Christian guys look at porn. We search for pictures of naked chicks. We lust after attractive women.
Yup, it’s all true.
A main tool used by Christians to help counteract these temptations and sexual desires is an Internet filter. A program that filters what a person does online and blocks anything that seems shady.
But there are a gazillion different Internet filters out there. So which are the best ones?
The ones that consistently came up in reviews of Internet filters are Net Nanny, CyberPatrol and Safe Eyes.
So which of the three should you use?
If you’re looking for a solid Internet filter to use within an accountability relationship, Net Nanny is the hands down winner.
Read on for why.
What is an accountability relationship?
An accountability relationship can mean a lot of things. In the context of this post it means Sean is accountable to Alex (that’s me!) for the websites he visits.
So I regularly monitor Sean’s browsing habits and respond accordingly. This helps remove the anonymity of browsing porn or other non-edifying websites.
Big brother Alex is always watching. ;)
Why is Net Nanny the best Internet filter for accountability partners?
Here are the features that specifically make Net Nanny the best Internet filter to use in accountability relationships.
Remote management
Most accountability partners don’t live in the same house. Sean and I definitely don’t. I’m sure his wife is pretty happy about that. ;)
So being able to manage the Internet filter’s settings, view reports, etc. without physical access to the computer is a big win.
For example, Sean is at home trying to check out the resources at XXXchurch (a legitimate site) and the filter blocks it. He can call and ask me to unblock the site.
With remote management, I can do that even though I’m at work and don’t have access to Sean’s computer. Without remote access, he would have to wait until I was able to access his computer physically. This is non-ideal and inconvenient for both of us.
And some accountability partners may not even be in the same city . . .
This makes remote management the most important feature for accountability relationships.
While both Net Nanny and CyberPatrol have this feature, Safe Eyes does not.
I’ll note here CyberPatrol has two products: Online Protection and Parental Controls. This post refers to Online Protection since it does include remote management and email notifications. Parental Controls does not.
Usable, detailed reporting
Guys on a mission to see some skin are extremely resourceful. They know 12 different ways to search for boobs.
Which means occasionally Sean may be able to get past the Internet filter and view an inappropriate site. This is where good, detailed reporting comes into play.
I can periodically look at the websites Sean has visited and see if there are any shady websites he was able to visit that didn’t get blocked. That let’s me manually block them so that he can’t visit them again.
The reporting in CyberPatrol is horrible. The only report it has shows just the number of allowed/blocked websites without details about which sites were allowed or blocked. How am I supposed to know if a site was allowed when it shouldn’t have been if I don’t know which sites were visited?
In contrast, the reporting in Net Nanny and Safe Eyes is detailed and useful. Above is just a small sampling of the reports available within Net Nanny.
Notification of blocked sites
Nothing will make Sean pee in his pants more in embarrassment than getting a phone call from me a few minutes after searching for naked pictures of Pamela Anderson and having the website blocked.
This works because the Internet filter sends me an email or text notification whenever Sean visits a blocked site.
Net Nanny, CyberPatrol and Safe Eyes all provide this feature, however, Net Nanny is by far the most flexible and customizable.
Ability to request an override
Inevitably a legitimate site will get filtered and blocked.
Providing a quick and easy way for Sean to let me know XXXchurch is a legitimate site makes it easy for me to unblock it for him.
I don’t have to manually check for legitimate sites that are blocked and unblock them. And Sean doesn’t have to do any more work than clicking a button saying “I want this site unblocked.”
Net Nanny is the only filter that provides this feature.
Not easy to bypass/disable
Remember how resourceful guys are on a mission? Some of the more tech-savvy guys may try various computer hacks to bypass the filter. A secure Internet filter needs to withstand these types of hacks and continue fighting the good fight even if shot in the arm/leg.
Net Nanny has long had the unusual ability to filter even HTTPS traffic . . . None of Net Nanny’s competitors duplicate this feat, though Safe Eyes 6.0 comes close. The latest version of Net Nanny moves further into the lead because it also prevents the kids from using localhost proxy utilities to evade filtering.
Net Nanny resists a simple command-line instruction that disables some competing products, Safe Eyes and CyberPatrol 7.7 among them.
~Net Nanny 6.5 Review (excerpt from section No Hope for Hackers)
In addition to the review above, I was recently skimming the Net Nanny forum and noticed a post detailing a way to bypass Net Nanny. In the next version this hack was disabled. It’s good to see this type of response to work-arounds . . .
Further Research
- NetNanny 6.5 Review (02/22/2010)
- Keep Your Child Safe Online (03/01/2010)
- Internet Filter Software Review 2010
Internet filtering programs are constantly evolving, so be sure you’re comparing the latest of version each program.
As of this post, the latest versions are NetNanny 6.5, Safe Eyes 6.0 and CyberPatrol Online Protection 1.0.
How do you use Internet filters in an accountability relationship? What have you found effective?
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
WOW – Way to go Alex! Bring on the breakdown to a common woman, bro – way to go! That was such a great blog – thanks for providing all of us the tools, tips & common sense “know how” about the internet filtering programs available out there!
