McAfee Family Protection

Parents face a dilemma every time their children venture online. It isn't realistic to deny kids access to the web and yet the online world is filled with danger. From pornography links that can surface during innocent web searches to encounters with undesirable characters cruising social-networking sites, children need some protection when exploring the internet. That's where a product like McAfee Family Protection aims to help.

Features
Family Protection manages users' online activities by creating separate accounts for individual family members and distinct categories for different types of online activity. An administrator (the parent, typically) sets up usernames and then specifies what each user will be allowed to do within each category. So, for example, a teenage user might be allowed to use the web longer into the evening than a younger sibling, but both will be prevented from viewing websites carrying pornography and hate materials. Other managed categories include social networking, instant messaging and email, while individual programs can also be prevented from launching.

Performance
Products like this will never be perfect. The problem is that for every site on the ‘block' list, there will be others that have yet to be identified. But on the whole, Family Protection does a good 
job of preventing access based on the administrator's criteria. We found places to access pornography, despite the Family Protection's pornography filter being active, but the block list is customisable and known problem sites can be added.

Ease of use
Even if your family PC is already set up with individual user accounts, you'll need to set up additional or mirrored accounts in Family Protection. So, if a child logs into Windows with their existing user account, they'll still need to log in once again using their Family Protection account before using web applications.

Value for money
For a penny short of £30, you'd think that there's not too much to complain about here but the price is for an annual subscription - so you'll be stumping up £29.99 a year until the kids leave home.