What is CIPA?

CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) is a bill enacted by the United States Congress in 2000 due to growing concerns over the inappropriate content that children have access to online. It is essential to comply with CIPA to not only safeguard children from harmful or obscene content, but to also qualify for the E-rate program, which makes communications products and services more affordable for schools and libraries.

What are the Requirements I Need to Follow?

To comply with CIPA, schools need to block or filter Internet access to pictures that are:

  • Obscene
  • Child pornography
  • Harmful to minors (on computers that are accessible to minors)

Schools must also monitor the online activity of minors, as well as educate them on proper Internet use and behavior.

Once these measures are in place, schools need to certify they are compliant with CIPA to receive E-rate funding.

How Does a Web Filter Meet These Requirements?

Here are some of the tools that Netsweeper provides to help schools comply with CIPA:

  • Block adult content such as hacking, criminal skills, and illegal activities using software that dynamically and rapidly categorizes and filters web content
  • Enforce SafeSearch across all popular web search engines
  • Monitor all Internet activity and create comprehensive user base reports
  • Configure deny and allow lists
  • File type blocking
  • Create deny and warning pages based on the category of website the minor is accessing
  • Protect against web threats – malware, spyware, viruses, tracking software, and phirename.shing sites
  • Control instant messaging, webmail, and social networking applications
  • Block applications
  • Compatible with different operating systems and devices
  • SSL Decryption

This is just a sample of our upcoming whitepaper dealing with Students in Education. Know when our whitepaper is publirename.shed by subscribing to our monthly newsletter today.