Child surveillance?  No, it isn't a new video game.   Allegedly, it's a new "parental control" software.  But after reading an article from AP about EchoMetrix's Sentry-series, I'm left with a very uneasy feeling. You might feel the same squirminess.  (Did I just make up a word?)

This software is marketed by Family Safe Inc. a unit of SearchHelp Inc which changed its name to EchoMetrix. This company makes its money by collecting unidentifiable (in theory) data about your kids' surfing habits, comments about media etc., aggregates it, and sells the data and statistics to web marketers wanting to hit kids. Their software claims to not collect any personally identifiable information. And the software is free or cheap.

Now, Just Put Down That Tar and Pitchfork

Don't get too holy and judgemental just yet. You put up with this, yourself, just about any time you accept a web cookie - someone somewhere sees that you've visited that site, maybe they see what interested you, and they aggregate this data and sell it.  There's software coming down the pike (maybe already out there?) that will use cookies to customize the pages you see based on past surfing habits.You can tell your browser not to accept cookies but, believe me, you'll undo THAT move real fast as you tire of having to remember your password each time you visit a low security site and after being completely rejected from some web sites:

• Wells Fargo:  "your bowser is set to refuse cookies. In order to sign on, you will need to reset the option in your browser to accept cookies."
• My Yahoo:     "The browser you're using refuses to sign in. (cookies rejected)"
• Gmail:             simply can't log in

Again, in theory, they don't get any personal identifiable information. Cookies are the price you pay for free web sites. And I like FREE, yet the idea doesn't sit well with me.

What bothers me is that EchoMetrix's revenue comes from collecting information, not protecting it. If that's where they make their dough, one has to wonder about their priorities. Take, for example, another of their products, Sentry Lite . How do you think they make any money on a free program?

Just as I've asked that question, I'm suggesting, as an alternative, OnlineFamily.Norton from Symantec which is Free and got a good review at PCMag. So there goes THAT argument.

The Hardware Solution

I also don't like running security software because it CAN, with enough knowledge, be bypassed or disabled. And it can be hacked. If, unlike most other parental control software, it is phoning home the text of what your kids are typing (to be processed and digested) can't that data be intercepted? Can't the software become a zombie? I prefer an appliance that is not anyone's PC. A box - a Gateway - that sits between your computerS and your DSL or cable modem. This is how businesses do it. Everything coming from or going to the Internet must go thru this gateway and it's relatively "hardened" code in a box whose sole job is security. One I found online is iBoss Internet Filter and starts at arond $50 plus $60 a year for the service. That's $110 but it protects your entire network, is not software on your machines, doesn't APPEAR to phone home any data, and includes a WiFi access point. I have no personal awareness of this company and am not endorsing the product. I just like the CONCEPT.

• Related comments: tech.yahoo.com
• Some other "brand name" routers with optional Parental Controls (or at least web filtering):
  
• PC Mag's review of LinkSys and ZyXel's offerings

Two things that aren't immediately clear: do they have a bypass login so that parents can visit sites they don't want the kids visiting, and do these products also do the activity monitoring that some of the software claims to do, i.e, in addition to simply blocking web sites and optionally blocking Instant Messages based on usernames, Sentry (e.g.) will play back the day's activites, let you control the computer remotely (to shut it down, I assume) and report on all applications used. Some of these things sound almost paranoid - since I don't have kids, I don't know to what lengths you must go to protect them from themselves. Is blocking access to certain site-types sufficient or do you need to be 'net Czar? What needs to be done to let them visit acceptable chat rooms yet keep away the vultures?

If you have a used small-office firewall laying around your business, something like a Watchguard, SonicWALL or Fortigate, you could use that at home to do most of this. Set up the Web Content Filter to block just about everything, add keywords to look for, then enable a bypass password for you and your spouse.

Additional Software Solutions

Some other PC-based parental control programs:

1. CyberPatrol  NetNanny (both reviewed here)
2. McAfee
3. OnlineFamily.Norton
4. PC-Tattletale: the title and this text sound, TO ME, a little too fear induced: "Who's Protecting Your Child From Internet Predators, Pedophiles, Cyber Stalkers, Online Sex Offenders When You're Not There"  You can't protect your kids this much the rest of the day so is this simply overprotective?

EchoMetrix makes it quite clear that they don't collect personal information.  But if there are other, similar, programs that do the same thing and are  provided by businesses whose interests are solely about security, why not try one of them?