Norton Parental Control is a no-frills, list-based filter available only with Norton Internet Security 2003, a suite that also includes antispam, antivirus, and firewall software. Without content filtering, though, parents must to more diligent than with Cybersitter 2002 or McAfee Parental Controls 1.0.

Parental Control lets parents identify users as child, teenager, or adult and further customize rules in 31 categories. It supports Windows XP fast user switching, automatically assigning limited user accounts the appropriate levels. You can also prevent personal information, such as credit card numbers, from leaking out via e-mail, newsgroup postings, or attachments.

The program's URL-based filters block only sites and newsgroups on Symantec's lists, which are customizable and updated via Norton Live Update. The Web history log shows user surfing activity, as well as violations with dates, user names, and links to the sites in question. Unfortunately, adding inappropriate logged sites to block lists isn't easy. And unlike Cybersitter and McAfee Parental Controls, which filter the content of unlisted sites, Norton Parental Control allows surfing of unlisted but inappropriate sites.