2. Filtering Questions

What criteria do you use when blocking a site? 
Family Guardian only blocks sites whose content meets your filtering criteria. You can choose from the following content categories:

• Pornography/Nudity

  • Sites containing bare breasts or genitalia in a photo, drawing, or other sexual depiction. Recreational nudity includes naturism, streaking, and other unclothed activities.  Obscenity refers to sites containing vulgar words regarding sexual organs, sexual activity, or other sexual speech in a crude or blatant manner.

• Adult Material

  • Sites establishing a sexually oriented context; sexual paraphernalia; erotica and other literature featuring sexual matters falling short of pornography; sex-oriented businesses such as clubs, nightclubs, escort services, password/verification sites. Includes sites supporting online purchase of such adult goods and services.

• Criminal Activity

  • Criminal activity includes, but is not necessarily limited to, hate speech, wagering, illegal drug promotion, illegal weapons construction/modification/sales, suicide, and crime instructions.

• Gambling

  • Sites providing online wagering and sites devoted exclusively to promote gambling activities; does not include non-currency gaming, fantasy sports, statistics and "lines" for sporting events, gaming supplies, casino-hotels, related tourism and news articles surrounding the gambling industry.

• Alternative Lifestyles

  • Sites that provide information on or cater to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and other "alternative" lifestyles.

• Crude and Tasteless

  • Sites containing tasteless humor, excretory functions, graphic medical, autopsy or accident photos and extreme forms of body modification (cutting, branding, piercing). Also, sites that contain vulgar or obscene language or gestures.

• Swimsuit/Lingerie

  • Sites that provide photos of models wearing swimsuits, lingerie, underwear, or other highly revealing attire.

• Alcohol/Tobacco

  • Sites that advocate or promote the production or recreational use of alcoholic beverages or tobacco.

• Audio/Video file sharing

  • Sites that support downloading of audio or video files or that serve as directories of such sites.  This includes image searches and download sites of file-sharing software such as Gnutella clients.

• Chat/BBS/Instant Messaging

  • Sites that offer access to online chatting, message posting, voice transmission and software supporting such activities.

• Job/Employment

  • Sites that provide job listings and information related to employment, such as resume posting and interviewing tips.

• Search Sites

  • Sites that search or index any portion of the Internet.  Image searches are also classified as "Audio & Video File Sharing".

• Downloads

  • Sites enabling the download of software, updates, patches and other computer-related components.

• Personal Web Sites

  • Sites where web page space is offered for free, such as GeoCities, Tripod, AngelFire, and others that often contain illicit and profane material along with legitimate content.

• Web-based Email

  • Sites that offer free e-mail accounts in a web-based, or browser legible, format.

 Click on each category heading
for more complete definitions of these categories.

Is every bad site blocked? 
No true filter stops 100% of the targeted sites. Independent testing estimates 90% to 99% of the targeted sites are blocked by Family Guardian at any given time. This percentage fluctuates as new sites go on-line every day.

What do I do if someone finds a site that should be blocked, but is not? 
Should you or one of your users encounter an inappropriate site while online with Family Guardian, submit it to block@famguard.net and we will manually review it.

I submitted a site to be blocked, but it is still not blocked.  Why not?
We add between 5000 and 7500 new sites to our database every week!. Though we try to act on all block requests in 24 hours, there are times when we are simply overwhelmed with new sites. Please be patient.

Your block request could be denied for one of several reasons.

1. First, it may not fit our criteria for blocking. 

2. Second, you may have submitted a site without the specific page or directory.  For example, if the offensive site is on GeoCities or AOL's personal sites, we must have the whole URL, not just "geocities.com" or "aol.com".  Please copy the entire URL and resubmit the site.

3. Third, you may have received an offensive e-mail and reported your e-mail provider for blocking.  We do not block e-mail providers, such as Hotmail or Yahoo!, even though people may use these sites to send you offensive e-mail.  Were you to click on the link in the offensive e-mail, our filter would then check to see if that site is a blocked site.  To report problematic e-mail, contact your e-mail provider.

4. Fourth, it may have been added to our database, but you are still seeing it in your cache.  Clear your cache.  In Internet Explorer, go to "Tools", then "Internet Options".  Under the section labeled "Temporary Internet Files" click "Delete Files".
   
   In Netscape, go to "Edit" and select "Preferences".  Click on "Advanced", then "Cache".  Click on both boxes marked "Clear Memory Cache" and "Clear Disk Cache". 
   Actual paths and labels may vary from version to version.  You may always use the "Help" function in your browser for further assistance.

5. Fifth, we may have missed your request somehow.  To send it via e-mail, send it to block@famguard.net.

The blocked site window popped up, but when I closed that window, the offensive website continued to load. Why is this?
The blocked site window was not blocking the web page you were accessing. It was blocking other elements on the page, such as banner ads, images, or other information received from a third-party URL. In this case, report the offensive URL that was accessible at block@famguard.net.

What do I do if I believe a site is wrongly blocked?
If a site is blocked that you believe should be accessible, submit it at unblock@famguard.net and we will manually review it. If you are an administrator of a network of filtered computers, you may also override the filtering with your password to immediately view the site.

