Web Filtering System with Dual Policy Dashboards
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current web filtering systems for institutions, such as schools, fail to effectively manage web access policies for minor users across different locations, as they do not provide a mechanism for parents to override institutional policies and lack comprehensive reporting features to monitor and report web activities.
Innovation Solution
A web filtering mechanism that integrates institutional and parental policy dashboards, allowing institutions to set web access policies and parents to override or set specific policies, with a reporting system that tracks and reports web activities, including location-based filtering and urgent alerts, using a cloud-based solution without requiring additional software installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If institutional web filtering policies are enforced on computing devices, then web access control is improved, but parental ability to override or customize policies is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The web filtering system is segmented into two distinct policy layers: institutional policies set by schools and parental policies set by parents. Each layer operates independently but can be combined, allowing both institutional control and parental customization to coexist without conflict
Solution Approach 2:
The computing device is designed to universally accept and enforce multiple types of policies simultaneously - both institutional policies from the school and parental policies from the parent, making the system adaptable to different user needs and locations
2Object-affected harmful factors
If web filtering is implemented to block inappropriate content, then web safety is improved, but lack of reporting mechanism prevents parental monitoring
Solution Approach 1:
A reporting mechanism is implemented that provides feedback to parents about their child's web activity. The system collects information about web accesses, generates reports, and delivers them to parents, creating a closed-loop feedback system that maintains safety while informing parents of actual usage patterns
3Productivity
If computing devices are issued to students for educational use, then learning capability is improved, but web access safety control is weakened when devices leave institutional premises
Solution Approach 1:
The web filtering system applies different policy qualities based on location - institutional policies apply when the device is at school, while parental policies apply when the device is at home or elsewhere. This location-based policy application ensures appropriate control levels in different contexts
Solution Approach 2:
Parents are able to pre-configure their web filtering policies in advance, which are then automatically applied when the computing device is not at the institution. This preliminary setup ensures continuous protection without requiring real-time institutional oversight
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for web filtering, including: generating an institutional policy dashboard that enables an institution that issued a computing device to a minor user to select a set of institutional web access policies sanctioned by the institution; generating a parental policy dashboard that enables a parent of the minor user to select to a set of parental web access policies sanctioned by the parent; filtering web content accessed by the minor user via the computing device by enforcing the parental and the institutional web access policies; and reporting to the parent a set of web accesses undertaken by the minor user via the computing device.