative having to check with a higher-level team twice to get the correct answer.

McAfee has three listings with the Better Business Bureau, two of which are the same, but only one customer review, no accreditation and no rating. The one customer review was a complaint about not having authorized automatic billing. There was no response or resolution from McAfee. On iTunes, the iOS app enjoys a 4. Another major review site gave it lower marks for being expensive, not available on Macs, and no web-based interface.

Due to the confusing nature of the features list, a long support chat with an unknowledgeable support person, and problems with kids being able to hack the app and turn it off, our rating is lower than the overall iTunes Store rating.

But the software might still be of good use for most users who already have McAfee products and want the convenience of adding Safe Eyes to that subscription set. Qustodio software is for families, schools, and businesses. It provides internet filtering protection, time limits, and reporting on user activities. There is a day trial. The administrator can set time limits on every device for how much time on the internet is allowed every day.

Location tracking capabilities ensure you can see a map of where your child's Android or iOS device is iOS only. If a phone call comes through that is on a filtered list, it will be blocked, and you can track who your child calls most often Android only. The extended reporting module shows you a full usage history over the past 30 days of activity. Facebook monitoring is available to see which photos are being uploaded, what status updates say, and who their friends are.

If apps and games are a problem, you can decide which ones will not be allowed and which can be used and when.

If a child experiences any sort of trouble while away from you, they can tap an "SOS" button on an Android phone that sends a location-based alert. To see who a child texts the most you can see their Android phone contacts list, read the SMS messages they send, and create a list of blocked contacts.

To get support, just click the "Help" link on the website to search by keyword or access categories of typical help topics. To contact the support team about a problem you need to log in and provide the issue information. It does not work on Chromebooks or Windows phones. One user who reviewed the software after using it stated that the iOS premium version doesn't offer any further functionality than the free version does and that it does not limit how much time a child spends playing non-internet games.

On the positive side, another user stated that it is great for moms, especially if they're single or divorced, just for the peace of mind that comes with child tracking capabilities alone. The developer has responded to only a few concerns people have expressed. Qustodio currently has an unaccredited profile and an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau because of failure to respond to 3 complaints users have filed against them.

We can only rate Qustodio with three stars at this time. Even though the screenshots and reports seem very intuitive and the software looks to be easy to use, the low rating of the iOS app and unanswered complaints at the Better Business Bureau and in iTunes App Store reviews caused us to rate them lower than we otherwise would have.

Verity Parental Control software, available for Windows PCs only, is able to block programs or websites that you designate as potentially or actually harmful.

You can track usage of all websites visited and applications used and take screenshots at various intervals to see what is going on with your child's usage.

Verity also includes monitoring online chatting via screenshots , setting daily time limits for the whole computer, an application, or a website, and customizing restrictions for each user based on their login.

You can access usage reports via a password-protected online portal or through automated emails. The trouble with the Verity setup is that it's not a named website, but an IP address of the machine, with Verity installed, that is being monitored. You have to enter its IP address and port number in a browser to access that computer's monitoring. It's not very intuitive for the average user to figure out the first time, but the URL can be bookmarked for later.

Managing the screenshots and log data is also not intuitive as you need to log into the monitored machine and traverse its Windows folders to deal with individual files. Verity has the ability to count keystrokes and mouse clicks per application, though it's not made clear on the vendor's website the purpose of counting keystrokes and mouse clicks.

Verity is only available on Windows, but is supported on XP up to Windows But, even though NCH appears to be addressing its customer complaints, its customer reviews could be better at only 3.

Our opinion of this software is that the way it is built is out-of-step with modern applications, requiring the user to know how to use Windows directories and remember where files are stored, as well as using obscure, difficult-to-remember IP addresses and port numbers to access the monitoring interface. The software could use a good modernization before it will qualify for a higher rating.

PC Tattletale markets itself as computer monitoring software that is simple to install, records everything a user does, and lets you view their activity in detail, even remotely. PC Tattletale seems to cater to two types of purchasers: employers and families. For employers, the draw would be to watch every detail of every activity the employee does on the computer, without the employee being informed of the monitoring.

You need to purchase its paid version in order to enjoy all of its features. It is a web and application filter software that can also block inappropriate websites and applications. Besides website filtering, you can also use this software to set web usage time limit for children and users. Its application filter is also very effective that lets you block various chat programs , web browsers, or any other installed program of a system.

Here, you also get some predefined list of applications that you can block just by ticking the check-boxes. Manual option to add programs to block list is also available. This web filter software also has a native hide feature that will disappear this software from both taskbar and system tray. This extension is available for both Chrome and Firefox browsers. Using this extension, you can block all types of inappropriate websites like Gambling , Lingerie , Self-harm , Pornographic , etc.

