A new Internet browser for children goes to extremes to keep young eyes from material they shouldn’t see. In addition to employing “include lists” and filters, the Kid Safe Browser incorporates a unique Internet Protection Module that “locks down” other Web surfing tools.
The browser was developed by the Children’s Educational Network to fulfill a need seen by the network’s CEO and founder, Gregory D. Writer Jr. An early adopter of new technologies, Writer wanted his five children to benefit from the vast educational opportunities presented by the Internet without being exposed to the Web’s seamier side. He also wanted to provide parents with a browser that offered ironclad safety to their children, but was flexible enough that it didn’t unnecessarily restrict older children’s – and even adults’ – usage.
The Kid Safe Browser is built on the open-source code underlying Internet Explorer. To that architecture is added an “include list” feature parents of very young children find helpful, according to Writer. When the browser is set to the include list level of security, users can visit only those sites that are included in the list of more than 10,000 “pre-approved, pre-screened, child-appropriate sites” that is part of the browser’s code. Writer says the list was developed with the input of CEN staff, teachers, and parents and is modified when CEN’s spiders detect an included site has changed to incorporate “inappropriate” content. Inappropriate content includes pornography and violence. The list can be modified by parents to include additional sites or delete ones on the default list. Writer says his 10-year-old daughter uses this version.
For older children, the filter level of security is appropriate, according to Writer, whose 14-year-old son surfs at this level. The filter is designed primarily to block pornography and foul language. It is not modifiable, but it doesn’t restrict surfing nearly as severely as the include list, Writer says.
The truly innovative – or aggravating – thing about the browser is the way in which it disables competing browsers. Although that feature can be turned off so that adults can surf the Web any way they want, the default installation sets Internet Protection to on.
An adult version of the browser that blocks pornography also is available, according to Writer.
Whether or not the software’s filter over- or under-blocks offensive material – as many other filtering devices have been accused of doing – depends upon a user’s point of view, of course. Can it be beneficial for the adult industry? Possibly.
Although he admits the browser might “immediately raise some First Amendment issues,” Adult Freedom Foundation Media Consultant John Pauly says “It would be great if it works. Nobody in this business wants kids accessing adult entertainment. It’s called ‘adult entertainment’ because it’s for adults. If this is an effective mechanism for keeping children from seeing what they shouldn’t see, it one more way of disarming the assault on adult entertainment.”
