Need help limiting 12yo's Internet Access - is there a content filter for iPad?

littlejo

why is it not an option????
her mum cant have it every way can she not use net book to keep in touch with her dad?
Fair enough for each parent to decide but if I had a 12 year old receiving "inappropriate material" I pad would be gone.
Mummy needs to toughen up and parent her child

silentrust

littlejo wrote: »

why is it not an option????
her mum cant have it every way can she not use net book to keep in touch with her dad?
Fair enough for each parent to decide but if I had a 12 year old receiving "inappropriate material" I pad would be gone.
Mummy needs to toughen up and parent her child

It's just that you're not the first person to suggest this Jo and it would be easier on my poor fingers if you take a look at the discussion so far where we go into it, to some degree.

Many thanks to all for your suggestions in any case, I've a few irons in the fire, let's see which one turns out best.

LoLth

This has moved away from being about security of any kind and gone into the realm of parenting advice...

About the suggestions to block the Ipad from the local wireless network... does the Ipad have 3G ? Does the mother or child have any form of 3G or wireless access device the Ipad could be tethered to?

Mobile devices and content when it comes to children has long been a discussion in my family. While its not a direct "computer security" issue, it is related. Handign a child an Ipad with unmetered internet access is like handing a user a login/password combination that happens to also be root on the local network server. Sure, 9/10 times the user wont do anything bad...on purpose.. but there's still the accidental deletions to consider, the material they may receive from elsewhere and of course there's the possibility that they will be disgruntled and do something maliscious on purpose.

Same with kids and internet access. Its a great resource but you wouldnt allow your 12 year old to go to a nightclub on her own where she can listen to whatever music is playing, get chatted up by guys who she cant really make out properly in the dim light, make her own way home afterwards at 3am. There's the standard "ah, sure its only the internet".. as if the internet is a mills & boon book the kid found in a charity shop, slightly racy but no big deal really...

So , take away the argument that the parents really should have thought about what they were doing *before* they gave a few hundred quids worth of unregulated technology that they themselves are ignorant of to a pre-teen - thats done and whether or not is should be undone is not the domain if network/computer/system security - (how often have you suggested plan A because despite it being more expensive, its better and safer only to be told that Plan B is being implemented because its cheaper so now, go make it secure as thats your job. If it hasnt happened , it will, if you dont work in security - or IT in general - you probably have your own version of that scenario, possibly an accounting story where accounts say go with option A because its cheaper but the IT department go with option B because they say its safer but its costs three times more and now you have to balance the quarterly reports and it looks like the annual spend is going to be frontloaded because of those pesky IT kids!)

The question here (sorry for the ramble) is - can you secure an Ipad with some form of parental control?

though this isnt the apple forum (tahts under Tech > Consumer electronics > apple devices) so lets make it generic:

1. what are your recommendations for impementing content filtering / user dependant content filtering on:

a. A network (any network)

b. A mobile device (do none of your workplaces provide blackberries / some form of tablet or laptop for staff?) with/without 3G

c. A mobile phone

2. is there a unified solution someone has experience of?

3. is there a free or opensource solution available?

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as an exercise: what if you get a report about a company employee posting on an inappropriate site? (not necessarily porn, could be some website planning a violent protest, or a planned fight at a football match or maybe just good ol' racism with a touch of Nazism/Hitler fanboi thrown in)

Anyone got any method or suggestions on how to go about checking if company materials were used to post?

Does the device used make much difference?

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or limit your responses to the specific Ipad issue and kids....

ironclaw

OK so my housemate's mother and little sister are coming to stay next week. Little sis is 12 and has a laptop and netbook.

So she has a laptop,netbook and iPad, and the mother expects her to not use facebook etc etc? What else do kids that age do on the net? Nothing. That's fact.

Sorry, give up now. Short of actually switching off that router or blocking by DNS there is no option.

Capt'n Midnight

From the Daily Mail (ie. this stuff is not rocket science)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2344791/Education-minister-Dont-allow-TVs-computers-childrens-bedrooms.html

'Don't allow TVs or computers in children's bedrooms': Education minister reveals concerns parents don't realise their offspring can access hard core material

Debate in Parliament about harmful impact of pornography on youngsters
Lord Nash: ‘fact of life’ that parents gave their children such free rein
Follows concerns porn is too easily available on the interney
Many claim children with TVs in bedrooms are watching adult programmes

buzzerxx

open dns blocks all filth on all devices.

colm_c

There's parental controls on an iPad, you can lock down what applications they can use including internet browsing.

So just get the mother to set it up so only the few games and email can be used. Not sure why they haven't done this already TBH.

gctest50

or if you have a spare/old pc* around :

download this

http://www.untangle.com/store/get-untangle/

burn it onto a CD/ USB stick ( http://rufus.akeo.ie/ will put it on a USB stick for you )

install it on the pc ( it will delete whatever is on the disk of the PC )



put the pc between your source of internet and a wireless access point

set up the filtering on it

give the kid the password to the "new" access point and not the existing wireless



* this spare/old pc will need a second network card

see here :

http://wiki.untangle.com/index.php/Hardware_Compatibility_List#Network_Interface_Cards