Category: Parental Controls

Parental Controls and Security Software

Parental Controls and Security Software

Our safe Google search tools are always free and that is one very important facet of internet safety. Still, we also provide guidance on software solutions that families and schools may be looking for to ensure complete protection online. Cyber discounts are now in effect to get the best prices on to full protection.

This page is your complete resource guide to access and review the various deals available. After you have researched what you need to protect your family members and personal devices, you will be able to explore our cyber discounts on software solutions.

A Review of Online Safety Solutions

Here is a rundown of the various parental controls, internet filtering and security solutions that can be explore according to your family needs.

1. Anti-Virus Software:

This is essential basic software that filters your email to protect your computer from becoming infected with a virus. No computer should be without this recommend anti-virus software. Many operating systems come with enough security to screen your email, such as on a Mac computer or Windows 10.

2. Virtual Private Networks:

Read how a VPN can protect your family at home and while out in public places, such as when using public WiFi.

3. Anti-Malware:

Includes the removal and full protection from malware infecting your computer.  It blocks a variety of viruses and subversive malware from infecting your computer due to a cyber attack or in the event you accidentally visit an infected website.

4. Internet Filtering with Parental Controls:

This is one of the main reasons parents find themselves on our website. Protecting your kids from harmful online content can only be achieved with internet filtering that also blocks access to the internet according to the age of each child in your home.

5. Safe Search for Kids:

The filtering tool on our website is enhanced by by Google to ensure safe search results for all keywords entered. It is a FREE solution when searching Google. While it will block search results for inappropriate search terms entered, it does not block access to other areas of the internet when kids leave our site.

Now, let’s explore how to access the protections you are seeking.  The first links take you directly to the price options for each software program, followed by links to the related articles.

Software Solutions

Here is a breakdown of the four parts for complete cyber security and computer safety.

Parental Control Software:

Anti-Virus Software:

  • Explore anti-virus software for email protection, read our article on how anti-virus compares with other security solutions.
  • A secondary article delves into anti-virus for gamers that also increases online game speed. This prevents users from turning anti-virus off.

Malware Protection:

  • Get the latest pricing on Anti-Malware.
  • Learn more about how anti-malware software can remove malware from your computer and provide continued protection against ransomware.

Free Filtering Tools

If you are buying a new phone, tablet or computer for your child this year, at the very least we recommend using our website free safe search options.  Bookmark our home page for safe searching of Google, images, Wikipedia for kids and videos.

Before you buy a tablet, read about security options for Apple or Android tablets such as Samsung.

Parental Controls for Google, iPads, Samsung and Kids Tablets

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Free Safe Search App for iPhone, Android, Kindle Fire

Safe Search Google App

Many schools use our website to provide Google SafeSearch for safe filtered search of the internet. Our tools also include safe image search, wiki for kids and safe videos.  Now you can directly install the Safe Search App on any of your mobile devices for worry free access. Every filtered search happens within the app.

When users click on a website that appears in the search results, the user remains within the safety of the app.  Bottom line, any child using the app, whether they be a preschooler, tween or teen, has easier access to our safe search for kids tools.  Searching on the app ensures that filtered results are not part of a web browser.

Important!  Our free safe search app is not the same as a parental control app.  If kids use another mobile browser to search the web, content will not be filtered, but the app still goes a long way to provide strict filtering of Google.

Safe Search for Schools:  If not using our website for safe browsing, install this app for safe search results on mobile devices.  Alternatively, schools can download parental controls for use on any device in the classroom.

The Safe Search App – Downloads!

If you have an iPhone, iPad, Android smart phone or tablet such as Google Chrome, download The Safe Search Kids App for easy access.

To download these apps on your phone or tablet, you must reading this article on the device where the app will be installed.  Or go to www.SafeSearchApp.com on your device before clicking the links. 

Download the Safe Search App for iPhone/iPad – iOS devices.

Download the Safe Search App for Google Play – Android devices.Safe Search App on Google Play

Download the Safe Search App for Kindle Fire / Amazon.

In addition to filtered search results of the entire internet using Google, the same search tools we feature on our website are available on the app.

Safe Image Search

Safe Image Search App

Download safe images that are from safe websites, even if the image names are not properly named.  Many of these images are on educational websites.

Safe Video Search

Safe Video Search App

Similar to our safe image search feature, the sources of our safe video results are from filtered websites. Videos are not taken from YouTube or other questionable video platforms.

Wikipedia for Kids

Wikipedia for Kids App

The app delivers filtered search results from our Wiki for Kids search resource.

