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Helping parents become desktop detectives |
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Friday, 30 March 2007 |
Software monitors children’s online activity
By MIKE BURKHOLDER
Assistant Managing Editor
As the prevalence and popularity of online social-networking sites continues to boom, an official from a San Diego-based firm says his company hopes to arm parents with the necessary tools to keep their children safe from online predators and other dangers lurking on the Internet.
“One of the things we want to do is be a resource for parents to keep their children safe while they are on the Internet,” Pandora Corp. Media and Public Relations Director Ken Shallcross said. “Every day you hear a story about an adult taking advantage of a child and we want to help prevent it.”
Shallcross told the Wapakoneta Daily News a piece of software his company produces — PC Pandora — does that job.
With more children turning to Web sites like MySpace and Facebook, Shallcross said the need for parents to take a proactive approach toward Internet safety grows by the day.
“It’s a whole new technology that really boomed like nothing else,” Shallcross said of the online social networking sites. “It exploded and parents were left behind.”
The relative anonymity that goes along with the Internet can make it a dangerous place for children, Shallcross said. Adults often pose as children and lure them into unsafe situation — a scene replayed countless times on the NBC series “To Catch a Predator.”
“It is nothing for an adult to create a fake profile,” Shallcross said. “They could pretend to be a kid and trick them into getting into a bad situation.”
With technology savvy children surpassing their parents’ knowledge of computers, Shallcross said PC Pandora is one of the tools parents could use to bridge the gap. Shallcross said the monitoring software works much like a TiVo device commonly used for televisions.
“It takes screen shots of everything that is done on the computer and stores them,” Shallcross said. “It records everything — you can read e-mails, look at Web sites and even read instant
messaging conversations.”
The comprehensive monitoring system’s biggest asset is its importance if anything ever happens to a child, Shallcross said. PC Pandora allows parents to provide law enforcement officials with an exact diary of everything a child does while connected to the Internet.
“If your child is missing or you suspect something may be happening, you have a visual record to give police,” Shallcross said. “You can back track through everything.”
Shallcross dismissed claims that PC Pandora is merely a spying device for parents to use on their children. While the device could be construed as such, Shallcross said an open line of communication is much more powerful than any spying device.
“Parents should let their children know what they are doing — tell them they are being monitored,” Shallcross said. “Communication is the best thing you can do.”
In addition to parents of teenage children, Shallcross said school districts around the country purchased PC Pandora to safeguard its students. Shallcross revealed a handful of law enforcement agencies also use PC Pandora as a way to make sure computer systems are not abused by employees.
“Law enforcement has really been receptive to our software,” Shallcross said, noting the San Diego Police Department is a client. “PTA’s (Parent Teacher Associations) have purchased it.”
Shallcross said officials at Pandora Corp. also work with school administrators who wish to implement the technology but cannot afford the software. Company officials donated hundreds of copies of PC Pandora to school districts in an effort to protect them from online predators.
“If a school wants to use our software we work with them,” Shallcross said. “I want people to see us as a resources and not just some one who wants to sell them things.”
The company’s Web site also lists 18 tips parents can use to help keep their children safe while they surf the Internet. Some of the tips include open communication, keeping computers in a heavily trafficked area and limiting usage on a daily or weekly basis.
“Our software allows parents to set a timeout where it will shut down after a certain amount of time,” Shallcross said. “You’ll never be able to stop these guys but I think you can limit the amount of bad situations that can arise.”
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 31 March 2007 )
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