A new service, IMSafer aims to help you protect your children on-line with out having to spy on each and every conversation they have. The system (which is currently free, though will eventually have some sort of fee associated with it) monitors IM conversations, looking for phrases that it deems potentially predatory. (Various law enforcement and child protection specialists have helped to create IMSafer's detection system.) If it detects a questionable conversation, you are sent an email containing an excerpt of the chat in question. You then decide whether or not there is a problem and if you decide the conversation is inappropriate, the screen name is added to a pool of other screen names that are reported having inappropriate conversations. This way IMSafer develops a list of potential offenders, and you are notified immediately if one of the flagged screen names attempts to talk to your child. Unfortunately IMSafer is Windows only (hopefully just for now) and only works with Microsoft, AIM, and Yahoo! IM clients, though they are adding support for other IM platforms. Other features being introduced include SMS alerts of inappropriate conversations. While the system can be bypassed by crafty kids (have you ever seen any child lock that worked?), the hope is that because the system only stores inappropriate conversations that children will be more willing to work with the system since it does its best to not invade their privacy while still keeping them safe.

While I have not tried out the system, it seems like an excellent idea for any child that is old enough to fly solo on the net but that you still want to keep an eye on. (I do think that you should use the Internet with your child at least up until middle school.) I am especially intrigued by the social aspect of using the whole user-base to help identify potential predators. If IMSafer takes off it will be an extremely powerful tool for protecting your children (even if the user-base remains relatively small, it will still be an excellent way to help protect your children). If you have kids that are on the Internet, IMSafer is definitely worth looking into.

IMSafer [via TechCrunch]
computers, internet, security, children, saftey