We encourage you to continue to use our website for safe search results enhanced by Google through KidzSearch.  I if you are on a computer or laptop that wasn’t created for app downloads. Bookmark this page and conduct of all your web searches on the top of this page for strict web filtering.

Download the Safe Search Kids APP for Mobile Devices, enhanced by Google. For these links to work, access this article through your mobile device or go to SafeSearchApp.com from your mobile device.


Safe App Update:  Our Safe Search partner is working on a new product for the KidzSearch app that will let parents and schools (teachers) remotely monitor what kids are doing. It will also control the filtering on the app. An update for the Android version was just release that checks each url for safety.  It blocks harmful bad url’s by going against a very large database of sites that are not safe for kids. It also enhances parental controls for YouTube by looking at the specific video title/category and checking safety.

If parents remove all browsers from their phones or tablets, it greatly improves the safety of their device. The previous version of the app gave safe search results, but it is possible to get to a search engine, like Bing, and then find adult content through it. For example, they could use Wikipedia to find a link to Bing. This new update on the app stops that from happening.  For more parental control settings on your devices, explore our free parental controls guide for complete Internet safety.

The next phase will include an upgrade where parents can monitor history and do other things, like entirely block sites they don’t like, as well as control the search strictness level.  More details will soon be posted.

Click the banner below to download the Safe Search App for the device.This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is get-the-app-5.png

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Kaspersky Safe Kids vs Net Nanny Parental Controls

Kaspersky Safe Kids VS Net Nanny

Taking care of your kids while they are online is not an easy task. Being taken advantage of while bullies or seeing them hurt in any way is distressing to every parent. Thankfully some virtual convenience tools are available to assist you to protect your kids.   Kaspersky Safe Kids and Net Nanny are two of them.

Kaspersky Safe Kids verses Net Nanny (Overview)

If you have a kid that can use a computer or mobile independently, you should explore the use one of these tools to see what your child is being exposed to while surfing on the internet. We’ll be going through a detailed review of Kaspersky’s Safe Kids vs. Net Nanny.

General Information

Offered Features Kaspersky Safe Kids Net Nanny
Parental Control
Internet Filter
Screen Time Management
Apps Usage control
Texting Management 🗶
YouYube Monitoring
Free Version 🗶

This chart is simply a brief overview.  Now, let’s explore which parental control app is the best.

Kaspersky Safe Kids and Net Nanny Compared

Kaspersky Safe Kids:

This parental control software is developed by Kaspersky. It protects your kids from harmful content on the internet by blocking them. It allows parents to manage their kid’s screen time and check where they go.  Read the full Kaspersky Safe Kids review where you’ll also find downloads for Windows, macOS, Android & iOS.

The free version comes with limited features but it’s a great way to test out even just the basic features, which include an online content filter, safe search for YouTube, the ability to control the usage of apps used by your kids, and screen time management.

Net Nanny:

The parental control software offered by Net Nanny was developed by ContentWatch inc. This software allows parents to monitor and control their kid’s activities on the Internet to prevent them from watching or surfing inappropriate content.

Net Nanny works on devices having Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Kindle & Chromebook.

As you see, most parental control monitoring apps focus on very similar goals.https://www.safesearchkids.com/apps-for-parental-controls/

Features

Both parental control software programs offer parents the ability check and control activities of kids on their phone, as well as on tablets or computers. Let’s review some of the outlined key features that are being offered by both companies.

Internet Filter

Internet Filtering is a feature that allows parents to whitelist and blacklist websites. Whitelist is a list of websites that are approved by parents and can be accessed by kids. Whereas the blacklist is the list of the blocked website due to adult or inappropriate content. Without doing anything, default filtering is set up to restrict kids from bad content.

One cannot expect a parents first downloading and installing the software to manually allow or block websites they don’t even know about.  However, there is a feature that enables parents to block (or allow) specific websites or a category of content.  Reasons for this may be allowing certain websites for teens, as compared with younger kids in the family.

Both Kaspersky Safe Kids and Net Nanny offers internet filtering features to manage kid’s online activity.

YouTube Monitoring

YouTube is one of the most popular websites visited worldwide.  So it stands to reason that kids will be attracted to it.  Setting up parental controls for YouTube according to age through a Google account does not mean kids won’t have access to videos you won’t want to them see.  Kaspersky allows parents to check kid’s activities and protect them from inappropriate content by using an Online Content Filter feature.

On the other side, Net Nanny allows you the same feature to check kid’s YouTube activities. Net Nanny offers users the ability to filter YouTube content for their kids by using the Internet Filter feature.

