Pros & Cons
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- Blocks bad Web sites or just warns.
- Schedules computer time.
- Manages multiple PCs, Macs.
- Tracks searches and social networking.
- Controls and monitors IM.
- Remote management and reporting.
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- Can lose settings if you don't save before changing tabs.
- Site blocking defeated by secure proxy.
- Notification e-mails don't link directly to the corresponding event in log.
OnlineFamily.Norton Specs
| Free: | Yes |
| OS Compatibility: | Mac OS |
| OS Compatibility: | Windows Vista |
| OS Compatibility: | Windows XP |
| Tech Support: | forum-based |
| Tech Support: | free |
| Type: | Personal |
For years, Symantec has included a parental-control element in its Norton Internet Security and Norton 360 packages. It's so limited as to be nearly useless, so for years I've given it poor ratings. OnlineFamily.Norton is a huge improvement, on a par with the best existing parental-control programs. Now both suites offer it as an alternative to the old, lame Norton component. Users should definitely choose it instead. The new free offering is a strong contender, matching almost all the features of the top paid parental control systems.
I sometimes feel a little twinge when writing about software that's designed to let parents spy on kids or put strict limitations on their Internet use. I don't use such software at home. We have the children's computer out in the open, and we talk with them about appropriate use. So I was pleased to see that Symantec's new OnlineFamily.Norton (free until 2010) emphasizes communication over control. Symantec gathered an Advisory Board of experts in education, parenting, and online safety to oversee the product's direction. Among others, the board includes the president of the national PTO, a teen blogger, and an old friend—Robin Raskin, a one-time editor at PC Magazine. The result is really quite impressive.
Simple Setup
There's no box to buy and (for now) no fee for using the service. Just navigate to onlinefamily.norton.com and register. You have to supply an e-mail address for the parental account, along with a master password. Make sure the password is something the kids won't guess! You can register each child's name and age during setup or later. If you're using a computer the kids also use, the next step is to download and install Safety Minder, a small (9MB) utility that provides local enforcement of OnlineFamily rules.
Like
At this point, the product is ready to work, configured with default rules based on the birth dates you supplied for your children. However, the setup process does let you immediately tweak those settings to your satisfaction. I note that the first step Symantec recommends is talking to the kids about house rules for computer use. That's a good start. If you do start changing settings, look for the "Update Settings" button on each tab. If you navigate away without clicking that button, you lose your changes without warning. Symantec should definitely tweak the UI to fix this.
I was somewhat surprised to find banner ads embedded in the product's reporting and configuration screens. I asked Symantec whether the ads were there because the product is free, and whether they'd be removed later. They said they haven't made any decisions about how pricing or advertising will change after the end of this year. That actually make sense; they've got eight months to tune the product and examine its market acceptance.—
Web Site Blocking
The feature people most often think of as "parental control" is site blocking—keeping kids from accidentally or deliberately visiting inappropriate sites. OnlineFamily can block Web sites in almost four dozen categories, displayed in a simple alphabetical list. It preconfigures this feature based on each child's stated birth year. I created imaginary children ages 16, 10, and 6. Naturally, the 6-year-old kid had more categories blocked than the 10-year-old. The software didn't turn on category blocking at all for the oldest child; it just set itself to monitor and record sites visited.
Most parental-control systems rely on a central database that categorizes Web pages. Some, like
On attempting to visit a blocked site, the child gets a pop-up warning and an explanatory page in the browser. This page includes a space to write a short note requesting parental permission to visit the site. If you do choose to allow your child access to the site, the change affects the local machine right away. A clever child will notice the pop-up message "Your house rules have been updated," and try the site again.
With Net Nanny and CyberPatrol, you can give an override password to an older child, allowing him or her to visit a site that would otherwise be blocked. OnlineFamily takes a slightly different approach. In its warning mode, OnlineFamily lets the child either back away from the "bad" page or enter a brief explanation and continue to the page. You'll get e-mail notification that the child ignored a warning, and you can view the explanation in the online console.
Symantec worked hard to ensure that the product records only significant Web sites, sites that the child has visited intentionally. I found that the site list wasn't cluttered with banner ad URLs or other irrelevant information, so it was more informative than a simple list of every site accessed by any process.
OnlineFamily hooks into the network data stream at the TDI (Transport Driver Interface) level, so it controls Internet access for any browser or Internet-enabled application. Some parental-control utilities hook in at the LSP (Layered Service Provider) level, not quite as deep. There's an arcane command that can disable these latter utilities. I won't print it here, but I know it, and your teen probably knows it too. The TDI-level architecture won't yield to hacking, and if somebody used the command that will trigger an e-mail warning that the child is attempting to tamper with Safety Minder.—
Proxy Problem
Now for the bad news. That same smart teen probably knows any number of secure anonymizing proxy Web sites. These should be blocked, based on the "Computer Hacking" or "Web proxies" category, but if you've set the product to warn, not block, your child can override the warning and launch one of these sites.
