Internet Content Filters on Computers

Internet Content Filters on Computers

Internet control software is used to protect or limit users from accessing certain websites.

This software determines which content should be displayed or blocked and can provides different types of access to specific users with different levels of authorization. Internet content filters can be used in many ways, for example parents can protect their children from viewing explicate content and restrict access certain websites. Employers can use this software to allow their employees to access only a certain number of sites and some of the internet content filters also include monitoring software which allows administrators to view what employees are viewing.

Blocking websites in a work or study environment is also a good; since this gives users the ability to just focus on their work in which they came to do and blocks them from wondering off. This is also good for if the company or person who is providing the internet service to the users only has a certain bandwidth available. Another advantage is that it protects from or decreases the chances of hackers, malware, viruses, and any other malicious attacks from attacking the computer or allowing unauthorized programs to install.

A shocking stats came in 2008 from Snapshot Spy website where they said that as much as 

·         40% of Internet use in the workplace isn't business-related

·         64% of employees say they use the Internet at work for personal tasks

http://www.simplewallsoftware.com/tips/disadvantages-of-employee-internet-filtering

Sometimes internet filters are a hindrance to certain people, because they feel like they need to be able to browse the internet freely or just have more access. The disadvantage of internet content filter is that sometimes it blocks a website just because of one or two inappropriate keywords. The downfall of certain content filters is that sometime it can’t detect keywords to pages and to websites that are in foreign languages.

Employees or students who bypass these blocked websites they can be fined or be given a warning because when they entered an agreement with the company or university they accepted all policies and conditions. The monitoring software is these content filters can easily detected when users are tampering with blocked website and this allows administrators to detect and warn these users.

 In my conclusion I think that it’s good to block certain websites and only allow a few people to have full privileges based on their position. For students I believe that a certain bandwidth should be allocated to each student and that all the websites should be available for them. Students are the inventors of today and how would they be able to view certain things if they are restricted. I myself is a student, and I often need to download certain products or be able to go online using certain applications, and when I try this there is where I get restricted.  The university has already given me a limit on my bandwidth and I think that since they have given me this limit they may just as well have opened it freely for me to use since I can only use it for so much!