Most people don’t bother learning how to secure their Internet or even search for a place that will help them (like netsmartz.org). We all want to protect our kids and ourselves from the bad parts of the Internet. However, most people will just sue a company. And if you work for the government and need a way to get more votes, then maybe stating “Google Inc. generates “billions of dollars from the pornography trade and illicit profiteers.”" makes a lot of sense. ( News article from Newsday ) People have to take a little responsibility for themselves and their children. The Internet Law is open and it is the user’s responsibility to filter and make sure they are protected.
- Now an easy way to filter adult content in Google is to create a Google user account and keep logged into Google personalized: http://www.google.com/ig.
- Then inside click on preferences: http://www.google.com/preferences?hl=en
- There is a “SafeSearch Filtering” feature. Turn this on and save the preferences.
- Besides Google all top search engines have a safe search Feature, but since Google was singled out…
Now there are many ways to filter a computer and doing this just for Google isn’t the best way since there are other search engines out there. Yahoo, MSN are others who have the same issue. Parents and anyone who has kids around have to learn to set up their computer to have better filters since children can also get into other online places like MySpace or blogs. Software filtering is an important step for parents. With a simple google search with the keywords: parent information on web filtering a parent can find many ways to restrict their computer.
I do not think it’s Google’s or any other search engines responsibility for filtering the Internet for pornography. Instead, the US government could have backed the push for a .xxx domain which would have made it easier for filtering and enforcing control over such content. Instead it is the parent’s responsibility to configure their computer. However, what I have found that all parents should look at is the websites: netsmartz.org, www.nap.edu/netsafekids/ and getnetwise.org. These are a must for all parents to look at. But, if a parent wants to go further, they can use monitoring software like Web Watcher or filter program like NetNanny.
The parent resources below go into more detail about what parents or people who have kids on their computer should do. We aren’t going to leave a four-year-old alone in a house without someone looking after them. Why then would we let children use a computer without proper safe-guards in place ?
Parent Resources:
- netsmartz.org
- Net safeFiltering And Monitory Tools
- getnetwise.org – Online resources for protecting yourself, your kids and your computer.
- staysafeonline.info/ – National Cyber Security Allaiance
Software Solutions:
