Monitoring Internet Activities

Daniel_H. · 03-23-2008, 01:10 PM

Hello. I was just wondering if there were programs that I could use to track my teenage daughters internet history. She's 15 and bought herself a computer with her birthday money, but I'm afraid or her getting onto insecure or possible dangerous sites (like chartrooms). Her computer has a password so I can't get onto it, but is there anyway that I could track her history from my own computer? Thanks in advance, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
-Daniel

AtomicBartender · 03-23-2008, 01:42 PM

Hello Daniel, If you are concerned about the sites she visits, then simply tracking her habbits won't do you much good. Seeing the sites she visited, the ones you wished she had not, will just give you ammo to reprimand her, after the fact that the "damage" you are trying to avoid would have already be done. Instead, you may want to try telling her, that if she is going to have a computer and use it at her own free will, on an internet service that you pay for, that you will first have to set up the content controls on her machine. Tell her to log in for you and then you can create an administrator account on her machine. From there you can set up parental controls and set her account as a user account, so she can't just undo the settings. Or you could set up a home network, (or a virtual network if your computer is not at home) and manage it from there, to achieve the same end. If configured properly, she could still log on with a password and have the privacy of her own material, while you have the comfort that she is not visiting adult sites. Do a search for xp parental controls, that should get you started.

**Cellus** · 03-23-2008, 06:59 PM

There is software available to monitor and control your child's web surfing, from Internet Explorer's Content Advisor (though somewhat easily defeatable), to NetNanny, CyberPatrol, and K9 Web Protection.

NetNanny and CyberPatrol are paid programs, while K9 Web Protection is free from home use.

http://www.netnanny.com/
http://www.cyberpatrol.com/
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

To help monitor and control what they surf, it is recommended that the computer be placed in a highly visible area, such as in a section of the living room or other area which is frequented. Once in a while, ask them what they are doing (check in on them). And most importantly, tell them what you are doing. Secrets encourage them to be secretive. If you catch them trying to hide something from you, try not to immediately scold or reprimand them - you want to encourage them to not hide things from you, that telling you is okay. If they nag you or hound you about something, it is at least better than them hiding it from you, which is a good thing.

As per AtomicBartender's note, make sure once parental controls have been installed that their user account in Windows does not have administrator privileges (should not be labelled under User Accounts as "Computer Administrator") to prevent them from installing/uninstalling software. If they want to install something, do not give them the password to the administrator account or let them "shoulder surf" to see you type them in. Kids can be crafty.

03-23-2008, 01:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
Daniel_H. Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1 OS: windows xp	Monitoring Internet Activities Hello. I was just wondering if there were programs that I could use to track my teenage daughters internet history. She's 15 and bought herself a computer with her birthday money, but I'm afraid or her getting onto insecure or possible dangerous sites (like chartrooms). Her computer has a password so I can't get onto it, but is there anyway that I could track her history from my own computer? Thanks in advance, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. -Daniel

03-23-2008, 01:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
AtomicBartender Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 25 OS: Vista Premium 64 bit SP1	Re: Monitoring Internet Activities Hello Daniel, If you are concerned about the sites she visits, then simply tracking her habbits won't do you much good. Seeing the sites she visited, the ones you wished she had not, will just give you ammo to reprimand her, after the fact that the "damage" you are trying to avoid would have already be done. Instead, you may want to try telling her, that if she is going to have a computer and use it at her own free will, on an internet service that you pay for, that you will first have to set up the content controls on her machine. Tell her to log in for you and then you can create an administrator account on her machine. From there you can set up parental controls and set her account as a user account, so she can't just undo the settings. Or you could set up a home network, (or a virtual network if your computer is not at home) and manage it from there, to achieve the same end. If configured properly, she could still log on with a password and have the privacy of her own material, while you have the comfort that she is not visiting adult sites. Do a search for xp parental controls, that should get you started.

03-23-2008, 06:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
Cellus Moderator Networking Team Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2,633 OS: Windows Vista Business SP1, Windows XP Professional SP3 My System	Re: Monitoring Internet Activities There is software available to monitor and control your child's web surfing, from Internet Explorer's Content Advisor (though somewhat easily defeatable), to NetNanny, CyberPatrol, and K9 Web Protection. NetNanny and CyberPatrol are paid programs, while K9 Web Protection is free from home use. http://www.netnanny.com/ http://www.cyberpatrol.com/ http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ To help monitor and control what they surf, it is recommended that the computer be placed in a highly visible area, such as in a section of the living room or other area which is frequented. Once in a while, ask them what they are doing (check in on them). And most importantly, tell them what you are doing. Secrets encourage them to be secretive. If you catch them trying to hide something from you, try not to immediately scold or reprimand them - you want to encourage them to not hide things from you, that telling you is okay. If they nag you or hound you about something, it is at least better than them hiding it from you, which is a good thing. As per AtomicBartender's note, make sure once parental controls have been installed that their user account in Windows does not have administrator privileges (should not be labelled under User Accounts as "Computer Administrator") to prevent them from installing/uninstalling software. If they want to install something, do not give them the password to the administrator account or let them "shoulder surf" to see you type them in. Kids can be crafty. __________________ TSF Networking Team HijackThis 5 Step Process Donate! Last edited by Cellus : 03-23-2008 at 07:01 PM.