To filter websites, this extension provides two main sections namely, Just For Kids and Safe Browsing. Once you save the whitelisted websites, you will not be able to access any website other than the specified whitelisted websites. The Strong Mode is suitable for adults that mainly blocks millions of pornographic websites. The Extra Strong mode is for children that filters out Pornographic websites along with websites containing lingerie, Sex Education, violence , etc.

In both of these modes, you also get various inappropriate content categories that you can manually enable or disable to customize these modes. Overall, it is a useful web filter extension that you can use to filter out unwanted and inappropriate websites.

Site Blocker is another free web filtering extension for Chrome browser. Through this extension, you can easily filter out websites of your choice. In it, you need to manually enter all websites one by one that you want to filter out. Not just websites, but this extension can also block all the Subdomains of a blocked website and website frame in other websites. A useful White Time Config Option is also present in here through which you can specify the time between which you do not want to filter out any website.

Besides this, you can also password protect this extension. However, you will not be able to reset password in the free version of this extension. Note : In this free version of this extension, many premium features like Synchronization , Reset Password , Uninstall Protection , etc.

By purchasing the paid version, you can unlock all of its features. BlockSite is a completely free web filtering add-on for Firefox browser. In it, you can either enter a CSV File containing links of websites or you can manually enter website links that you want to block.

You can also add days and time during which blocked websites can be accessed. If you have enabled it, you will only be able to access those websites that you have added in the blocked list. To protect this add-on from unauthorized access, you can enable the password protection by going to its Protection Menu.

Besides this, you can also export all websites that you have added to the blocked list as a CSV File. Overall, it is a capable web filtering add-on that you should consider if you use the Firefox browser.

FoxFilter is another free Firefox browser add-on that works as a web filtering software. In this add-on, you can block certain websites using their URL links or keywords contained by websites. Plus, a set of ignore phrases can also be added into this add-on so that a blocked keyword contained in the ignore phrase does not lead to website blocking. You can also add a set of Trusted Websites that you do not want to get blocked. Besides all these features, you can also password protect this add-on so that only authorized users can access and make any changes to this web filtering add-on.

After all the modifications, do not forget to save all the changes by pressing the Save Changes Button. This add-on comes with various predefined ublock filters to filter out websites with badware risk , privacy risk , resource abuse , unbreak , malware risk , etc.

Along with predefined filters, it also gives you a dedicated My Filters section in which you can add URL links of websites that you want to block. There are a lot of choices out there to be sure, and most of them broadly offer the same service, but some of the programs that we reviewed excel in some areas more than others. Qustodio works on PCs and phones, and has 29 filter categories and time controls. The detailed parent reports include images of sites your child visits, as well chat and text messages they send and get.

Some programs, like Kaspersky Safe Kids are lacking some functionality on iPhones, for example. We have a best cell phone parental control apps guide that specializes in this area, so check that out too. Beyond that, you should consider the extra features that come with the best internet filter software. Some programs let you set screen time limits, so you can make sure your kids aren't spending too much time online. Qustodio is our top pick for internet filters in part because it is easy to install on both computers and smartphones.

For example, if your kids are allowed online between 6pm and 9pm on school nights, you can set Qustodio to kick them off after an hour or two, controlling overall screen time.

Qustodio records a lot of details about what your children do online and provides a detailed report. While other programs simply tell you when your child has accessed their email account or chatted with someone through an instant messenger program, Qustodio captures the whole conversation. Net Nanny is one of the cheapest internet filter programs we tested, but still includes the most important protection tools to block dangerous content online. There are 18 filter categories to help you quickly restrict access to websites about pornography, drugs and alcohol, suicide and gore.

The program sends an email alert if your child enables a proxy or privacy server to hide their internet searches. It also prevents children from typing these words into search fields and chat messages. Net Nanny sends a notice through the parent reports when profanity was typed or blocked from being seen. Net Nanny includes time controls to block kids from the internet when they should be asleep, at school, doing homework or chores. Because you can set up an account for each child, older children can be given longer time limits for school projects, online games or streaming videos.

The biggest drawback of Net Nanny is that some important tools, such as social media monitoring, chat message capturing and text notifications for parents, require you to purchase a separate program that works alongside the Net Nanny internet filter program. While Internet filtering isn't something you should cut corners with, we appreciate that services vary wildly when it comes to price. Kaspersky Safe Kids is the lowest cost provider that we recommend, as it packs in the essential features and offers very detailed reports, but doesn't cost the earth.

In terms of social media monitoring, it covers the big providers like Facebook and YouTube, and it'll happily track your family's usage across all the major iOS and Android devices. You get a very generous devices per license, so you won't run out of these any time soon. Kaspersky Safe Kids has many of the standard tracking tools too, like geo-tracking alerts for when your kids leave a certain safe zone, or they visit an area you've designed as 'off limits'.

Handily, it'll also alert you when their phones are switched off or they run out of battery, including a last known location.