Lab

Child Safety Software

Imagine if you'd been able to research your school homework at the Library of Congress. Well, your kids can -- if they have access to the internet! Unfortunately, given the opportunity, they could also gamble at online casinos, look at smutty Web sites or buy things with your credit card. Even worse, there's every parents nightmare: they might be targeted in a chat room or newsgroup by a predatory paedophile. It's enough to make you throw away the PC and lock the kids safely in a cupboard until they turn 18. Or at least, it would be. But there is a solution: parental control software. With the right package, you can determine which programs your kids can use, who they send e-mail to (and who they can receive it from), what Web sites they look at and what information they can give out over the Web or via e-mail. We tested four of the latest programs to see which ones we'd trust to keep our children safe.