SIP-Benchmark III was a project of the Digital Opportunities Foundation in 2009 - 2017.
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Norton Family parental control

Company
NortonMobile
Version
3.4.8.15
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, 4th test cycle, Summer 2016

*Prices might change according to the latest company offers

EFFECTIVENESS

Effectiveness score for users up to 12 year old: 2.4 out of 4 points
Effectiveness score for users 13 years and older: 2.4 out of 4 points


USABILITY

Installation of the tool: n/a
Configuration of the tool: There are two ways to manage the configuration, web-based or via app login. It is possible to jump between the steps and to save settings at any point of the configuration. The process is mostly consistent and meets users' expectations.
Usage of the tool: The alert message is context-sensitive and worded with respect to children's capability of understanding. It offers a dialogue between parents and child. The child can ask the parent, via a message, for permission to see a website. The reporting is comprehensible, easy to handle and provides various views of the results.

Usability of the installation process: n/a
Usability of the configuration process: 3.2
Usability of the usage of the product: 2.4


Overall score for usability: 2.9 out of 4 points


FUNCTIONALITY

The parent can configure the filtering tool on the mobile device or in a web browser. This allows managing the protection of all children’s devices, which have Norton Family Parental Control installed, to be protected at the same time and via the same user profiles. However, it is not possible to assign more than one user profile to a mobile device. It is possible to block the access to specific content by either setting specific categories or by adding specific URLs to a black or a white list. The user can also activate the monitoring function that provides information on children’s web activities (reporting). It is possible to set time limits to access the Internet. Safe Search and personal data provision are available. It is also possible that children ask for unblocking by parents and a redirection to a safe resource is offered. Social media activities and video streaming platforms can be monitored.


SECURITY

Access to harmful content throught web cache sites and Google Translate. Does not filters pages inside an iframe.
Overall score for security: 1 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 No
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 Yes
Personal data Provision Block Yes
Streaming Block Access No
Monitor Access No
P2P Block the application No
Monitor Downloads No
Skype Block chat Yes
Block video chat Yes
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 languageNo
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 URLYes
Using an alternative browserYes
Changing time and date settings*Yes
Disabling or uninstalling the software without a password*Yes
Closing the filtering tool trough the Task ManagerYes
Using a proxy instead of a direct connection to the InternetYes
Accessing the web-pages through the Google CacheNo
Reaching a website through translation sitesYes
Renaming a blocked applicationYes
Using Safe ModeYes
Filtering Content personalised by usern/a
Filtering Content evolving through timen/a
Filtering Multimedia contentn/a
Filtering outbound contentn/a


Funded by
Logo: EUEuropean Commission


Partners:
Cybion Online Business Intelligence

Stiftung Digitale Chancen

coordinated by:
Innova - Technology Transfer and Valorisation



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