Tech Forum

So the best web filter out there that is closest to church standards is Blue Coat K9 Web Filter. I have this on my computer. Recently, I have been looking for some other filters. Many are too big and hard to use.

I had the idea that the Church should make its own web filter. There is no project for it and none that I could find. I think we should make one. It should be family friendly and block Viruses, Malware, Pornography, etc. it should be compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux. It should also be easily customizable with a good preset. We could also make a web browser with this filter built in.

Would this be a possible project? Are there problems with it?

The church is typically not interested in competing with private software vendors.

The church has been using Websense but will be moving to zScaler in the near future.

Glad to hear that you are liking K9 Web Protection (I am the main developer for the application). We tried to make it match church standards as much as possible.

What other suggestions would you have for making K9 a better product for use within your own families?

If I was in school I could make a better filter than most out their and I am not tell people how to do it, because of how it will change the net, I also can get rid rid of all bad e-mail.

There's a lot of grey area in what to filter – the church probably doesn't want to create filtering policies that could be interpreted as "doctrine." I think the church would want parents to take an active role in deciding what's best for their children, realizing that every family has different challenges.