I have PCs set for two kids and they block porn as I hoped they would. Strangely, I thought, they seem to block Safari and Turbotax. Why is that? I did not mean to limit browser access or downloads, for example, Chrome. Any ideas to explain these unexpected results?
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What's up w' Parental Controls?
- Thread starter dubina
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Here is the overview from Apple:
http://support.apple.com/kb/VI28?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
You might recheck the settings.
http://support.apple.com/kb/VI28?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
You might recheck the settings.
@ jessica,
I have rechecked settings / preferences and I am still confused. The log tells me OSX blocked Safari twice, but it does not say why. One of my kids mentioned that OSX blocked his attempt to download Chrome (which already exists and is accessible to the administrator). When he showed me the Safari is not available message, he was trying to get to an Intuit web page. What does any of that have to do with minor "account management"? I wanted to keep him out of porn, not Internet utility.
I have rechecked settings / preferences and I am still confused. The log tells me OSX blocked Safari twice, but it does not say why. One of my kids mentioned that OSX blocked his attempt to download Chrome (which already exists and is accessible to the administrator). When he showed me the Safari is not available message, he was trying to get to an Intuit web page. What does any of that have to do with minor "account management"? I wanted to keep him out of porn, not Internet utility.
A better way to block porn and phishing sites is to use a DNS service like opendns. Set up your Mac so it's DNS server is opendns instead of your router or your isp, then create a free opendns account, set your preferences and you are good to go. A number of school districts use this method. It is possible for someone to get around this by looking up the ip address of a blacklisted site and putting that in the browser but for most kids, dns blocking is good enough.
Where Parental Controls comes in is to block the user from changing settings back and to prevent them from downloading and running unblocking software. Parental Controls is not intended to enforce age-appropriate content. There might be some settings in Safari that could help with this. One thing you will need is one of your Macs running the opendns updater so that if your ISP changes your internet address, opendns recognizes your house and serves properly filtered results. The filter is quite powerful and you can even block certain game or chat sites if you want.
While I prefer Chrome as a browser myself, there may be add-ons that might allow your kids to get around your dns-based internet filtering so I suggest you tell them to learn to live with Safari until they are old enough that you no longer feel they need Parental Controls.
"Set up your Mac so it's DNS server is opendns instead of your router or your isp, then create a free opendns account, set your preferences and you are good to go."
That sounds complicated or at least I don't how to do it. Are there more definitive instructions somewhere?
That sounds complicated or at least I don't how to do it. Are there more definitive instructions somewhere?