To filter or not to filter… Parents often worry about the possible risk of exposure to harmful content their children face while surfing the internet: violence, racism, pornography… We all want to protect our children from these dangers. Parents sometimes assume that filters are the perfect solution. But are they really?

As part of the SaferInternetPlus programme, Deloitte is conducting a 3-year benchmarking study on 30 filtering solutions that protect children between the ages of 6 and 16 on the internet. More than 100 parents and teachers from all over Europe have tested the effectiveness of these tools.

The results of the 2007 study have been compared to those obtained in 2006. Half of the 23 filters tested both in 2006 and 2007 have improved their filtering capabilities relative to non-sexual content.

Eight vendors achieved a lower score in 2007 with regards to sexual content partially because the 2007 test cases included user generated content (Web 2.0) which is more difficult to filter. Seven vendors had resolved previous security issues and three vendors improved their support of EU languages. Furthermore, the scores on the ease-of-use were lower in 2007 than in 2006 due to users nowadays expecting simpler filtering solutions.

But filters can never replace the education of children and communication with their parents. We cannot isolate our children from all harmful content, especially as they have access to several computers other than the one at home. Moreover, since it is difficult to filter Web 2.0 applications, our children probably will be confronted with inappropriate content, similarly to when they watch television. It is therefore essential to supervise our children, to teach them how to react when they are confronted with something that shocks them and to help them deal with it.

Protecting our children from harmful content on the internet is a noble goal towards which we all should work. Installing filters can be a useful element in this process, but education and communication remain essential to help our children become responsible internet users.

The detailed results of the benchmarking study are available on www.sip-bench.eu.

More information from the Belgian node on education and communication about internet safety can be found on www.saferinternet.be.