How to make a tablet or smartphone safe for your kids to use
Until recently, ensuring your children remained safe online was a reasonably simple affair. Often the only computer they used was the family PC, which could be set up with parental control software that would limit the web browser and instant messaging chats, and hopefully prevent them handing over passwords or financial and personal details. These applications also provided a way to limit the time that kids spent on the computer, and some packages even offered ways to keep an eye on what they were doing.
But with the advent of mobile technology, this landscape has changed rapidly. Now it’s not uncommon for a family to have tablets, laptops and phones that can access information online, and keeping control of all these devices can feel like a Sisyphean task. Android Advisor is here to help, with this guide on how you can use system settings, device features and parental control software to chase the digital wolves from your doors.
Before we move on to the various software and hardware solutions, though, it’s important to point out that none of these things can replace the unique role of a parent or guardian.
"Talking to your child is one of the best ways to keep them safe," states the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). "Preventing your children from using the internet or mobile phones won’t keep them safe online, so it’s important to have conversations that help your child understand how to stay safe and what to do if they ever feel scared or uncomfortable."
Creating an awareness of the wonderful possibilities the internet holds is a very positive approach, but it should definitely be augmented with conversations about the potential dangers of inappropriate content, cyberbullying and talking to strangers. As your child grows older they will also need different levels of supervision, and conversations should be ongoing, rather than just having ‘the one’. Many schools now include these subjects in lessons, which gives you an excellent opportunity to continue the discussion at home. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t implement software restrictions to safeguard their internet access.
So much hard-core material is available online within a few key presses, that it would be foolish to let your little ones loose in such a jungle without protection. But preparing your child for eventual exposure to something adult is the wisest course, as even if you successfully lock down your own home and devices, there will always be friends at school with tablets or phones and unfettered internet access.
In the end, you are still the parent and the one who remains in charge. If you feel your child is ignoring warnings, or actively seeking out the wrong sites, then you can remove their internet privileges or move them back into the centre of the house where you can monitor their behaviour.
While some software does allow you to keep tabs on the internet activity of your children, it is best to tell them in advance that you are doing this. A child’s trust in you could easily be damaged if they thought you were secretly spying on them and eavesdropping on their every conversation. Again, and we really can’t stress this strongly enough, talk to your children rather than rely on a software solution. Unless you do that, then the settings and applications featured here to help you protect your young family will be of limited value.
Ways to make the internet safe
While there exist many tweaks and features within browsers and software that can make your internet access more secure, one almost foolproof step you can take is to go to the source itself – the router. That little box with all its fl ashing lights is your gateway to the web, and it’s possible to use special apps such as Family Shield by OpenDNS to directly filter all the content that pours forth from its glowing heart.
We have a guide showing you how to install Family Shield, but before you rush over there (it’s at tinyurl.com/nt2dueh) it’s worth noting it is a unilateral setting – there is very little in the way of fine adjustment. You choose from either high, moderate or low filters, but the setting applies to everybody on the network, not just your children. There are ways around this, as explained in the guide, but they can be complicated.
It’s not just Family Shield that suffers from this broad-brush approach. Many internet service providers, such as Sky, BT and Virgin, over family security fi lters, but once again these are blanket apps that apply across all content, reducing the internet to a children’s version for everyone.
We have seen improvement recently, though, with products such as Sky’s Broadband Shield allowing you to set time limits, so access is opened up after a watershed time when the kids are in bed. Obviously the advantage of this approach is that all devices connecting to your home Wi-Fi will have the same restrictions, so you don’t need to go around setting up each tablet or PC. Remember, though, that Broadband Shield doesn’t apply to 3G or 4G signals on mobile phones, or any other Wi-Fi connections that are in range and don’t have passwords.
User settings
If the nuclear approach of router-based solutions feels too restrictive or cumbersome, then you can work on an individual device level. Depending on the operating system you’re running, the approaches are slightly different. On both Google’s platforms – Chrome and Android – you are able to set up different user profi les so that a number of people can share the same device, but not the same security levels. If your children have their own Google accounts, these profi les are independent of one another and therefore harder to control, as the settings are always available to the user.
For younger children, the answer here is to create what are called supervised user accounts on the Chrome browser. These are linked to your full Google account, but allow you to set limits for the websites they can visit, as well as keeping a log of their online habits. If you share an Android tablet such as the Nexus 7, then a similar feature is restricted user accounts.
They are easy to set up via the Settings option on the User menu, and give the administrator (you) the ability to select which apps the account can access, and block any purchases or even the app store itself. It isn’t a completely satisfactory solution, though, as content settings are still available within YouTube and Chrome, so explicit material could still sneak through. In many ways it’s more a feature to stop your children running up bills through in-app purchases or installing random apps on your device.
