Content filter's for Macintosh?

February 26, 2008 11:29 AM

What are the options for single user content filtering for Apple computers?

I've found Content Barrier, which looks great, but it is pretty expensive. I'm familiar with K9 web filter for Windows, and Dans Guardian for Linux. Are there any free options that work well? What are some of the other top content filters for Apple?

I'm looking for something that is simple to setup and configure, and difficult to circumvent.

Thanks!

posted by peripatew to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Opendns is a good start. Cross-platform and free.
posted by sharkfu at 11:47 AM on February 26

For kids? What about BumperCar?
posted by unixrat at 11:49 AM on February 26

OS X 10.5 features some new Parental Controls. Difficult to circumvent indeed if your child is logged into their own account, one would assume, and it purports to filter web content on the fly. I've not used it, not having kids, but it's certainly free if your machine's running Leopard.
posted by mumkin at 12:17 PM on February 26

Look no further than this implementation of DansGuardian. Download is here.
posted by pmbuko at 12:57 PM on February 26

I can attest to the quality of the Parental Controls in Leopard if that's what you need--I have a tweener nephew who fancies himself a hacker (ha) and he hasn't managed to circumvent them yet.

His dad can easily get web surfing and chatting logs, lock down computer use to certain hours, dole out an extra hour of computer time for doing chores, etc. I found it to be very robust and yet humane--it warns you nicely when you're running low on time, for instance. The nephew actually likes it because nobody can arbitrarily change his bedtime or take away computer time--he knows EXACTLY what he's due, down to the minute, and the computer can prove it.

The only way to get around the controls would be to get hold of an administrator password (one can also reset the password using a Leopard system disc--so keep those in your safe!).
posted by bcwinters at 2:10 PM on February 26

This person doesn't have Leopard, and I think that DG is too easy to circumvent. It is for an adult who is wanting help in avoiding "certain" material. This person is the only user of the Mac, and lives alone. It sounds like the Leopard functions would work nicely, but does it have the ability to block certain categories of content like K9 and CB?

Any other software suggestions?
posted by peripatew at 8:35 PM on February 26

It is for an adult who is wanting help in avoiding "certain" material ... does it have the ability to block certain categories of content like K9 and CB?

If the "certain" material that your user wants help avoiding is porn, then I'm of the impression that yes, that is a category of content which is blocked. From what I can tell, it's the category that's blocked, based on a blacklist (maintained by Apple?). You don't have the option to choose different types of content to block, though as an administrator, you can whitelist sites that you feel are being inappropriately blocked. Hopefully your user isn't wanting help avoiding political news coverage, for which, I fear, there is no remedy.

As for circumvention, well, that raises a rather different issue. Someone has to have the keys to this Mac, and admin authentication is required for day-to-day tasks like running a software update or installing a new application to try out. If the concern is that your user would, in a moment of moral lapse, circumvent the system from within ... well, no password for him. You're going to be on call an awful lot, though. I'd be looking at ensuring that you can make a VNC connection to the machine, when late-night authorization is needed from afar.
posted by mumkin at 1:43 AM on February 27