Kid accessing dodgy websites

[Hammersia]

The ten year old child of a friend is accessing stuff they shouldn't - my rough understanding is:

It's a BT WiFi system with child filters turned on. The friend is also able to lock certain other websites when they know about them as an issue (violent anime fan fiction apparently).

However the child is getting round blocks by using a vpn? Is that right?

My question is how my friend can control access to the Internet far better? Cheers

[Magnum 475]

My go-to for this one is a system called Qustodio.

You have a parent app that sets rules, and a child app installed on all of their devices. They can’t see the child app, but *all* activity on their devices is controlled by it. As there’s no interface on the child app, there’s nothing for them to see or try to get round. You can block / allow pretty much anything this way.

[TonyRPH]

Facebook reels have become a cesspit.

I was flicking through them the other day, and the amount of nudity and porn is shocking.

And lately there's even bestiality.

A lot of these reels originate from TikTok, so no doubt that is a cesspit as well.

So simply blocking known porn sites etc. etc. isn't necessarily going to protect / prevent kids from seeing this stuff unfortunately.

[andburg]

You can lock down the child’s device to prevent any app being installed, lock down router ports used for vpn, second ssid only activated when you want.

There are always ways round things, even locked down corporate environments aren’t fool proof.

The tough ways may be the best, access to the device annd internet only at times they are supervised and can start to earn trust. Kid will rebel and something else will need to be pushed to fill the time kid usually spends online.

[breamster]

What device are they using to access it?

Mobile? PC? iPad?

VPN can bypass certain restrictions. Quite advanced for a 10yr old to suss this out though. Do they have an older sibling that may be assisting them?

I'm no expert but I'd look at setting up the family controls relevant to the device and restricting the ability to install anything that isn't approved. Microsoft Family or Google family etc. I'm sure there is an Apple one as well.

Qustodio as an earlier poster suggested is supposed to be good but I've not tried it.

Stating the obvious but any technical restriction needs to be backed up by the usual stuff. No internet access in their bedroom, locked devices at a certain time. Routinely checking their device history etc.

[Somebody]

Block the VPN ports, then change the router DNS to use Opendns? https://www.opendns.com/setupguide/?url=familyshie...

[Dave.]

Somebody said:

Block the VPN ports, then change the router DNS to use Opendns? https://www.opendns.com/setupguide/?url=familyshie...

BT lock the dns to their own.

Either buy a better router/modem or get a raspberry pi and install pi hole to control the DNS.

[popeyewhite]

How is the child paying the vpn?

[Road2Ruin]

popeyewhite said:

How is the child paying the vpn?

There are a lot of 'free' ones.

[bristolbaron]

At 10 years old it’s a case of removing all internet access and only allowing supervised internet use on a parent owned laptop. Why anyone would let a 10 year old search the internet unsupervised is beyond me, especially where there have been previous issues.

[popeyewhite]

Road2Ruin said:

popeyewhite said:

How is the child paying the vpn?

There are a lot of 'free' ones.

Really, and how would a 10 year old navigate around a vpn? Decide what was advertising/wasn't? Avoid downloading rubbish to the pc? On the other hand maybe it's the most precocious 10 year old in existence.

[Hammersia]

breamster said:

What device are they using to access it?

Mobile? PC? iPad?

VPN can bypass certain restrictions. Quite advanced for a 10yr old to suss this out though. Do they have an older sibling that may be assisting them?

I'm no expert but I'd look at setting up the family controls relevant to the device and restricting the ability to install anything that isn't approved. Microsoft Family or Google family etc. I'm sure there is an Apple one as well.

Qustodio as an earlier poster suggested is supposed to be good but I've not tried it.

Stating the obvious but any technical restriction needs to be backed up by the usual stuff. No internet access in their bedroom, locked devices at a certain time. Routinely checking their device history etc.

Cheers all. Will look into qustudio. She doesn't have any siblings but I'm sure she has tech savvy mates who can round stuff.

Edit - this is all happening on an iphone

Edited by Hammersia on Saturday 30th December 20:08

Edited by Hammersia on Saturday 30th December 20:08

[dudleybloke]

popeyewhite said:

Really, and how would a 10 year old navigate around a vpn? Decide what was advertising/wasn't? Avoid downloading rubbish to the pc? On the other hand maybe it's the most precocious 10 year old in existence.

Loads on app stores and they need one click to enable the vpn.
It's not rocket science, and if you watch enough YouTube videos you will see plenty of ads for them.

[vaud]

bristolbaron said:

At 10 years old it’s a case of removing all internet access and only allowing supervised internet use on a parent owned laptop. Why anyone would let a 10 year old search the internet unsupervised is beyond me, especially
where there have been previous issues.

This plus a conversation about trust in using devices.

(Dad of a 10 year old…)

[Digger]

You don't half start some odd threads OP . . .

[Hammersia]

Digger said:

You don't half start some odd threads OP . . .

Well hold on cos next month I shall be in the news and politics section, hope that excites you

[bristolbaron]

Hammersia said:

Cheers all. Will look into qustudio. She doesn't have any siblings but I'm sure she has tech savvy mates who can round stuff.

Edit - this is all happening on an iphone

Edited by Hammersia on Saturday 30th December 20:08

Edited by Hammersia on Saturday 30th December 20:08

Then that’s easily answered. No smartphone.

Nokia 110, 1.8 Inch S30+ Feature Phone with 4G VoLTE Connectivity, Up to 32GB External Memory, 1020mAh Removable Battery, Camera, FM Radio (Wired and Wireless Dual Mode) - Black https://amzn.eu/d/cLHJNVa

[popeyewhite]

dudleybloke said:

popeyewhite said:

Really, and how would a 10 year old navigate around a vpn? Decide what was advertising/wasn't? Avoid downloading rubbish to the pc? On the other hand maybe it's the most precocious 10 year old in existence.

Loads on app stores and they need one click to enable the vpn.
It's not rocket science, and if you watch enough YouTube videos you will see plenty of ads for them.

I use Nord myself, but I'm nearly 60. You're suggesting a 10 year old watches lots of Youtube vids and just happens to work out how to correctly use a vpn?
A 10 year old??

[pokethepope]

popeyewhite said:

I use Nord myself, but I'm nearly 60. You're suggesting a 10 year old watches lots of Youtube vids and just happens to work out how to correctly use a vpn?
A 10 year old??

What is it that you think is beyond a 10 year old? Installing a VPN on an iPhone is really not much more different or difficult than installing any other app from the app store

[dudleybloke]

popeyewhite said:

I use Nord myself, but I'm nearly 60. You're suggesting a 10 year old watches lots of Youtube vids and just happens to work out how to correctly use a vpn?
A 10 year old??

Certain browsers have them built in too, if they're using Opera or similar it's very simple.
They probably learnt about it from friends or at school, remember, kids these days have been bought up using tech since they are very small and if they don't know then it's a simple Google search away or even get chatgpt to help them.
There's kids writing code younger than 10 these days.