With the release of Android 5.0 (Lollipop), Google has also created for the first time the option to create separate profi les on an Android phone. While this can be useful in short bursts, as you can disable phone calls and SMS messaging, for example, it’s not really suitable for children as such, as it doesn’t let you limit the things they can access online.
Child-friendly tablets
There has been a real rise in child-focused tablets over the past couple of years, so it’s not always necessary to buy a fully fl edged device and then try to restrict it. Some newer Android devices we’ve seen arrive complete with their own suite of parental controls already installed. The Tesco Hudl 2 features child safety settings that allow parents to restrict when their children are allowed to go online, for how long, and the sites they can see. The Amazon Fire range of tablets (such as the Fire HD 6) is also childfriendly, with its FreeTime controls offering the same level of customisation as the Hudls, while also letting you share specifi c books and movies from your Amazon account with your children.
FreeTime even has advanced settings that can withhold access to entertainment apps until userdefi ned targets for educational tasks (reading, for example) have been achieved. We recently conducted a series of reviews to fi nd the best childfriendly tablets on the market and were pleased to see that the range is wide and varied in its approach. It’s something to bear in mind when choosing a tablet as a gift for your child.
YouTube and Facebook
Two of the most popular websites around are Facebook and YouTube. Facebook is something of a mixed bag when it comes to content. There are no obvious fi lters that can estrict explicit content, although the friends you follow have a great effect on the kind of material that appears in your newsfeed. You can block individual users and apps in the settings options, but that’s about the extent of your controls.
It’s worth remembering that the minimum age requirement for a Facebook account is 13 years old, so it’s not really intended to be entirely child-friendly. Many of the family security software packages available now often include social media features, so if your child is a regular Facebook user, it would be worth investigating some of these.
YouTube is another huge draw for younger users, especially because of the huge number of music videos on the site. Google does provide a safe mode option; once applied, it covers any instance of YouTube that logs in with the same account. On your PC all you need to do is navigate to the YouTube site, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on the ‘Safety:’ box. Here you’ll fi nd an explanation of how it works and the restrictions it applies.
To set up the safe mode on a tablet is slightly different. On Android devices, launch the YouTube app, then tap the three dots in the top right-hand corner. This opens the Settings menu, where you’ll need to choose Search and then tap on the SafeSearch option.
It’s not foolproof, but it will at least limit the amount of unsuitable material that might otherwise get through.
Parental control software
Many of the software solutions currently on offer cover pretty much every platform vailable, and also usually come with some form of remote control so you can adjust settings without needing access to the device itself. Norton Family, McAfee Family Protection, AV Family Safety and Net Nanny are among the prime examples of cross-platform protection, each providing an impressive level of security for your family.
The initial setup of dedicated software is more time-consuming than simply adjusting settings, as you’ll need to install the software on every device individually. Once this is done, the content your children can access should be far more regulated than the often generic approach of browsers and profi les. One way mobile apps often implement this is by replacing your existing browser with a purposebuilt version from the security company.
There’s also a financial element to consider, as many of the advanced features found in these suites usually appear in the premium versions, and might need to be renewed annually at a cost of around £30. In the long run, though, if you’re serious about protecting your children from the dangers lurking behind a web browser, it’s a worthwhile investment.
A good example of dedicated software is Qustodio, which offers a decent blend of control and flexibility, without users needing a degree in network administration to understand its features. There’s also a free version that allows you to install it on one device and create one user profi le, which would be a good way to experiment with the service. If you think it’s useful, then, much like the others mentioned here, you can upgrade to a year-long premium package for just under £30.
Qustodio’s clean interface makes it very easy to understand, and you control everything via a web portal that displays the sites your child is visiting and how long they are there. It also lets you change the content fi lters and set usage time limits, all remotely. It’s not perfect, as we were able to avoid a safety filter on sports sites by visiting The Guardian’s site and then navigating to the Football section without detection, but in many cases it’s an effective safeguard.
There can be no doubt that the job of a parent has been made a little more challenging by the internet. While we’ve gathered together as much helpful information as possible in this feature, and there are some fi ne tools available, in truth none of them is a guarantee that your child will be safe online. That’s not to say that they won’t help, but, as we made clear at the start, they can only be fully effective if they are used in conjunction with your own presence and engagement with your children.
Combining many of the features, though, will at least limit the potential of unsavoury material appearing before their young eyes. Ensure that the various safe modes are enabled on search engines, add restricted profi les if possible, and invest in one of the safety suites we mention above. This will get you a good way along the road to security.
But most of all, remember to take time out to talk with your young ones about how they use the web, what they like and what their friends are into. It could just be the very best way to protect them.
