BrianTheeBiscuiteerNetwork level content blockers are really easy to setup and they’d be even easier if bills targeted ISPs instead (requiring gateways have the tech built-in). It takes a pretty smart and determined kid to get around network controls and it can target specific devices so adults still have an unrestricted experience.
m-p{3}It takes a pretty smart and determined kid to get around network controls
Proxies and VPNs exist for a reason. If the entire country of China can’t keep up with the number of VPNs and proxies poking holes in their Great Firewall, what makes you think individual parents have the time to do so? You never used a proxy site to access blocked content on a school computer?
Right, so use them to your advantage? Don’t allow unfettered internet access on the device you give your child. Use MDM/Parental controls to lock its internet access to a proxy or VPN that blocks adult websites, as well as other anonymizers. Business have been doing this since forever.
IDK what proxies you use but free ones really suck IMO and they aren’t very obfuscated so they can be easily blocked too. VPNs are trickier but there are methods to detect VPN traffic so that could be blocked too. If you wanted to go ballistic you could even set a whitelist of services and everything else gets blocked.
but free ones really suck IMO
Kids don’t care. They’ll use whatever is available. Free ones are almost undoubtedly collecting and selling your browsing info too, but kids won’t care about that either.
and they aren’t very obfuscated so they can be easily blocked too
And now you’ve fallen into the whack-a-mole trap, which is exactly what I said most parents don’t have time for.
there are methods to detect VPN traffic so that could be blocked too
Methods available on residential ISP-provided modem/routers? That’s the only “networking gear” that most households have. I think you may be falling for the Average Familiarity trap.
If you wanted to go ballistic you could even set a whitelist of services and everything else gets blocked
Sure, and your kid can just buy a cheap prepaid SIM card to keep under their mattress. Data plans are stupid cheap, and kids are resourceful. Hell, I can walk down to the corner store and buy an entire android phone for like $50. Will it be a good phone? Fuck no. But it’ll get access to the internet. And if a neighbor or nearby business has unprotected WiFi, I don’t even need the prepaid SIM card.
If you’re trying to stop a 14 year old from looking at tits, you’re already in a pitched battle against an opponent who will never run out of determination. My original point was simply that parents don’t have the time or resources to constantly play cat and mouse with whatever kids are using to jork it. There are entire companies with dozens of full time employees who specialize in parental controls, and they still struggle to keep up. Parents who work full time (and who probably aren’t tech literate enough to do anything more than click the “Enable AdGuard” button when setting up their router) simply won’t have the time or resources.
Parents who work full time (and who probably aren’t tech literate enough to do anything more than click the “Enable AdGuard” button when setting up their router, if their router even supports AdGuard) simply won’t have the time or resources.
That’s a capability that most routers don’t have, which is the kind of bills we should be passing except there’s zero upside for big business.
I agree with you on that. My original point was simply that expecting every single parent to run their own blocking isn’t feasible, nor effective under real world situations.
an important feature in parental control software is to disable installing random software
And a proxy site doesn’t require installing third party software.