Hi, I am one of the inventors of a new product that does exactly what you are looking for, it is called KidSafe (check out www.thinkgeek.com who sell it online). We use hardware (a secure usb token) like the keys to your car and software to let parents effectively control access to the family pc. Software alone can never provide a flexible or secure enough solution. Kid these days often know more about the computer than their parents and as many families are on the windows platform it can be really difficult to set up user privilleges effectively. Whoever controls the key controls the computer, not a perfect fit for everybody but great when you have a son or daughter who sits playing games or chatting for 14 hours a day.The software has many security features that make it very difficult to bypass or remove from the system. The most important thing we have found to consider when trying to keep kids safe online is that no technology solution alone is as good as parental guidance but a little help can certainly go a long way!
Slashdot Mirror
Hi,
I am one of the inventors of a new product that does exactly what you are looking for, it is called KidSafe (check out www.thinkgeek.com who sell it online). We use hardware (a secure usb token) like the keys to your car and software to let parents effectively control access to the family pc. Software alone can never provide a flexible or secure enough solution. Kid these days often know more about the computer than their parents and as many families are on the windows platform it can be really difficult to set up user privilleges effectively. Whoever controls the key controls the computer, not a perfect fit for everybody but great when you have a son or daughter who sits playing games or chatting for 14 hours a day.The software has many security features that make it very difficult to bypass or remove from the system. The most important thing we have found to consider when trying to keep kids safe online is that no technology solution alone is as good as parental guidance but a little help can certainly go a long way!
st.john - kidsafe inventor
www.kid-safe.co.uk