Children with access to a secure proxy Web site can go anywhere on the Internet without your knowledge. I had no trouble opening a number of sites that would otherwise have been blocked. The activity list will show that they visited the secure proxy site but won't show anything about where they went from there. It's up to you to confront your kids about using the secure proxy sites.
To be fair, almost no parental-control programs can handle this problem. If the secure proxy itself isn't blocked, the kids can run hog wild. Net Nanny is the only product I've seen that can still filter Web traffic even when it's running through a secure proxy.—
Time Control
The computer is so fascinating some kids would spend all their time on it, or sneak down in the night to use it without parental interference. OnlineFamily includes the option to define a range of hours when each child is blocked from using the computer, with separate settings for weekdays and weekends. Most competing products handle this feature a bit differently, blocking Internet access rather than overall computer access.
The product's scheduling system isn't quite as flexible as the full-week grid found in CyberPatrol, Safe Eyes, Webroot, Net Nanny, and others, but it's simpler to use. Like the other four, OnlineFamily lets you set a daily maximum time on the computer, again with separate weekday and weekend settings.
Children get a warning 15 minutes before the blocked time begins or 15 minutes before the daily allotment runs out. They can also right-click the Safety Minder's tray icon and check the remaining time. In the last minute before forced logout a child can click an "I need more time" button. At this point the entire desktop is disabled leaving only the Safety Minder dialog functional. A nearby parent can enter credentials in that dialog to grant an extension of access for a specified time or until the session ends.
As with Web site blocking, you can set the time-management feature to warn rather than actively cutting off access. In that case, the child gets a notification that time has run out, and a warning that parents will find out. There's no e-mail notification in this case, but the activity list will show that the child signed in during curfew hours. Again, it's up to you follow up and find out if your kid had a valid reason to continue using the computer.
Like Safe Eyes, OnlineFamily handles time limitation across multiple PCs. Little Johnnie can't use up his allotted time on the family room computer and then continue on the kitchen computer. That's something Net Nanny hasn't yet managed, nor any other I've evaluated.
The kids can't beat the system by changing the system clock, the way they can with Webroot or CyberPatrol. And if they do change the clock, they'll be busted when that action shows up in the log of questionable activities.—
Searching, Social Networks and Privacy
The product can optionally track the search terms your kids are entering, so you can get an idea of what they're looking for on the Internet. It includes a separate option to force use of "Safe Search" in a number of search engines, meaning that offensive results will be filtered out. It offers both features for Google, Yahoo, MSN/Live search, Ask, and YouTube. For searches in eBay, craigslist, Wikipedia, Fact Monster, or Ask Kids it can monitor the terms but not force Safe Search. Net Nanny forces Safe Search in a similar fashion, but extends this feature to a larger number of sites including Dogpile, AltaVista, Lycos, and more.
I ran into an oddity with Net Nanny configured to display a blocking dialog. The dialog would pop up whenever Google suggested any questionable search. For example, I tried looking for "online pharmacy", but when I reached "online p" the phrase "online poker" came up. Net Nanny blocked it and sent a warning. OnlineFamily.Norton has no such problem with suggested searches, fortunately.
For younger kids in particular, you may want to enable Personal Information Protection. You enter personal information the child shouldn't share, including social security number, home phone, personal e-mail address, and a user-defined field for other private data. This might include the name of your child's school, for example. Why not let the parent enter more than one phone number, more than one e-mail address, and any number of user-defined fields? Most personal information protections systems allow more flexible entry of data for protection.
If your child attempts to send protected information over a supported IM protocol she'll get a popup warning that it's against the house rules, and the information won't be sent. If she enters this data in a Web form, she'll get a warning in the browser. But don't try to test this feature using Google—the product deliberately doesn't try to suppress personal data in known search sites. Certainly it's more important to protect personal information on something like a social-networking site.
Speaking of social networking, OnlineFamily tracks your child's visits to a large number of social-networking sites: Bebo,
Unlike standard Web filtering, the social-networking feature is browser-specific. On a PC, it requires
Net Nanny specifically offers monitoring of Facebook accounts, but in a somewhat heavy-handed way. When this protection is enabled, the child can't log in to Facebook without installing the Net Nanny application (which lets the parent view a significant set of profile details). OnlineFamily's approach covers more sites and doesn't require a plug-in, but the only information it provides is the profile name and stated age. Still, that's enough to get the conversation started.—
Instant-Messaging Supervision
Though it doesn't have every feature found in every other product, OnlineFamily's instant-messaging supervision is overall the best of its type that I've seen. To start, it works at the protocol level, as Net Nanny does, not at the client level as
At the "Blocked" level, this feature disallows chatting with any friend until after parental approval. The child's attempt to start or respond to a chat triggers a warning and an offer to send a message to the parent asking for permission to chat with this friend. Bsafe Online also allows control over who the child can chat with; Safe Eyes, CyberPatrol, and Net Nanny don't.