Way to take it to the next level man!
@Amy: thanks for taking the time to read! glad it helped you understand things a little better . . .
You ROCK, Bro! This is great insight!
Alex,
As a Net Nanny employee I’d like to say thanks for the excellent post/review of Internet Filters!
We do have a lot of people that use Net Nanny for accountability relationships, and we’re always trying to make it work the way you need it to, so you can continue to help your bro.
Please feel free to shoot me an email if you have any feature ideas.
Thanks again!
Ben.
@Ben: Appreciate you taking the time to comment.
I was thinking about doing a follow-up post showing people how to configure/use remote administration. The main reason being out of the box it’s hard to tell Net Nanny even has these features.
So my main feedback would be a better way to convey remote management features within the main window.
1. Make the option to enable remote reporting more prominent. It’s pretty hidden right now.
2. Make the remote administration website more prominent. As of now, I believe the only place it’s accessible is if you right-click the tray icon.
Right-clicking the tray icon is not common knowledge for people. And by chance if you’ve hidden the icon, you have no way of knowing what the remote management link is.
Hope this feedback helps!
Thanks for the helpful information. There are so many options out there today to help parents with internet safety. I recently found a new device that works like a charm! The Pandora’s Hope router connects directly into your modem, making it easy to use and compatible with any cable or DSL Internet connection. This Internet filtering router gives you better control on what is seen on any device using your Internet connection (wireless or via cable). Definitely worth checking out – works great!
Thanks for the tip LES!
Here’s a link to the Pandora’s Hope router for anyone interested in learning more.
A free alternative to a dedicated content filtering router is use OpenDNS servers on whatever router you have now. It provides basic content filtering and is a good initial line of defense.
ANYTIME! I appreciate you posting the Pandora’s Hope link – it really is an excellent product. And a great company to support – thanks again for all you share with us! I have you bookmarked!
Hi guys
I am having problems with Safe Eyes. It blocks sites that are fine – sometimes! And many times it tells me that there is an error. It seems like it’s not working well on a mac. Do you know of better programs? I am getting tired of all the errors in Safe Eyes but I want to be “clean”.
Hiya Henrik,
Pretty much every Internet filter will block some sites which are appropriate. That’s a worthwhile inconvenience knowing a large majority of the bad stuff will be blocked.
I would check the SafeEyes documentation to see how you can whitelist the sites that are getting blocked incorrectly.
Have you tried to contact contact Safe Eyes support about the error you’re getting?
Otherwise, I would recommend Net Nanny or another that seems popular is Covenant Eyes.
Hey thanks for the detailed review really appreciate it.
I’m trying to get over the bad habit of you know…going on those adult sites. I tried K9 web protection, I made a random password that I forgot so I would never be able to get around it. But one day I had a desire so I did a quick google search and had K9 disabled in 5min. and I’m not even good with computers.
I’m hoping net nanny will be much harder to bypass. Also, I have no one that I can use for accountability. There’s no way I’m using anyone in my family, lol if they knew I had a problem like this they would flip out, and I’m too embarrassed to tell my friends. So I’m wondering if I could chose a random password and not remember it for Net Nanny. Then there would be no way for me to access adult websites b/c I wouldn’t know the password. My only worry is that net nanny will wrongly block a site or not allow me to install some software that I need. If I don’t have the password then I won’t be able to access that website I need (that isn’t adult).
Can anyone offer me advice or address my concerns. Thanks so much I really hope I can get rid of this filthy habit.
Hiya Ali,
I appreciate your honesty and desire to rid yourself of a destructive habit. The truth is, you need to tell your family or your friends.
You need some support in your life.
Tackling this issue on your own is like trying to swim to the surface of the ocean with a 500 pound weight tied to you. You are not going to get your head above water on your own.
Net Nanny is merely a tool. It will never be _the_ tool to help a person overcome their addiction.
So my advice to you is to seek some outside help.
I have some friends that have worked through porn addiction. If you’d like, I can ask them to see what other recommendations they have.
Again, thanks for your comment. I’m praying God gives you the strength to reach out to others.
-Alex
Hey Ali,
Just wanted to let you know that Net Nanny has an addict sponsor program: http://bit.ly/olD227. The trick is, you need someone else. Secrecy won’t help you break the habit. The good thing, though is that the program is free. You get a free copy of the software as long as you have someone else to be accountable to.
You should have no trouble with downloading software, etc. If you do, Net Nanny has completely customizable settings, so you can make adjustments for what works for you.
I hope that helps!
Wow, I didn’t know Net Nanny offered this. Thanks for sharing.
You mentioned the software is free as long as you have someone else to be accountable to, but I see on the website it says just for the first year.
Which is accurate?
The free license is good for one year, but you can renew that free license each year as long as you have a sponsor running the program.
Another resource you might want to check out is the Candeo Institute. I don’t know the details about what they offer, but they look like a great resource. http://candeohealthysexuality.com/
Good luck! I know it’s tough.