Use of the Internet by Indian children and new parenting challenges
McAfee commissioned Synovate, to conduct a comprehensive research titled ‘How safe are Indian kids online?’ across 10 cities- New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ludhiana, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Cochin, covering 500 children and 496 parents. Following are key highlights of the revelations from this survey: (Please refer to Annexure 1 for a detailed analysis of the survey)
58% kids share their home addresses on the internet.
39% of all polled kids do not tell their parents about these online activities
12% of all polled kids had been victims of some kind of cyber threat
“These findings are extremely relevant from the perspective of Indian parents. As the internet evolves into a new platform for self expression and social interaction, children are indiscriminately indulging in information exchange leading to an increasing rate of cyber exploits. The introduction of technologies like McAfee Family Protection is a step in the right direction as it enables us parents to understand, handhold and mould our children’s online persona and behavior”, said Anindita Mishra- McAfee Cybermum India.
In the context of these newfound online threats, McAfee Family Protection offers a host of essential features to enable Indian families in monitoring their children’s online activities:
· Age-Appropriate Settings – Settings are customized according to age-groups
· Filtering for Music and Online Games –Parents can decide what rating of content children have access to. Types of filtering include:
Songs with explicit lyrics from iTuneso
Access to online gaming siteso
Viewing of objectionable videos on YouTube
Encrypted website blocking blocks teens from accessing proxy sites so they cannot try to bypass content filters;
Program blocking enables parents to block any program, including file sharing networks which can lead to malware infections on PCs;
Instant messaging monitoring enables parents to monitor and record complete instant message conversations to alert them of improper dialogue with strangers;
Time limits help families manage the amount of time their children spend online: families are able to set the day and/or time for when their child can access the Internet;
Email blocking pre-approves email accounts that a child is able to access and blocks emails from unknown sources
Instant email alerts can be sent to parents when access to objectionable material is attempted;
Social network filtering records all social network postings that contain profanity and posts that include confidential information that has been predetermined by parents--such as a home address, phone, school name, etc
McAfee Family Protection incorporates technology from McAfee® Safe Eyes® software, which has won the following awards
Ranked #1 in parental control programs in the European Commission Report , earning the highest overall score of 29 filtering products
The National Parenting Center’s 2011 Seal of Approval two years in a row
Winner of PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award two years in a row
Rated #1 in Independent Testing of 11 Leading Products
Outstanding Score of 4.5 out of 5 by MacFan Magazine
For additional information on where to purchase McAfee Family Protection, please visit http://home.mcafee.com/Store/family-protection
About McAfeeMcAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. McAfee delivers proactive and proven solutions and services that help secure systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world, allowing users to safely connect to the Internet, browse and shop the Web more securely. Backed by its unrivaled Global Threat Intelligence, McAfee creates innovative products that empower home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling them to prove compliance with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and continuously monitor and improve their security. McAfee is relentlessly focused on constantly finding new ways to keep our customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com
Note: McAfee and Safe Eyes are registered trademarks or trademarks of McAfee, or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. © 2011 McAfee All rights reserved. The product plans, specifications and descriptions herein are provided for information only, subject to change without notice, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied.
About Synovate Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis Group plc, generates insights to help clients drive competitive brand, product and customer experience strategies. A truly borderless company with offices in over 60 countries, our approach combines best in class global research capabilities with personalised service, local knowledge and the flexibility to create teams and processes that meet clients' specific requirements. At Synovate, our clients sit at the top of our organisational chart, driving us to continually develop more innovative research solutions that predict actual business outcomes. For more information, visit www.synovate.com.
