CNET editors' take
- Reviewed on: 08/30/2006
This service also marks an expansion of the Windows Live OneCare family, which previously included only the paid service. Windows Live OneCare protects and tweaks the performance of your PC, while Windows Live OneCare Family Safety is a free opt-in service. Ironically, the Family Safety beta will first be available to the general public; currently, paid subscribers to Windows Live OneCare must sign up on their own. In the future, all the tools within Windows Live OneCare Family Safety will become part of the OneCare paid service.
Windows Live OneCare Family Safety works by identifying categories of Web sites as defined by third-party organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics. For example, under the category Sexuality, sites that the AAP says would be appropriate for teenagers would be allowed for a 12-year-old but would be automatically blocked for an 8-year-old attempting to access them. By identifying users via their Windows Live login information, Windows Live OneCare Family Safety allows parents to restrict Internet access to a child regardless of which computer they use (this assumes, however, that the child has logged into their Windows Live account on a remote computer).
Windows Live OneCare Family Safety also gives children an opportunity to petition for access to blocked sites. For example, a parent or guardian, operating as the administrator of the family accounts, associates their children to one family account. Whenever a child logs in to Windows Live, the child would be free to surf the Net until he or she reaches a blocked site; a child can then request access "for school research." If the parent or guardian is online, access might be granted (or denied) immediately; if not, an e-mail request would be sent for later consideration.
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