FAQ

Do you have to install software or hardware on your home computer to use ChildKey technology?
Yes, ChildKey technology requires  Keyfamily software avalaible for all platforms.

How much does the service cost?
The cost is fixed in 99,00 Euro.

For separate access by each minor (i.e. an account) must you enable different connections or contracts with your provider?
No: a single Keyfamily ChildKey© technology is sufficient to obtain several accounts (or accesses) for each family, with a distinction between adult accounts and minor accounts.

Can an adult surf freely or is navigation restricted?
Adults are subject to no restrictions on access to Internet sites, and their navigation is in no way controlled.

Does the ChildKey system slow down access to web pages?
For adults there is absolutely no delay: navigation remains totally free and at the same speed available outside the ChildKey contract; for minors there is a theoretical delay lasting only a few milliseconds, and thus negligible.

On reaching the 18th year of age, must your provider be contacted to replace the minor’s password?
No, the system automatically switches to adult navigation when the user comes of age.

Can adults check their child’s navigation log?
Yes, the list of websites visited by each minor can be accessed at any time by an adult through the reserved area of BackOffice Parent Control.

How do you access BackOffice?
An adult can access the reserved area of BackOffice Parental Control in two ways: from a special link in his/her Internet Service Provider’s homepage, or by connecting directly to the address specified by the provider when the ChildKey contract is signed. Access to BackOffice requires a password and is not allowed to minors.

Who can access an adult’s navigation log?
Only the adult concerned, after typing in his/her personal password.

Can you ask your provider not to keep an adult navigation log?
No, the log has to be kept by law by Internet Service Providers.

What must an adult do to ensure that everything works smoothly?

•  Keep his/her password private, without registering it on connection.
• Make sure (by checking the TCP/IP) that no other connections have been enabled on his/her computer by a third party.
• Block the TCP/IP on his/her computer; the procedure is described in the instructions issued when the contract is signed, or can be downloaded directly from this site.
• Make sure that none of the connections listed in his/her navigation log were made on days and times when he was not online.
• Remember to specify the hours enabled for connection by minors.
• Regularly check the minor navigation log in Back Office; if it shows access to pages considered at risk, he/she should notify the SWWW Foundation.

Can the navigation criteria be made more or less restrictive for each minor?
Yes, for each minor an adult can specify:

• connection hours and length (time of the day when connection is enabled, maximum daily connection time and maximum single connection time);
• filter usage settings (more or less surveillance on access to the web).

What happens if you use a different browser? Can certain browsers elude navigation control?
No, even if you change your browser or are skilled enough to surf without a specific browser, the provider’s proxy is impossible to avoid.

If an adult’s password it lost or stolen, can it be used by others outside the family?
No, because the system checks your caller-ID (a code that identifies the connection number) and checks that it is enabled by contract.  In other words, it is impossible to use your password from a computer connected to a line that is not mentioned in the contract.

What happens if an adult’s password is used on the same computer by a minor?
The adult can check this at a glance in his BackOffice navigation log, looking for connection days or times when he/she was not online. Also the lack or dearth of connections in the minor’s navigation log may signal that something is amiss.

Is a parent allowed to check what his /her child does? What about the minor’s privacy?
As long as the child is a minor, parents or their substitutes are responsible, both legally and financially, for the minor’s actions and are therefore allowed to monitor his behaviour. This duty is known as “parental authority’”.
Parents or their substitutes are always free to enable or disable the navigation control filters and to access or not the minor’s navigation log.

How does the ChildKey™ system establish what content is available or not to minors?
Through four filters:

• first the ChildKey© metadata control, whereby website managers are asked (by the Age Sender function) to certify whether their pages are suitable or not for viewing by minors; the truth of such a statement is verified by the SWWW Foundation;
• the second filter checks whether the pages come from a site included in the BlackList maintained and updated by the SWWW Foundation;
• the third filter (RSAC) is an international system for cataloguing web page content according to the PICS standard;
• the fourth filter submits html pages to parsing, which checks the appropriateness of texts.

Isn’t it risky to circulate a minor’s age on the Internet? Cannot the information attract potential offenders?
No, it is technically impossible for anyone to trace the identity or address of the minor connected to the Internet.

What is the BlackList for?
It helps providers to reject sites that are not viewable by minors. The BlackList is constantly updated by the Foundation and contains a list of sites with unsafe content which, even after several reminders from the Foundation, have refused to use ChildKey™ metadata certification.