We must take into account, as many of you will know first-hand, that the smallest of the house are increasingly hooked on technology at an earlier age. That is why the adults responsible for them, whether they are parents, teachers or others, have to somehow control what these minors do online. And it is that from the outset and by default, browsers and other programs to use the Internet do not establish any filter in terms of the content that is accessed.
Furthermore, we know that in Internet we can find everything, from the most useful information to the strangest and most unpleasant content. Therefore, in most cases we do not want these minors accessing from a PC or mobile phone to have access to anything without any control. Hence the raison d’être of these parental control programs.
And it is that all this is going to help us monitor activity of the smallest without spending a single euro, something to which we are going to refer to below. And it is necessary to take into account that the Internet, in addition to all kinds of applications and platforms, is available to anyone today. That is why we must be careful what our children access while they are using a Windows PCso we are going to show you some proposals that will be very helpful.
In addition, as we mentioned before, this software that can be used for access control in a small company. Thanks to your simple setup We may limit access to certain web pages and platforms of our workers. If we refer to large corporations, there are already more advanced and specific solutions for these environments and modes of use.
Basic functions of a parental control
Parental controls can be applied to a lot of different systems and devices, not just your PC. The most common thing today is that these security systems are also activated on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.), since they are devices that (for better or worse) are increasingly used from a younger age and can pose a danger to these users.
Thus, if we are looking for a good protection system for minors, some (or all) of the functions that we should look for in this type of system are the following:
- Web control. One of the most important modules. Not only will it prevent the minor from reaching inappropriate web pages by mistake (or of their own free will), but it will also allow us to control which websites they visit, what they do online, and limit their hours.
- application control. It allows us to block the use of certain apps (in the case of mobile phones) or programs (in the case of PCs) that are not appropriate for them.
- Block calls or SMS. It helps us to avoid that the minor can make phone calls, or exchange messages, and that he can be expensive at the end of the month.
- Use time. We must not only limit the use that the minor makes of the Internet, but also limit the use of the screen in general.
- geolocation. If you use a smartphone, or a laptop, it is useful to make sure you always have it under control to know that it is always where it should be.
- emergency button. If something goes wrong, the minor must be able to notify an adult quickly and easily so that action can be taken as soon as possible.
Although some of these functions are specific to mobile devices, below, we are going to see some of the best programs, and parental control systems, that we can use on any Windows PC.
Parental control programs
Next, we are going to present a series of programs that will help us to establish parental control over the content that our children can see on the computer. In this way we can control and supervise the content both to which you can have access and to which you cannot, something that many users will surely appreciate for the minors in their care.
And it is that we must keep in mind that the contents that we find at the moment on the internet are very varied. To all this, we must add the applications and online platforms that we can use, and not always with content suitable for certain users. Here come into play, how could it be otherwise, minors, but not only that. We can also make use of content on the network that should not be accessible to a workerFor example.
This is precisely why more and more end users and network administrators are choosing to select one of these programs as a security measure. It is precisely for all this that we are going to talk about some of the most common and used solutions around the world below. In fact, the operating system itself MicrosoftWindows, offers us an integrated solution for all this, which will prevent us from installing third-party applications.
Qustodio
This is such a program that has a free plan with certain restrictions that allow us restrict computer use and view certain content remotely that works for Windows, MaciOS and Android and that you can download from . Qustodio It is one of the best proposals to control the activity of the little ones on the PC, since it offers us functions of all kinds, especially in the Premium mode.
In addition, we can manage all of them remotely from any web browser. Among its functions, we can highlight its ability to block unwanted content, control games and all kinds of applications, and it even has support for monitoring the use that children make of social networks.
The best
Here we find a good number of functions that will allow us to control and limit the use of certain functions of the computer. The application allows us to configure and use all these features remotely from any internet browser. This means that we can use the application as such, for example, from our mobile phone, wherever we are at that moment.
Worst
We have already told you that here we have an enormous number of features to carry out these parental control actions on our computer. However, the free version is quite limited in terms of its functionality. In order to take advantage of all the benefits of this specific program, we will have to pay for it, which is sure not to everyone’s liking.
Norton Online Family App
In this case we will talk about a solution of this type developed by one of the best-known PC security companies, Norton. We are referring to the Norton Online Family App Parental Control solution that you can download from and that allows us to monitor the activities of the smallest members of the family. The platform is compatible with Windows computers, iOS and Android and has several functions. The first thing we do is create the users and the level of control depending on their age. In addition, it includes supervision of social networks, time of use, how much with email alerts, supervision of web contentetc.
With this solution, parents can lock the device so that their children can take a break, focus on another task or, for example, sit at the table for dinner. It also allows you to receive email alerts and find out when your kids try to visit a blocked website. This way we can talk to them about appropriate content. It also allows you to manage the protection of all your devices through an easy-to-use web portal. In addition, we will be able to see the terms, words and phrases that children are searching for online to obtain information about their interests and thus protect them from inappropriate content.
Pros
This is a parental control solution that has been offered to us by one of the best-known security companies around the globe for years. It should be noted that it is compatible with most operating systems and platforms, both for desktop computers and for mobile devices, which opens up a wide range of possibilities in terms of its usability. It offers monitoring functions for all types of content and uses such as email waves social networks.
cons
In order to take advantage of the full potential that this security solution offers us, we will have to subscribe to the platform and thus make use of the available functions. This obviously has a monthly cost, although initially we will be able to test everything that this solution offers us thanks to the 30 day trial that the security firm allows us to use their tool for free.
Kaspersky Safe Kids Free
This is another proposal that belongs to another of the greats in the security sector such as Kaspersky. We are talking about Kaspersky Safe Kids Free, a solution that you can download from compatible Windows-based computers, macOS, Android, and iOS. It must be said that this program allows us to know what the little ones in the house are doing thanks to a series of reports provided by the software. Among the data that it provides us, we highlight the time the device has been used, the websites that have been visited, as well as the applications. It is clear that at the same time we can block access to certain inappropriate websitesand the same will happen with the applications that we do not want them to use.
Along with the ability to block access to inappropriate or harmful content, the platform allows us to set usage time limits for each device and for each child, so that we can manage screen time by day and device, thus being able to adapt it to a schedule. We can also locate children using GPS and block adult content, customizing the list of sites that the child can see with our permission.
I like
As in the previous case, this solution for controlling the little ones in the house is presented to us by another security firm with a more than proven reputation. It is worth noting that we can also use it from both desktop computers and mobile devices, all of this remote form if we need it. Regarding the blocking and restriction functions that you use, we have the possibility to configure and receive a series of usage reports to review them at any time.
I like less
It may be the case that if we are not expert users in this type of configuration, at first the interface presented by this software may seem a bit confusing. One of the main reasons for all this is the large number of functions and categories that we find here to customize parental control. But over time we will get used to its use.
kidlogger
Next, we are going to talk about another proposal of parental control for Windows and macOS that has been with us for a while now. This is a solution that we can download from this . Actually, what this free program proposes to us is to keep an eye on the activities of our son providing records of…