Family Guardian tells me a site is not blocked, yet I still cannot access it.  What's going on?
If you cannot access a site, but did not get the pop-up window stating, "You Have Attempted To Access A Restricted Site", then the problem is NOT related to the filter, unless you have disabled the Blocked Page Dialog (right click the "S4F" or "FG" icon in the system tray, select "Preferences" or "Options" depending on which version of Family Guardian you are using, then "Display". Here you can set Family Guardian to either display the blocked site screen or operate in stealth mode.)

Such things as a "404: File Not Found" and "500: Internal Server Error" are related to the website you are attempting to access, not the filtering.  If you are getting the pop-up window,  send the URL to block@famguard.net for manual review.

If you cannot get on the Internet at all, the problem may be with your ISP.  You may wish to uninstall the filter while you diagnose other problems, then reinstall the filter once you are successfully back online.

Does the service allow for an administrative override?
That's up to you! Family Guardian gives you the option of enabling the "Administrative Over-ride" or having it disabled. If enabled, the account administrator may type in a password to temporarily bypass the filter.  When you receive the blocked screen, simply click the down-arrows and enter the override password. The over-ride allows access to that one web site for that one web session only. All other inappropriate sites will remain blocked.

3. Technical Questions 

Will the filtering slow down my Internet access?
Not perceptibly. The filtering process takes less than half a second, so you should not notice any difference in your Internet speed. If you do see a significant lag, you should check the technical FAQ for troubleshooting tips.

How do I get Family Guardian on every computer on my network?
First, download the file filterpakwin762.exe Download here. Then, place the filterpakwin710.exe in a shared directory. Finally, go to each computer on the network, drag the filterpakwin710.exe onto the desktop of each computer, and run it on each computer.  Alternately, you may place the filterpakwin710.exe on a portable media, such as a ZIP drive or CD-ROM, then install it on each computer. Upon request, Family Guardian will send you a CD-ROM with the installation file already on it.

I already have an account.  How do I reinstall the filter?
You can download the file at any time Download here

How do I uninstall the filter?
For version 6.03
Connect to the Internet. Right-click the "S4F" icon in the system tray, select "S4F Options", then "Maintenance".  Click on the box marked "Uninstall S4F".  You must know your 'User Name', log-in 'Password', and 'Administrative Password'.  For assistance, you may call 847-776-1456 between the hours of 9am and 5pm (Central Time), Monday through Friday.

For version 7.10 & 7.12
Connect to the Internet. Double click on the "FG" icon in your system tray. Click on 'Administration' in the left panel of the 'Preferences' screen. Enter your 'Account' name and 'Password' in the right panel and click 'Log In'. Click on 'Maintenance' in the left panel, and then 'Remove' in the right panel. Follow the prompts. For assistance, you may call 847-776-1456 between the hours of 9am and 5pm (Central Time), Monday through Friday.

4. Miscellaneous Questions 

Will users be able to play multi-player games or use ICQ? 
Yes.

Will the filtering disturb website development?
Typically, no.  Family Guardian does filter FTP protocol, but does not conflict with FrontPage, Dream Weaver or other uploading/publishing tools.  As long as your website is not blocked, you should not have any problems.  The only known conflict comes when a host resolves the same IP to numerous URLs and one of the URLs is a blocked site.

For example, some free hosting services will resolve your website to the same IP as another porn site.  When this happens, you have three courses of action.  First, you can switch hosts.  Second, you can insist that your host not use your website on the same IP as a porn site.  Third, you can use your password override each time you need to upload.

Can I still use Instant Chat software?
Yes. We also recognize that when used responsibly, Instant Messaging programs such as ICQ and AOL's Instant Messenger are very useful. In addition, by utilizing the built in functions that come with these programs along with some common sense, they can be very safe.

5.  Billing Questions

How do I pay?
Family Guardian accepts  Visa, MasterCard or American Express and Discover.

Version 7.1 and above users, simply click on 'Buy Now' and you will be taken to our secure servers to update and process your credit card information.

Version 6.03 users: Buy here

To pay by check, write your user name or account number in the memo field and mail it to:

Family Guardian
PO Box 2090
Palatine, IL 60067

My trial has expired.  What do I do?
You must either uninstall the filter or purchase the filter (see "How do I pay?" above).  If you feel you need an extension of the trial, please e-mail your request with a sufficient explanation of your need for further evaluation time.  You must include a valid user name with your request.

What is your refund policy?
Since Family Guardian offers a free 14-day trial, refunds are rare. In the event that a refund is required we will refund your fee on a pro-rated basis.

All refund requests must include your 'Account' name and 'Password', and must originate from the email on file or by phone.

All refunded accounts are subject to a non-refundable $5.00 account set-up fee. Any portion of a calendar month used before a proper refund request has been processed will be counted as a complete month.

If I have a billing question, whom do I contact?
You may send all Family Guardian billing issues to sales@famguard.net, or you may call our corporate offices at 847-776-1456 and choose ext. 11 for a Customer Support Team Member.
 

Question still not answered? E-mail info@famguard.net