February 10, 2023
Internet Monitoring and Safety
By: Amy Chu and Janelle Schenk, LMSW
It’s 2023 and children are using the internet daily more often and earlier than ever before. The internet has a ton of content, including opportunities for gaming, research, and social interactions. This level of limitless versatility can be exciting, overwhelming, and, let us be honest, a little scary. As parents, it makes sense that the safety and well-being of your child is a top priority across multiple contexts, including home, school, athletics, and, nowadays, the internet. Fortunately, programmers and app developers have noticed these concerns and created numerous applications to address them. This blog is not a review but, aims to provide information about free applications to monitor internet usage, along with some charged programs that are highly rated.
Bark is an application that connects to multiple social media platforms, photos, and videos to detect concerning content. If any sensitive material is detected, Bark will send an alert to the account holder to review. Bark’s program is designed to detect cyberbullying, profanity, inappropriate messaging, and signs of depression and suicide. Other Bark features include managing a child’s screen time, filtering and blocking certain websites, and setting location alerts.
Net Nanny allows parents to block certain websites and applications, track locations, and set time limits for individuals’ access online. Additionally, parents will receive detailed reports that include important alerts and online activities such as videos the individual watched.
Qustodio has a free version with limited functions for monitoring. These include setting time limits, monitoring online activities, and getting reports and alerts. A charged version consists of the three features listed above, blocks websites and apps, and tracks location, calls, and texts to prevent cyberbullying.
Kidlogger also has a free version that assists parents in monitoring their children’s online activities and messages, tracking screen time, and preventing the usage of unsuitable apps. The special feature of Kidlogger is that it will periodically screenshot children’s screens for parents’ review. The charged version of Kidlogger protects more devices and keeps online activity history longer.
With similar features as those above, such as filtering content, managing screen time, and setting location alerts, Canopy is unique in its function to help prevent sexting. Canopy will ask the child if they want to keep a flagged photo or send a copy to parents for review. Parents that get notified can delete inappropriate images if necessary. This could let children have second thoughts about what is appropriate to show on social media and for parents to have the chance to discuss with them.
Family Link is an app developed by Google that allows parents to view activities, manage applications and screen time, and track locations. Family Link can also allow parents to lock children’s phones remotely during bedtime or let children concentrate at school.
DNS stands for domain name system, which is a home router that makes your home internet safer and faster. OpenDNS is part of Cisco, and it has a free version. The only feature of OpenDNS is it filters out adult content for better safety for children and youth online usage.
| Online Monitoring Applications and Software | ||
| Application | Cost Options | Privacy Setting |
| Bark | $5 or $14/month | Info shared is encrypted. They won’t sell data without consent. |
| Net Nanny | $80 or $130/year | Will share personal info to third parties to assist operation. |
| Qustodio | Free or $55 or $97
or $138/year |
May disclose data to third parties. |
| Kidlogger | Free or $29 or $89/year | Data will be encrypted and decrypted only for the account owner. |
| Canopy | $8 or $10 or $16/month | Has a secure server. Won’t sell data or keep data permanently. |
| Family Link | Free | Won’t share data with personal identification. Can turn off personalized ads settings. |
| Open DNS | Free | Personal data will be encrypted. |
| Internet Safety Online Resources | ||
| Resource | Description | Link |
| Cerebra | Learning Disabilities, Autism and Internet Safety: A Parent’s guide | http://www.cerebra.org.uk/help-and-information/guides-for-parents /learning-disabilities-autism-and-internet-safety-a-parents-guide/ |
| Think You Know | Helps educate online users and their parents about internet safety | https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ |
| Lifewire | How to Use Youtube’s Parental Controls | https://www.lifewire.com/youtube-parental-controls-2487977 |
| Star Toolkit | Practical advice and teaching activities to educate about online safety with individuals with ASD | https://www.childnet.com/resources/star-toolkit |
| Autism At-A-Glance | Internet Safety for Teens with ASD | https://csesa.fpg.unc.edu/sites/csesa.fpg.unc.edu/files/Internet% 20Safety%20for%20Adolescents%20with%20Autism.pdf |
| Internet Matters | Nonprofit aimed at helping parents keep their children safe online | https://www.internetmatters.org/ |