Q. What is Internet filtering?

A. Internet filtering is a process that blocks access to certain material on the Internet. It can be implemented as exclusion filtering, which prevents access to selected material, or by inclusion filtering, which allows access only to selected material.

Q. Which type of filtering does pkFamily offer?

A. pkFamily Internet services are of the exclusion and inclusion type, and prevent access to sites deemed inappropriate for the services intended audience.

Q. Why does pkFamily offer "filtered" access?

A. We believe there is a large segment of the public that has avoided the Internet entirely, and many more that are rightly concerned about using the Internet, because of the ease with which objectionable content is encountered by them, their family members, or employees. pkFamily provides a safe and dependable connection to finding and enjoying the positive resources on the Internet.

Q. Why should I pay extra for a service every month when I can buy filtering software once?

A. Thousands of new sites appear on the Internet every day, and all filtering software companies sell updated block-lists, usually made available on a weekly or monthly basis. pkFamily services are "turnkey" filtering solutions that include daily database updates, server-based deployment (eliminates time-consuming installations on your computer), 24-hour monitoring and maintenance of the system, caching, and the most advanced filtering technology available today.  Most people who, with good intentions, purchase and install end-user software filtering programs quickly fall behind in the task of maintaining and updating the software. 

Q. How big of a problem are these inappropriate sites?

A. A recent Wall Street Journal article stated that pornography is one of the biggest industries on the Internet. It is difficult to estimate how many sites are pornographic in nature, but to date, pkFamily has cataloged millions of Internet pages containing pornographic content.

Q. What is the likelihood that a child, or other user, will accidentally encounter something he or she should not have?

A. Without filtering, it is extremely easy for a child to access inappropriate material, unintentionally, or purposefully. In the first scenario, a child submits an innocuous word to a popular search engine, and the results provide links to pornography sites on the first page. Though inadvertent, the child is now within one click of pornographic material. In the second scenario, a child searches using profane or vulgar language and is seconds away from the enormous resources of inappropriate material.

Q. Isn't filtering a kind of censorship?

A. Filtering is considered censorship by some, and freedom to choose by others. When a newspaper editor decides to omit a story, it has been censored.  When a magazine devoted to cosmetics excludes automobiles, it has been censored or the topic has been selectively omitted.  Censorship is making choices about what we see, or allow our families to see. By selecting pkFamily, users are choosing not to view pornography and other inappropriate content.

Q. What does a user have to do to use pkFamily filtering?

A. Not a thing! All filtering is done thought our facilities and updated daily. Once you are setup with pkFamily, you are on your way to worry-free Internet access.

Q. Does pkFamily provide a bypass to the filter for users who want it?

A. NO!

Q. What about users who find a site improperly blocked?

A. Any user can submit a site for immediate review by pkFamily from our support pages. We can manually make changes instantly if necessary. Most often it is because a user wants access to a site that we may have blocked inadvertently.  Individual access privileges (e.g., for academic research) to blocked sites can not be granted.

Q. Who decides which sites to block?

A. pkFamily relies on a team of dedicated professionals that reviews each site in the company's database.

Q. What criteria do you use to block sites?

A. If the site contains at least one of the following, it will be placed on pkFamily's blocked-site list: pornography, depictions of sexual acts, violence, criminal acts, drug use, excretory acts, graphic medical images without medical context, discrimination, profanity, and adult humor. In addition, pkFamily blocks access to all unmonitored chat, newsgroups and discussion groups.

Q. Can children or other users disable or circumvent the filtering service?

A. No!  pkFamily is client and server-based pair working together and cannot be disabled. The client software cannot be reconfigured or tricked, and the client is such that the user cannot re-route Internet access around the pkFamily servers. If the user tampers with the filter, then they will not be able to access the internet through the http protocol without reinstalling the filter.

Q. What operating systems does the filter work with?

A. At this time, the pkFamily filter will only work with Windows operating systems.

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