Parental Control Software - The Ethical & Moral Dilemma - Part 1

Over the past decade and half, there has been an unprecedented growth in home computers, both desktops and laptops. Especially in the past year, with the COVID effect, there has been a paradigm shift in the way education was imparted to the kids. Everyone is online, including Newton’s laws and Darwin’s theory of evolution, it’s the beginning of the e-Education era and it shall only evolve further.

While internet has become the source of detailed information and a great education source for kids, it has a dark side too. Parents are well aware of the potential pitfalls and the honeypots that the kids could get suckered into, that could range into serious issues ranging from kids visiting pornographic websites, especially teenagers to adult content both in potential violent & negative forms. And we haven’t even started talking about the hackers looming out in large, wanting to plant a trojan or a keylogger on the system to smartly capture away all the sensitive banking information or the email information on your home computer. And I haven't even mentioned any details of the "deep dark web". 

The solution to the concerns raised above is not that simple. You can’t simply take a computer away from a kid, they need it for studies and at the same time they don’t appreciate being blocked access from a gadget. So how do you deal with it? The answer lies in a Smart Parental Control software. Does it block access to sites you don’t want to get your kid to be accessing? The answer is Yes, but does it also allow you to spy on what activity your kid is doing? In most cases, the answer is No. 

So what is it that makes it a comprehensive Parental Control software without your kid going cranky about “no space”! Here’s a list of must have features:

1. Block access to websites based on keywords – not a blind one but a smart one
   1. No porn
   2. No dating websites
   3. No black hat hacking stuff (unless you want the cops on your doorsteps)
   4. No Deep Dark Web (Wondering what is it? We shall cover it in our next blog)
   5. No Social Media website (Well, nah, allow those please, they can socialise ;)
2. Keylogging (invisible)
   1. Track the keystrokes
   2. Most searched phrases
   3. Username Passwords of their social media accounts (they might not like it but given the bad world we live in, let’s have it)
   4. Peek-a-boo – screenshots capturing of the OS every few seconds
3. Comprehensive Reporting
   1. When the kid got online & what they did
   2. What are the phrases they search the most
   3. Their social media engagement

Parental control is a very debatable topic and a lot of parents are torn between ethics of not spying, giving space to their kids and trying to restrict & safeguard them from harmful activities on the internet. Well, for all those righteous parents caught up in the dilemma of using or not using parental control, let’s just understand one thing – kids are impressionable and have very fragile minds, they are just evolving and at that tender age, if the wrong side of internet is revealed to them, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.

So the concern should not be about should I or should I not spy & use parental control software, but how efficiently you should be able to do it so that it looks like the kid is getting all the space but you are watching them quietly – just like the government watches us ???? (Edward Snowden – anyone?)

So I seem to have your confidence & agreement on Parental control software and the need of it on your ever so powerful computer being used by you, your partner and your kids. I know what you are thinking now, what’s your recommendation Darshin? Which parental control software do you recommend?

Well, to include everything in one article is tough, so let’s follow up this blog post with another one next week where in we shall put together a list of our recommendations on what you put on your system. I enjoy playing the devil’s advocate especially when it’s a matter of our kids & their safety.

Stay safe in COVID, use face masks & maintain a distance. Signing off for now, shall be back with a list of recommendations for you all soon.

Cheers & have a great week.