At the "Monitored" level all chat connections are permitted. However, the parent gets notification of any chat with a new friend and the conversation is automatically recorded. As a parent you can review the conversation before deciding whether to block the friend, keep monitoring, or allow unmonitored chatting.
The loosest level, "Not blocked or monitored," is still slightly different from turning supervision entirely off. At this level, the IM products your child uses and the friends with whom your child chats are still listed, and you can choose to block or monitor them individually.
CyberPatrol filters out objectionable language from both sides of an IM conversation. It filters outgoing chat even if the child users an unsupported IM client or service; in fact, it filters out bad words in any program. Net Nanny can be configured to record conversations only when it detects content that may suggest improper or dangerous contact. OnlineFamily doesn't filter specifically on content, but, unlike the other two, it gives the parent direct access to the child's list of online friends.
It's important to realize that your kids can almost certainly find a way to chat unsupervised with their friends. They could use an unsupported IM program, connect through a Web-based client, or even chat inside one of the popular multi-player games. So even though OnlineFamily's IM supervision is good, it's not bulletproof.—
Notification and Reports
Like Bsafe, Safe Eyes, Webroot, and Net Nanny, OnlineFamily can send an e-mail when certain events occur (CyberPatrol doesn't attempt notification). Safe Eyes goes farther, with an option to notify only after a certain threshold of "bad" activity and the ability to send the notification via e-mail, IM, text message or even telephone. Notification messages from OnlineFamily specify the problem event, the child's name, and the date/time of the event. The date/time can be confusing, as notification messages are time-stamped using eastern time.
In the online console, you can choose which events will trigger a notification, though I'd be inclined to leave them all turned on. You can add any number of e-mail addresses to receive the notifications. And you can invite your spouse or another grown-up to share full control over remote configuration management.
When you log in to the online console, you get a useful summary of online activity with a quick roundup of the most-visited Web sites, most popular IM friends, and recent search terms, as well as a chart of the most visited Web-site categories. You can select a different child to see that child's summary, or change the time period being reported. You can dig into any of the summary options for more detail, just as you can in Net Nanny. Subjectively speaking I like OnlineFamily's reports better. The summary presents just enough information to be useful, all on a single tab.
There's a detail page for all activities plus individual pages for Web, search, IM, social networking, and time events. Here, too, the ability to get more information is handled well. You can open most events to get more detail and possibly make changes. For example, if you open a blocked Web site event, you see a thumbnail of the page, the site's categories, and any message your child may have sent. The options to allow the site, allow its categories, or leave it blocked are right there as well.
I'm impressed with the product's reporting overall. The only gripe I have is that clicking the link in an e-mail notification doesn't take you to the description of the event in question. It just sends you to the program's main page.—
Settings and Advice
The online console lets you totally control all aspects of the program's configuration. Your changes take effect almost immediately, as they do in Safe Eyes and Net Nanny. The kids see a small pop-up announcing the arrival of new house rules. If your child requests access to a wrongly blocked Web site or permission to chat with a new friend, you can grant permission right away. Conversely, if the child is abusing the privilege of overriding category-based site blocking to search for naughty pictures, you can tighten up your control.
Symantec's stated aim with this product is to encourage dialog and help parents understand their children's online lives. To that end they've included a page titled Advice—basically an FAQ about online activities and how to talk with your kids. There's even a page suggesting you get them involved in geocaching (a favorite activity of mine)! Other topics include cheating in the digital age, cyber-bullying, and a parent's field guide to social networking sites. It's quite a useful resource.
OnlineFamily.Norton is a real bargain. At no cost you get a top-of-the-line parental-control system that can coordinate and manage your children's use of all of the PCs and Macs in your household. Its IM supervision in particular is extremely well done, and I like the emphasis on keeping the child involved in the process, not just controlling or suppressing access. Net Nanny, our current Editors' Choice, still edges it out in some areas, such as filtering HTTPS traffic and using real-time page analysis as needed. But this first release from Norton is a strong contender, and it's free, so if you're thinking about giving it a try, you've got nothing to lose.
More Parental Control Reviews:
Final Thoughts
OnlineFamily.Norton
This free Web-based product has everything you'd expect in a parental-control system and more. It blocks bad sites, controls time on the computer, supervises chat, and even watches social network use on all your PCs and Macs. Settings are stored in the cloud, making remote configuration and reporting simple.