Frequently Asked Questions about SafeNET
- What exactly is SafetNET?
- How much does SafeNET cost?
- Is SafeNET turned on for me automatically?
- What do I have to do to my computer to get SafeNET?
- How does SafeNET work?
- How much adult content is 'bad enough'?
- What if a site is being blocked that I am certain does not contain any adult material?
- How does override mode work?
- SafeNET is blocking www.somewebsite.com. Is there a way to see exactly why this page is being blocked without overriding SafeNET?
- I have forgotten/lost my override password. Can you send it to me in an email?
- My searches for bikini (or whatever) keep getting blocked! I am not looking for adult material!
- Is there a way to manually override SafeNET without having to visit a 'bad' site?
- How will I know that SafeNET is working without actually having to visit a 'bad' site?
- What exactly is SafeNET?
SafeNET is a system designed by our technical team to keep
adult content (including words, images and links) from
appearing on your screen while you surf the net. It actually creates a "Safe Internet" for you and your family!
- How much does SafeNET cost?
We believe that adult content filtering should be available to anyone who wants it. Since we believe that nobody should have to pay extra just to keep their Internet clean, we provide SafeNET as a free service to our customers.
- Is SafeNET turned on for me automatically?
No. You must call our customer service department to have it enabled. At that time you will receive a special override password, if you wish, that may be used to override blocking when you really need to get to a blocked site. This password will be different from the password you use to access our Internet service.
- What do I have to do to my computer to get SafeNET?
Once you have subscribed to SafeNET, it is automatic. There is no software to be installed on your computer. There are no settings that you need to change. It just "works"!
- How does SafeNET work?
When you click on a link, SafeNET will block adult content in two ways.
- First, SafeNET determines if the site you want to view is found in our black lists. If it is black listed, it will be blocked instantly, regardless of what the site actually contains.
- If the site is not black listed, SafeNET will still scan the page for foul language and key phrases and decide if it is enough to be blocked.
- How much adult content is 'bad enough'?
SafeNET's settings are designed so that young children may use the internet without seeing anything worse than perhaps a couple of mild curse words. In reality, each bad word or bad phrase is given a value. When a page is scanned, each bad word or bad phrase is added up to determine the page's "phrase weight". If that total value is over a certain amount, the page is blocked.
- What if a site is being blocked that I am certain does not contain any adult material?
If you suspect a site or page is being blocked that shouldn't be, you can complete the form found on the block page and request that it be reviewed. If it is indeed found to be clean, it will be unblocked immediately by the webmaster at RTC Communications and you will be notified by email that the page is no longer blocked.
- How does override mode work?
You may override (disable) SafeNET for a period of time using the 'Override SafeNET' button found on the block page. You will be asked for your override password (This is NOT the same as your RTC Internet account password. The SafeNET override password is provided to you separately when you sign up for SafeNET).
NOTE that it will completely disable SafeNET for your computer for the entire time frame you specify. After the time is up, SafeNET will automatically be enabled again.
- SafeNET is blocking www.somewebsite.com. Is there a way to see exactly why this page is being blocked without overriding SafeNET?
SafeNET actually shows detailed reasons why a page is being blocked but we do not show you those reasons because they usually contain vulgar words/phrases. Since SafeNET is designed to filter that kind of content from the eyes of children, we decided not to allow the reason to be displayed. If you still need to know, you may login at the blocked page using your SafeNET password and view the reasons there.
- I have forgotten/lost my override password. Can you send it to me in an email?
As a rule, we cannot send your SafeNET override password to you in your email because there are too many instances where children are using the computer's email account and could copy the password for use whenever they want. You must, instead, call our customer service number and verify your identity in order to be given your SafeNET password.
- My searches for bikini (or whatever) keep getting blocked! I am not looking for adult material!
Sometimes an innocent search for a real purpose will get blocked because words are being found in the search result that are just too strong to display. Young Nancy may be looking for bikini or Mom might be looking for breast cancer. These will result in blocked pages. One way around that is to try to narrow down your search words. For example:
- Instead of bikini, you could search for swimwear or teen swimwear
- Instead of breast cancer, you could search for "breast cancer" (the quotes causes the search engine to only find the words breast immediately followed by cancer.
- Is there a way to manually override SafeNET without having to visit a 'bad' site?
Sure. Simply visit http://safenet.rtccom.net and enter your username and password. If you are prompted by Internet Explorer or Netscape to save the username and password, we recommend you click 'No' so that other users of your computer cannot override SafeNET later without your knowledge. You might even bookmark that page when you get there for easy reference later.
How will I know that SafeNET is working without actually having to visit a 'bad' site?
Simply visit http://www.cleartraffic.com/keeping-kids-safe.htm. If you see the SafeNET Block page, it is working. Otherwise, SafeNET is not working for your connection.
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