Apple: Net Nanny is now available to Mac users

As a parent I’m always looking for ways to keep my children safe. It’s important to protect them from the obvious dangers out there, but what about the less obvious threats?

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children says that only one third of households with internet access are actively protecting their children with filtering or blocking software.

According to Crimes Against Children research:

1. One in five U.S. teenagers who regularly log on to the Internet say they have received an unwanted sexual solicitation via the Web.
2. 25% of children have been exposed to unwanted pornographic material online.
3. Only approximately 25% of children who encountered a sexual approach or solicitation told a parent or adult.

Macs come with great parental controls built right into OS X which enables parents to monitor their child’s activity while they are online. Parents can monitor the sites their children have visited from other computers on the network, for parents looking for additional options you can use other applications like Net Nanny. That’s right, Net Nanny is now available to Mac users. Originally it was released for Windows users only.

Recently Jack Sunderlage, president and CEO of the Content Watch (creator of Net Nanny) had this to say, “Use of Macs has risen 51 percent in the last year, creating an even greater demand to protect Mac users and their families from harmful and unwanted Internet content.”

Sunderlage went on to say that “Mac users can expect the same level of protection, customer service, and internet filtering that has become synonymous with Net Nanny, which has made it the most-trusted brand and top-rated technology for client-based Internet filters on the market.”

I like Mac OS X parental controls. I tried them out soon after I purchased my second Mac; however, Net Nanny does add another layer of protection offering parents a variety of usage reports, time mangement controls for monitoring your child’s computer. Logging onto the Net Nanny website you’ll notice that you have the option to try out the software for fourteen days before you make the purchase.

Currently this isn’t something I have to worry about as my daughter is five years old and when she is online, I’m right there with her. When I make the upgrade to the newest MacBook Pro (when it is released later this year) I’ll be handing over my current 17″ MacBook Pro to my daughter.

Net Nanny is a subscription based service so in order to keep using the software you’ll pay a yearly fee of $39.99. Additional copies can be purchased for $19.99.

Content Watch also offer discounts for educational and non-profit organizations. In order, to use Net Nanny you must have a Macintosh computer that runs either PowerPC or Intel microprocessors. You need to be running Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher, and you must have 40MB free hard drive space.

• 

• Apple unveils QuickTime 7.5; Free download for Mac and Window PC users
• Will Apple get into the game rating biz?
• Mac users less likely to pirate music than PC users
• Apple updates software update tool for Windows users
• Mac users’ Internet experience to remain "seamless" thanks to Microsoft