Screen Time Management

Sure, there is plenty on the internet to worry about.  That’s the main reason to choose a parental control program.  But spending time in front of a screen even while watching harmless or even educational material can have unrelated negative effects.  It can affect a kid’s behavior as well as habits. To prevent issues of too much screen time, Kaspersky allows parents to monitor and control the time their kids spend on the devices.

Whereas Net Nanny options related to screen time focuses on setting usage limit, such as a a daily time limit allotment.

Texting Management

If you are worried about a specific contact that is in touch with your kid. You can flag and monitor those conversations using Kaspersky Safe Kids.  You will be able to check all call logs and text messages. However, this feature is limited to Android users only

Net Nanny doesn’t provide any text management feature.  No monitoring is available but it allows you to block texting and related apps.

Child Locator

With Kaspersky you can check the real-time location of your kid. Additionally, it allows you to set a geofence. Geofence allows you to set the location where you expect your kid to be.

Net Nanny doesn’t have any feature like geofencing but it shows you the current location of your kid.

Pricing Comparison

Kaspersky Safe Kids pricing

Kaspersky offers a free version with limited features. To truly test it out, you’ll need to give the software a try via the free 7 day trial of the paid version.  It it gives you a bundle of great tools to protect your kid online. Kaspersky Safe Kids software is cheaper than Net Nanny.  For a one year plan you will be paying $14.99 a month.

Net Nanny pricing

Net Nanny doesn’t offer any free version or free trial to users. Currently, it has 3 below outlined plans are available.

1 Desktop, For PC & MAC 5 Devices, For PC, Mac & Mobile 20 Devices, For PC, Mac & Mobile
$39.99/Year $54.99/Year $89.99/Year

In the debate of Kaspersky Safe Kids vs. Net Nanny, doing your own research is key to finding the right solution for your family.  What works for you is dependent on the size of your family and the number of devices you want to implement parental controls on.  Kaspersky is the most budget conscious when dealing with one single device.  There 7 day free trial certainly makes it a convenient way to test out the software on your child’s particular device, as well as giving you a feel for the monitoring features as a parent.

For many years, Kaspersky has been a well known software company providing complete internet security resources. More recently, they’ve entered the parental control zone with Kaspersky Safe Kids.  It’s an excellent parental control option for parents as they navigate to find the best means to protect their family.

Kaspersky Safe Kids can be implemented as part of a total internet security bundle, which includes privacy protection, anti-virus, anti-hacking, anti-malware, and even a VPN.   Or you can choose to subscribe to receive only the parental control options.  Keep in mind that if you own a computer you should already have the basic internet security features activated on your computer. These includes built-in features such as Windows Defender, as well as anti-virus protection and malware protection.

It can be a confusing landscape. To clarify, if you are seeking parental controls with a reputable software program like Kaspersky Safe Kids you can download it alone or as part of Kaspersky Total Internet Security with a bundled price.

Kaspersky Safe Kids – Parental Controls

Not sure about Kaspersky Safe Kids?  There is a free version that offers free parental controls but with limited features. It’s a great way to get a feel for how parental controls work, especially if you are new to this type of online protection for your kids.  Let’s first review the differences between the two.

The Free version of Kaspersky Safe Kids includes:

  • App usage, allowing the ability to monitor and control the usage of apps.
  • Screen time management, limiting the amount of time a child can use their device.
  • Online filtering of websites, similar to our Safe Search Kids filtering app.
  • YouTube Safe Search, which provides YouTube parental controls and blocks harmful videos in browsers and on the YouTube app.

Kaspersky Safe Kids – Full Version

The premium version includes the following parental control features;

  • Online filtering to protect your family from searching for and accessing harmful websites and content.
  • App usage control, including setting time limits and usage limits according to age and categories.
  • Screen time limits for device access as shown on the free version with the additional ability to set exact times for access.   For example, it is possible for you to limit internet and/or phone access overnight or at school.
  • YouTube filtering and search history monitoring.  Just as Kaspersky Safe Kids FREE allows you to block bad content, the premium version enables you to also keep an eye on their YouTube History.
  • GPS location, allowing parents to monitor their kids whereabouts on a map.
  • Battery tracker, a unique option not available in other parental control programs. It let’s parents know when their child’s phone battery may be out of juice resulting in them losing touch with their child.
  • Real time alerts.  This parental control feature is a staple of all good parental controls software programs and apps.  It simply means you don’t have to login to your Kaspersky parental control account everyday do be sure everything is fine with your child’s online activity.

Setting Up Kaspersky Parental Controls

Whether you are seeking Total Internet Security or only the Safe Kids parental control app, here are the steps for easy set up.

