Justified: Web Filtering Software And Internet Monitoring Software In Public Facilities

By Author: supriyo banerjee
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Web filtering software is a necessity for educational institutions these days. Internet monitoring software is in place for a vast number of libraries and school systems, and with good reason. Let’s face it: High school aged kids are going to abuse Google the way older generations abused the Oxford English dictionary and anatomy textbooks; by looking up invectives, and executing image searches for anything and everything to satisfy their curiosity, and while exploration and research cannot be paralleled as knowledge acquisition tools, some of the data available online is just… well, let’s just say a little too empirical. Internet monitoring software seems to get a bad rap, and be treated as a dirty word. A great many people automatically resent this intrusion, and lament censorship as soon as the phrase is mentioned. That is not, however, what web filtering software is about. What it’s about, especially in school systems, public libraries, and other public facilities, is protection.


Public facilities are, as the name of the category suggests, for use by anyone. It is therefore even more critical ...
... to these facilities that employ web filtering software. If anyone off the street can simply meander in, park themselves at a terminal, and start tapping away at a keyboard with minimal supervision, it becomes of great import to have some sort of safeguard in place. Internet monitoring software allows the aforementioned facility to continue making internet access available to the public while cutting down on the risk of external attacks, exposure of minors to adult content, unsafe malware, adware, or spyware intrusions, and perhaps most importantly, the risk of sanctions being brought against them for any wrongdoing stemming from one of their terminals.


It isn’t considered often, but it is true that in most cases, use of a computer for any sort of crime carries stiff penalties for the agency or body that made that computer available to the person committing the actual crime, not just the perpetrator of the crime. Implementation of internet monitoring software drastically reduces the ability of any terminal on a network that has such safeguards equipped to be used in such a way. For internet cafes and public libraries this means reducing the likelihood of being shut down while an investigation unfolds, and their resources are seized. For public schools, this means drastically cutting down the chances that an angry parent will sue the school for allowing their child access to websites that are widely accepted as inappropriate for school aged children. Put succinctly, web filtering software is a matter of safety for the facility employing it, and for the end user.

Kris Leeds is a freelance writer for Pearl Software, a leading provider of solutions for Internet Management needs. To learn more about web filtering software and internet access control software, please visit Pearl Software online.