SIP-Benchmark III was a project of the Digital Opportunities Foundation in 2009 - 2017.
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Norton Online Family (Mobile)

Company
NortonMobile
Version
3.0.0.267
Devices supported
Mobile
Operating system
Android
Price *
free of charge
Language of interface
chinese, czech, danish, dutch, english, french, german, greek, italian, japanese, korean, norwegian, polish, portuguese, romanian, russian, slovanian, spanish, suomi, swedish, turkish
Test date
SIP Bench III, 3rd test cycle, Summer 2014

*Prices might change according to the latest company offers

EFFECTIVENESS

The overall effectiveness score is good on adult content and very weak on other harmful content.
There is no major difference in effectiveness between teenagers and children.
The tool performs better in underblocking on the web than on web 2.0.
There is no major difference in effectiveness among the different languages.
Effectiveness score with adult content filtering for users up to 12 year old: 0.0
Effectiveness score with other harmful content filtering for users up to 12 year old: 1.8
Effectiveness score with adult content filtering for users 13 years and older: 0.0
Effectiveness score with other harmful content filtering for users 13 years and older: 1.6
Effectiveness score for users up to 12 year old: 3.6 out of 4 points
Effectiveness score for users 13 years and older: 3.2 out of 4 points


USABILITY

Installation of the tool: The installation of the tool is combined with some first configuration steps. The installation itself is very short, quite easy and runs nearly automatically, it doesn't provide advanced options.
Configuration of the tool: There are two ways to manage the configuration, via PC access or via App login. The configuration process is well comprehensible and easy to learn. The process is mostly consistent and meets users' expectations, except for some filter categories. There are some options to influence the process with regard to the kind and amount of information at the screen. The design is appealing.
Usage of the tool: The tool supports the dialogue between children and parents, when a website has been blocked. The alert message can be customized a little and is worded with respect to children's capability of understanding. The reporting is well comprehensible, easy to handle and provides various views of the results.

Usability of the installation process: n/a
Usability of the configuration process: 3.5
Usability of the usage of the product: 2.5


Overall score for usability: 3.1 out of 4 points


FUNCTIONALITY

The parent can configure the filtering tool on the mobile/tablet or through a web application. It has to be noted that through the web application it is possible to manage also the Norton Online Family tool for PC. It gives the possibility to the parent to manage all children’s devices protection from a unique access point. It is possible to block the access to specific content basing on topic based categories or specific URLs but also to activate only the monitor function that will provide parents with information on the user's activities on the web (reporting). The parent can indicate specific URLs to be blocked (creation of a black list) or allowed (creation of a white list). Social networking can be blocked through the specific topic-based categories. It is possible to force the use of the Safe Search of Google and block the provision of personal data. It is also possible that children ask for unblocking by parents.


SECURITY

The low rate results from the possibility for the user to uninstall the tool without a password.
Overall score for security: 0 out of 4 points


DETAILED FUNCTIONALITY

Area of needFunctionalitySpecific issuesAssessment
Management Management of User profiles Create several profiles Yes
Remote Management Manage on various devices Yes
Monitoring Remote access to monitoring Yes
Filtering Customisation Topics Customisation of Filtering Topics No
URLs White List Restrict Browsing to White List No
Default White List Yes
Modification OR Creation Yes
URLs Black List Creation of User's own Black List Yes
Keywords Keywords Default Black List No
Default White List No
Creation of a User's Black List No
Creation of a User's White List No
Time Time Limit Settings Set a specific time frame or web access duration Yes
Blocking Message Type Ask for unblocking by parents No
Redirect to safe resources No
Usage Restriction Web Block Access Yes
Monitor Access Yes
Safe search Availability Yes
Social Networks Block Access Yes
Monitor Usage No
Personal data Provision Block No
Streaming Block Access No
Monitor Access No
P2P Block the application No
Monitor Downloads No
Skype Block chat No
Block video chat No
Monitor No
Prevent new Contact No
Windows Life Messenger Block chat No
Block video chat No
Monitor No
Prevent new Contact No
Email Block email client and/or webmail access Yes

DETAILED USABILITY FINDINGS


Yes / No
I: installation in 3 steps or lessYes
I: choice of installation for beginners or advanced usersn/a

C: different degrees of strength for the filteringYes
C: different content criteria for the filteringYes
C: option to transfer filter configurations between target usersNo
C: option to transfer filter configurations between devicesYes
C: overall comprehensible configurationYes
C: overall conformity with user expectationsYes
C: overall easy to learnYes

U: alert message in a child friendly languageYes
U: option to customise the reaction in case of blockingNo
U: overall easily operable and comprehensible reportingYes

DETAILED SECURITY FINDINGS

The Tool prevents the user from by-passing the filter by:Yes / No
Using the IP address instead of the URLn/a
Using an alternative browsern/a
Changing time and date settings*n/a
Disabling or uninstalling the software without a password*n/a
Closing the filtering tool trough the Task Managern/a
Using a proxy instead of a direct connection to the Internetn/a
Accessing the web-pages through the Google Cachen/a
Reaching a website through translation sitesn/a
Renaming a blocked applicationn/a
Using Safe Moden/a
Filtering Content personalised by userNo
Filtering Content evolving through timeNo
Filtering Multimedia contentNo
Filtering outbound contentNo


Funded by
Logo: EUEuropean Commission


Partners:
Cybion Online Business Intelligence

Stiftung Digitale Chancen

coordinated by:
Innova - Technology Transfer and Valorisation



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