  1. Locate the program you want to download:  Kaspersky Safe Kids (scroll down page to see free version), or Total Internet Security
  2. Set up your My Kaspersky account.  This is the universal account that give control of any Kaspersky software you install and use.
  3. Install the software on any device in your home that you wish to monitor. Set up security options and parental controls.
  4. From within your account, select parent mode so that you can manage the various options available.

Available for Windows® | macOS® | Android™ | iOS®

Kaspersky Internet Security with Parental Controls

Kaspersky is a longtime trusted name in cyber security.  Within the last few years they have developed a parental control app for their customer base, as well as new users seeking parental controls with multiple options. Kaspersky Safe Kids can be downloaded even if you are not currently using Kaspersky’s internet security solutions. If you desire, you can bundle their parental controls with other software, such as anti-virus, anti-malware and anti-hacking.

The 100% free downloadable version of Kaspersky’s parental controls is available for iPhone and android, but with limited features. This is not a free trial. The free version is available for indefinite use and includes web filtering, basic app monitoring, screen time management, and filtering of YouTube videos.

The full version of Kaspersky’s parental control app includes additional options to protect kids fully on their devices, such as YouTube search history monitoring, a GPS locator, more control over app usage and screen time schedules. A unique feature of this app for iPhone is battery management.  It allows parents to know if their child’s phone is about to lose power. If they are not home, you can remind them to plug in their iPhone before it goes offline and no longer can be tracked.

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How to Track Your Child’s Text Messages

How to Track Text Messages

Many facets of parenting have certainly changed over the years. On one hand, children are increasingly preoccupied with their smartphones and this includes having direct contact with friends at all hours. On the positive side, cellphones allow parents to keep in constant contact with their kids no matter where they are.

With great tools for learning and communication comes added responsibility for the child and parents. This includes at home and as well as cell phone use in school.  It’s important to have regular conversations in order to keep the relationship open. This builds trust on both sides. However, a parent may still feel the need to monitor their child’s computer activity. This has become standard practice for good parenting, but what about phone use?

Now it’s possible to read your child’s text messages without accessing their phone and it’s free of charge. Cocospy has one of the best free text message tracking software on the planet. To be able to track your child’s text messages you should;

Create a free account

It is good to know that before you can be able to enjoy the tracking services of this fantastic tracking app, you need to secure an account. That is because; your account will allow you back-end access to your tracking dashboard where you can view various options and set up you tracking according to your needs. When signing up you are only required to provide necessary personal information, password, and then you are good to go.

Download the app

After signing up for a cocospy, you can now download the app and access it. The reason why you will want to make sure that you download the app is that it is the only way through which you can be able to get the tracking link, and thus read text messages from another phone.

Remember that cocospy does not need you to download the app or install it on the target phone. What happens is that after you have entered the required details about the targeted phone, you are provided with a unique text tracking link to be used on the target phone.

By clicking the link, you shall have initiated the tracking process. It is therefore recommended that after installing the tracker using the link, you get rid of the text message because the user might be able to use it to access the tracker which can result in misleading information.

Get to tracking

After signing up for an account and activating your tracking, you should be able to see all the incoming and outgoing text messages. You need to know that you can regulate how often you need the message updates. However, you should understand that the higher the update rates, the more battery power your phone will consume because it means that the app will be running most of the time.

Other benefits of text message tracking

Other than tracking what your children are chatting about, text message tracking can be used for different things. However, it is imperative to ensure that before you monitor someone’s messages that you are not breaking the law. Text message tracking has been used by couples who are extra protective and would do anything to ensure that their relationship is built on trust.

Also, some employers have been using text message tracking software to monitor their employees. Remember that there is some top secret information that should never be shared with your competitor.  This tool is also valuable in protecting children against cyberbullies.

tracking text messages

However, some employees cannot resist a little bribe; hence, it is better not to take chances or else; you may risk shutting down your business. However, tracking your employees are only allowed in countries where the law agrees.

Trust

Children text a lot compared to how much they call each other, that is why you always need to ensure that you know everyone they chat to and what they are talking about. The good thing is that these kids only text their closest friends and people you trust; hence, it is much easier to tell the kind of things that they take much interest in. It is also good to know that text messaging still exposes the young one to more serious risks like predators and cyberbullying.

However, by tracking their chats, you should be able to stop any suspicious activity at the beginning. Remember that cyberbullying, and child predators need enough time before they can become full-blown, and the results start showing.

Learn about ways to also limit your child’s cell phone usage.

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