Need input on parental control software

[thrasherfox]

I have been using some software for monitoring my boys internet activity.

The program seems to be hit or miss lately. It doesn’t send reports all the time, some times the logs are not easy to understand.

So I am trying to see what else is out there.

I ran across a program called PCTATTLE and it looked good on the internet, so I tried to download it and my Symantec antivirus prevented it flagging as spy ware

I went to Symantec's web site and it states it is a key logger, screen capture program that monitors and tracks everything done on a computer..

well. yeah that is what it is supposed to do, but now I am concerned maybe it is more malicious that I suspected and maybe it is legitimate spy ware and does MORE than I want it to do.

Here is the web site for it.

http://www.pctattletale.com/


So then I check out a program that is sold at CompUSA, I figure if it is sold in a legitimate store it should be legitimate.

It is called Sentry At Home.

it looks real good and will send INSTANT violation messages to an email address and / or a cell phone using text messaging.

However it "looks" as though that EVERYTHING that is sent to the companies web site and stored there for you to review.

I am not comfortable with complete strangers having the ability to look at any of my family members private conversations / email etc.

I am their dad, not only do I have a right to do this, it is my responsibility. but I don’t want ANYONE other than myself or my wife monitoring what they do.

This products web site is:

http://www.pctattletale.com/




So, since I am really confused, not totally happy with what I am currently using, don’t want to install malicious software on my computers, and DON’T want complete strangers having access to my families personal lives.

Any suggestions out there? anyone know of any good products? awesome products?


I want to be able to view all emails, web based and other, incoming and outgoing.

I want to be able to monitor all instant messaging.

I want instant alert abilities. (cell phone and email)

I want parental controls such as web based filtering, time restrictions, social networking monitoring / blocking etc.


Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[VaBusa]

I can't get to the site from work (it's blocked) but check out www.spectorsoft.com for what's new and helpful for parental use...

Friend of mine bought the famous "Net Nanny" and said it worked okay, but I have no clue about it's capability...I'm not quite to the point of having to watch my kids that closely yet.  Their computer use is still just limited to drawing pictures and playing games on kids' sites every blue moon.  I do think it's up to parents to watch what their kids are doing though, invasion of privacy or not for those that want to argue, far too many kids are too easily preyed upon by people that shouldn't even be alive

EDIT - Sorry, got my link up there wrong and had to edit it...

 

[ks-waterbug]

Spector Pro.... +2
Used this for several years, works as promised and flawless.

 

[thrasherfox]

Thanks Michelle!!

Yes, I totally agree with it being the parents responsibility to monitor.

A few years ago at the dinner table we had a family discussion about how far I would go to watch what they did?

I explained to them while they lived under my roof they would not have 100% complete privacy, that I reserve the right to go through and look in anything that is in this house or their possession.

They have grown up this way so I never have a problem if I do a random search on a back pack, I logon to their computer, or grab their cell phone and browse through the text messages to see who they are texting, who they are calling etc.


I brought up the Columbine scenario. Not trying to pass judgment on the parents, I don’t know them nor do I know their situation, however I cannot comprehend how those boys were able to posses and have access to the guns they did, and all the other stuff the police found in their homes without their parents having some kind of clue. I just cant wrap my mind around that.

I hope I never find out that there is nothing a parent can do to stop a kid. However I think in my house I have a pretty good idea of what is in it.

I was a rotten kid growing up, I know all the lies, all the tricks, I was worse than I sons could ever imagine. There is NOTHING that they can think of or want to do that I haven’t already thought of and done myself.

Thanks for the link Michelle, I will check it out..

 

[captain]

net nanny is what I have used....

 

[VaBusa]

It's going to be a point of contention down the road for Mike and I...he loves that his mother never invaded his privacy (nor did mine that I know of) and all I see are the news reports of yet another predator kidnapping, abusing and killing yet another innocent child.

