Computer & Phone Monitoring Software

[extolHIM]

Hey All, I did a search for this topic and I could only find one topic from 2007, so I hope it's safe to start a thread that is a little more recent. My wife and I are wanting to put internet monitoring software on our computers and phones for our children. They all have computers and phones and we want to be able to monitor more than what we can by just doing random computer and phone checks. You can catch stuff that way, but they can still delete stuff and we can be in the dark about certain things they may be doing. We are particular worried about one of our teenagers more than the others who seems to be very secretive. Anyways...I've found a couple different programs that seem to be just what we are looking for, but they are all for PC's only. My kids all have PC's, but my wife and I have MAC's. So the programs will install on our kid's computers, but we can't monitor from our computers. Pretty inconvenient. So my question is...do you all know of any companies that make software that will work with both PC and MAC? I'm not looking for a web filtering program, but something that can recording their activity, keystrokes, etc.

As for phones, anything that will work on an Android phone will suffice.

Doesn't have to be free. I'm more than willing to pay. Just want something that works good.

Thanks!!!

 

[jprince]

Family Protection | Internet Safety Software I think this is a really good option. Being in my early 20's I know how important accountability is, especially in the society we live in.

 

[Edward]

It sounds like you are looking for a keystroke logger, along these lines (or a hardware version)

Free Keystroke Logger - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com

You may need to un-install any anti-spyware programs they may have. And I don't know if they make them for phones.

If they are young and not technologically adept, it might work. If they have good computer skills (or friends that do) they should be able to put together a workaround.

Ran across this site - looks like this list would meet your needs and then some

http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/computer-forensics-tools/

 

[extolHIM]

Thanks! I've had experience with using Covenant Eyes before and being an accountability for someone else and it had a lot of holes and the person seemed to be able to work around stuff pretty easy. My younger kids are not overly computer savvy, but my oldest is a little more knowledgeable. I found one called Screen Retriever that sounds pretty promising. Will require me to partition my MAC hard drive though to be able to install the monitoring software on my computer. Didn't want to do that, but may have too. It records everything they do and you can not only see the websites URL's, but the actual screen shots and video of it. Only $90 per year for the license for the entire household. As for phone stuff, that's a little more tricky. The best I found so far was one called Phone Sheriff, but the license cost is $90 per year, per phone! That's a little steep when I have 4 kids with phones. Will keep looking. Appreciate the input so far and will definitely welcome any others! Thanks guys!

 

[jandrusk]

Although not specifically for monitoring OpenDNS is a good tool for filtering junk out. You can just set your network to use their DNS servers on your router and that way all of the devices in the house will go through it.

 

[littlepeople]

opendns is what you're looking for. But you'll have to figure out something else for the phones. I'm pretty sure you can just tell your carrier to give you a monthly data dump of sites visited

 

[Nebrexan]

OpenDNS is a good product and we've configured our router so all devices that connect to it -- desktop, laptops, tablets, and phones -- are filtered. You'll still need to periodically review the online activity log to see what sites your kids tried unsuccessfully to access to keep them accountable. Also, OpenDNS only blocks entire domains, so unless you block google.com, Google Image Search can be used to view pornographic images and OpenDNS won't register it. This is an advantage of Covenant Eyes, which works on the page level rather than domain level, and detects questionable pages within otherwise legitimate domains.

 

[Jack K]

I can get around the OpenDNS filter and find objectionable content pretty easily if I want to. But pairing it with Covenant Eyes has worked quite well for us. That way we have both the filter (to catch 90% of the bad stuff, and to protect guests who don't have anything installed on their devices) plus the accountability software to cover the gaps. Just knowing that someone else is able to "look over your shoulder" is a huge help that keeps one from being tempted to seek ways around filters.

Covenant Eyes has caused me a few problems with my laptop. Twice I had to uninstall it to get on the Internet while travelling. But the customer support is good, and I think they have our devices working rightly now. Any filter or accountability software will slow down your web browsing a bit and probably cause a few other hassles, but given the hazards of the Internet, these are still worth using.

 

[jambo]

F-Secure have a family oriented security and one licence covers all devices in the family including PCs, phones and tablets. F-Secure provide security for internet providers who offer this to their customers concerned about protecting children when online.

 

[extolHIM]

Thanks all! OpenDNS sounds good for internet stuff. Never actually heard of it, but sound simple. My other concern also is that we want to monitor texts and e-mails as well. We may be able to use a couple different ones. We found a phone one called My Mobile Watchdog. It only works with Android and some iPhones, but seems like it does most of what we are looking for. I think it was like $45 a year for 5 lines. Gonna keep looking, but really appreciate the input. We want to be more proactive in protecting our kids and it sounds like we are getting some good options to choose from.

 

[Edward]

To be somewhat countercultural:

Perhaps if you can't trust them with computers and phones, you shouldn't trust them with computers and phones.

 

[extolHIM]

Actually, a very good point. That has crossed my mind. Thankfully, only one of the four has been untrustworthy. We're going to work on that in more ways than just this starting this next week. My wife and I have been discussing and praying about it intensely over the last few days and change is coming. Your suggestion will be the next step if this is unsuccessful.

 

[Manuel]

Check these two articles by Tim Challies.

The p0rn-free Family Plan
Protect your Family with the Skydog