Web Filter

Web Filter - Filter Levels

With the web filter, you control which contents can be displayed in your browser. When the web filter is activated, you can choose between three different filter levels:

No Filter

In this setting, all visited websites are logged. Additionally, the rules from your Web List apply: blocked domains are restricted, and time limits for certain domains are enforced. This level is excellent for monitoring web activities without immediately blocking content. Specific blocks based on categories, keywords, or age are available in the next level.

Blacklist

In this filter level, all websites not restricted by specific keywords, categories, or age filters are allowed. Your own entries in the Web List can override general filter categories. If a website is blocked due to a category filter or a keyword, but is listed as allowed or time-restricted in the Web List, this block will be overridden. In short, any website not blocked by another filter criterion is allowed at this level.

Whitelist

In this setting, you precisely define which websites are permitted. All other websites are automatically blocked. Therefore, no further filters by keywords or categories are available at this level, as only the sites you have specified are allowed.

Should a website be blocked by the web filter, a child can send a release request. On Windows PCs, all applications located under "Programs" in the "Internet" group are filtered. The browsers Edge, Chrome, and Firefox are already included by default. However, you can add more browsers to this group. Please note that timing restrictions on websites are only possible with the aforementioned standard browsers.

On Android devices the Web Filter only works in the Chrome Browser App. In addition, the Accessibility Services must be activated on Android devices. Above you can see an example of block page screen on Android.

Web List

The Web List is the overview of all your own(!) allowed, prohibited and time limited websites. The Web List contains a few known child sites and two prohibited sites during the first installation. You can select one or more entries by clicking on the icons and then use the Delete or Edit buttons below the list. Use the Add button to add your own entries.

Important: The Web List is only intended for your own additions. Known unwanted websites (e.g. pornography, chat, social media) can be filtered by categories (see below). There are several million websites behind the categories. The Web List is therefore the wrong place to manage hundreds (or even more) of websites. A long web list has a negative effect on the performance of the child device.

Web Keywords

You can define for which keywords a web page should not be displayed. The keywords will then lead to a blocked page during a search. Please note that permitted or time-limited pages are not checked for the keywords. Choose your keywords with care: Very often keywords lead to false positive alerts and non working web pages.

Web Categories

Child Control supports unwanted websites from various categories. The basis is a filter list with several million entries. This list is constantly updated and is available to all users. Activate the unwanted category in this tab by clicking on it, e.g. sex and pornography. You can check whether a URL/domain is already included in the category filter by clicking on Lookup / Suggest URL.

Web by age

You can set age restrictions for websites. You can also specify what should happen if there is no age rating for the page in question. Whether and with which age classification a website is deposited with us, you can see under Lookup / Suggest URL. There the appropriate age classification is deposited behind the entry. If you do not consider an age classification to be correct or useful, you can report this to us immediately in the Report section. We will then check the entry again.

Lookup / Suggest URL

You can check whether a certain domain already exists in our internal blacklist (category list).

If the domain is not yet in our list, you can submit a proposal this way. You can also select the appropriate category and your age estimation. After a short check we will add this domain to our list. You can also report false alarms or wrongly blocked domains in this way.

Import/Export Black-/Whitelists

Under this item you can save blacklists (forbidden URLs and keywords) as well as whitelists (allowed URLs and domains) in a simple text format outside the web portal (e.g. as a backup copy). An export of all settings can be found under section Settings -> Import/Export.

Set access level

When adding or editing a web page, you can specify how it should be allowed.

Allowed

Enter individual Internet pages (domains) for the user you want to allow. This option is intended for websites that are to be allowed without restrictions (see whitelist). Please note that desired websites (both those that are always allowed and those that are allowed for a certain time) are not checked for unwanted terms from the "Blocked" category. Therefore, you should also enter pages here that should be excluded from filtering.

Allowed PLUS

You can always allow certain web pages via the Allowed PLUS access level. This means that these web pages can be accessed even if a device limit is active. If a device limit is reached, the lock screen is displayed. Here, an always-allowed app or a website can then be selected via "Allowed apps" button. For more information about the possibilities of Allowed PLUS (stop counter, bonus voucher, etc.), see chapter Apps -> Allowed PLUS.

Time limit

Under "Time limit" you can define how long the website can be visited per day, week or month. You can also define blocking times (similar to blocking times for the PC or the Internet as a whole) under "Time allowed". Allowing time for individual Internet pages is particularly suitable for chat sites, online games, etc. where children spend a lot of time. You can easily find out which pages are included in this category in the Usage Logs section. In this area you can also use the details Blocking times. If you have selected the blacklist mode "Unknown websites blocked", only websites from the Allowed as well as Time limit and Group sections are accessible.

Blocked

Here you can define unwanted internet pages (domains) where an internet page should be blocked (blacklist). In this case a warning message will be displayed.

Group

You can assign a domain to an existing group. When you do this, the group's counter increases each time an entry from this group is active. Adding a domain to a group is similar to the access level groups for apps or programs. It is also possible to manage domains and apps/programs together in a single group. This allows you, for example, to simultaneously assign both the YouTube app and the domain youtube.com to a group on an Android device and limit their usage time.

Options (Windows version only)

In the Windows version there are some options available for the web filter. Set the Neutral warning message to suppress the exact reason for the web block. Instead of "Page blocked because of keyword porn" only the text "Unwanted web page accessed" will appear. The Advanced Web Filter checks not only the URL or domain but also the HTML <title> and <meta> tags of the corresponding page (Attention: this setting can slow down the internet speed significantly!). Disable web filter fallback: If a web page is blocked by Child Control, the lock screen appears in the browser. In addition, this page is closed after approx. 15 seconds. This serves as further protection if, for example, antivirus software negatively influences the functioning of the web filter. If you do not want automatic closing, activate the checkbox here. The option Disable dynamic whitelist is only available if you use the whitelist mode. The dynamic whitelist allows other domains/URLs embedded in an approved page to be loaded as well. Only disable the dynamic whitelist if you want an absolutely strict whitelist filter. No Downloads prevents direct downloads of files of the types *.exe, *.zip and *.mp3. Use Redirect blocked sites to URL to specify that instead of the lock screen, redirection is to a page you specify (e.g. to a search engine for children).

Website not working (anymore)?

If you encounter problems with website display after activating the web filter (e.g., embedded videos not displaying correctly), it could be due to your filter settings. First, check if the issue is caused by the web filter by temporarily disabling it and testing if the website functions correctly without the filter.

If the website loads correctly with the web filter disabled, review the logs > Blocked History. Record all domains that were blocked during the access and add them to the Web List under the access type "Allowed". Sometimes, the blocked domains are cryptic server addresses used for hosting videos. On Windows, a third-party antivirus program could also be the culprit.

Especially in Whitelist mode, it is often necessary to allow additional domains to ensure the functionality of specific websites. By using the logs and the history of blocked pages, you can precisely understand which contents were blocked and make the necessary adjustments.