The world's just far different from when we were kids, and I'll admit, many of us were just damn lucky to get out alive and not end up on a milk carton, but I wasn't mired down with the web then, nor did I have access to quite the amount of all that is "bad" at my very fingertips...watch a single episode of Dateline when they're so easily luring predators to what they hope is a night with someone's child and you'd be watching your kids while they surfed and chatted too...

Yep, I'll want to know and Mike won't...it's going to be tough, but I'm not having my children just hanging out there, hoping they'll just be okay...the world's just too dangerous anymore...

 

[thrasherfox]

Well the way I look at it Michelle is when I was growing up, there wasnt any internet.

My parents (well my mom and others who raised me) monitored who my friends were, who I talked on the phone with, etc.

With the internet, just because someone is not physically there, they might as well be.

When a child is on the internet chatting with someone that is the same as far as I am concerned as someone coming to the door you dont know, walking in without asking your permission and going straight to your kids room and closing the door behind them.

in some ways that would almost be better as cracked as that sounds, at least you would know for sure what age the person is, if they are male or female.

When kids are chatting online, if they are chatting with someone they dont know you have NO idea if the person is lying about their age, sex etc.

I just recently let my 13 year old have a myspace account. Something it took me a while to make a decision on. I finally agreed with conditions which were

1) I have his logon ID and password and I can logon anytime I want and check his friends, his messages etc.

2) he doesnt have ANYONE on his myspace that he doesnt go to school with or knows personally that we know about

3) He doesnet create another Myspace account that we dont know about.

He knows any violation of any of these will have his computer access hammered.

I caught him once "trying" to go to an innapropriate site and I locked his computer down where he could only go to specific sites, I did that for 6 months. So he knows I will do it again and he knows I have the ability to monitor.

As I said I have software I have been using, and I run a network scanner sometimes to capture packets and rebuild them so I can monitor real time anything he is doing. And along with finding some better parental monitoring software I plan on building another proxy server for my home which I will then have all internet traffic route through my proxy server for an additonal layer of monitoring.

The thing is I do it in the open, the kids know I am doing it, they know there isnt anyway for them to circumvent the security I have set up in the house, their only option is to try and access the internet from someone else's computer which doesnt happen.

Have Mike go to some of the web sites about Parentl Controls.

Dig up some stats for him on child preditors.

I forgot who I was talking with recently, but the FBI puts on a class about this stuff to law enforcement and in the class they will logon to the internet, go to a chat room and create a profile of a 13 year old girl and then just sit there.

They dont have to initiate a chat or anything, and within the first 20 minutes they are usually contacted by something like 15 people or more.

And the esitimated amout of child preditors on line is somewhere in the 100's of thousands.

It is a sick, twisted and more connected world and in my opnion parents have to be on gaurd at all times.

Uhh yeah. I am paranoid lol. but so far (knock on wood) nothing has happened to any of my kids.

 

[VaBusa]

I WAY paranoid when it comes to my kids...I'll be watching what they do and they too will know it...I don't think there's any other way to be with your kids...nothing will be gained from a parent sneaking around and trying to dig for answers.  Nope, be up front, let 'em know what you're doing and why, and then watch 'em or risk being one of so many parents nowadays that say "I just had no idea"  

Mike likes to live in somewhat of a fog at times...he likes it there and I doubt there's much I'll ever do to change it...I live knowing the consequences of not paying attention to your kids; seen it far too much in my life already...

 

[WWJD]

I did some research recently and found
http://www.k9webprotection.com/
was the best/easiest/free-est one around. There is probably better, but this one is free, and passed my personal "Can I uninstall or defeat it at all" test. I could not

The level settings are superb and easy to understand and setup. You hold a master password to everything. They can't uninstall, or delete files. It works on the root networking, not just Internet Explorer. there are catagories, and ways to temporarily bypass blocks, add perment blocks, add permenant allows, pretty much anything I could think of, and all done easily.

Good luck. If I had kids, I would SOOOO be blocking everything. Even MYSPACE