Safe Eyes Occasionally we look at anonymous data from our userbase to see what our users are blocking, and to check our own notions of how our software is used against the way that it is actively being used.

We were pleased to find that our users are utilizing the wide range of filtering options that Safe Eyes offers. Though filtering software is often talked about primarily as a porn-blocker when discussed in the press and blogosphere, we see from this data that the actual users of the software are getting much more out of Safe Eyes than just blocking porn.

* The top non-sexual Web site categories blocked by Safe Eyes software users are hate/discrimination (38 percent), gambling (36 percent), murder/suicide (34 percent), drugs (32 percent), alcohol (29 percent) and violence (28 percent)

* Twenty-seven percent of users bar children’s access to Web sites that promote school cheating and plagiarism by providing term papers, written essays or exam answers

* Two users out of 10 choose to filter Internet TV shows with an MA (mature) rating, a newer option that is rapidly gaining adherents as more parents become aware that many TV shows forbidden in the family room are available online

* Fewer than 20 percent block chat and social networking websites, indicating the importance of these channels in a child’s social life despite concerns about cyberbullying and online predators. However, 83 percent choose to monitor instant message conversations as a means of protecting children from these dangers.

These numbers paint a picture of vigilant parents who understand that porn sites are not the only inappropriate content on the web. In fact, the hate/discrimination category is the most frequently blocked after sex-related topics, even though there has been relatively little focus on this area as it relates to children.

Clearly, parents are recognizing the power of Web filtering to assist them in protecting children from negative influences of all kinds, whether it’s nudity, racist rhetoric or the temptation to plagiarize.

Safe Eyes Filtering Data Shows Wide-Ranging Parental Concerns
Posted on February 10th, 2011 by Stanley Holditch