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Filtering Web Content for Staff and the Public

Sarah Ormes

UKOLN

University of Bath

Bath, BA2 7AY

UKOLN is funded by Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives & Libraries, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Councils, as well as by project funding from the JISC and the European Union. UKOLN also receives support from the University of Bath where it is based.

Emails.l.ormes@ukoln.ac.ukURLhttp://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

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What is Filtering?

• Software used to control access to material on the Web

• Typically used to prevent access to pornography and other potentially offensive material

• Used in many organisations including public libraries and schools

• Used in some workplaces to prevent misuse of Internet facilities

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How Does it Work?

• Four main methods used:• Keyword blocking• Site blocking• Web rating systems• Walled garden approach

• Combinations of the above

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Keyword Blocking

• Uses a list of ‘objectionable terms’• Blocks any or part of pages/e-mails containing these words

• Can be inaccurate e.g. Essex, Dick Whittington, Penistone could be blocked

• Generally viewed as the least sophisticated method

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Site Blocking (1)

• Software company maintains a list of ‘dubious Internet sites’

• The software prevents access to any sites on this list

• ‘Denial lists’ regularly updated• Some software provides control over what categories of information you block

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Site Blocking (2)

• Who decides what goes on the ‘denial list’ and what criteria are they using?

• How well do that criteria match onto your needs?

• Can you keep track of the whole Internet?

• Filters can use both site blocking and word blocking.

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Web Rating Systems (1)

Web sites rated in terms of nudity, sex, violence and language

RSACI Nudity Categories

Level 4: Provocative Frontal NudityLevel 3: Frontal NudityLevel 2: Partial NudityLevel 1: Revealing AttireLevel 0: None of the Above

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Web Rating Systems (2)

• Ratings either done by web page author or by independent bureaux

• Browsers set to only accept pages with certain levels of ratings

• Very low take up so far• Who decides the ratings?

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Walled Garden Approach

• Only provide access to a set of approved links

• Analogous to book selection• Time consuming and hard work• Means users will only have access to a tiny percentage of Internet resources

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How well do they work?

The Internet Filter Assessment Project

•Over 35% of the time, the filters blocked some information needed to answer a question

•Eight percent of what filters accessed they determined was ‘objectionable’

The Internet Filter Assessment Projecthttp://www.bluehighways.com/tifap/

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Stories From the Web

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Stories from the Web through a filter

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Slipping through the Net

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www.whitehouse.com

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At the Moment…

• Filters do not work perfectly - they block valid resources and they don’t block some objectionable resource

• Filters do block a lot of objectionable material

• Filters are the only product available at the moment

• Is it a matter of what your acceptable level of failure is?

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Pros • Deselecting poor quality resources

• haven’t libraries always done this? • Children and pornography

• making the library as safe an environment as possible

• Legal issues• protecting the library from legal challenges

• Being seen to be doing something• public knows the library is trying to provide a

safe environment

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Cons• Freedom of access to information

• The library starts censoring

• Who decides what is filtered?• How sophisticated are the selections?

• The library as the information ‘safety net’• The only access point to the Internet for

some users

• Legal issues• Can you provide a safe environment with

filters?

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Draw up an Acceptable Use Policy

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Essential PolicyComponents (1)

• Why does the library provide Internet access (relate to other library policies)?

• What type of material can be accessed on the Internet? (warning)

• What responsibility does the library have for material accessed and how this material is used?

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• Who can use the library’s Internet workstations?

• What type of resources can/can’t users/staff access?

• How do you expect your users/staff to act?

• State whether the library users filters or not - explain why.

Essential PolicyComponents (2)

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• What will happen if users break these rules?

• What will happen if staff break these rules? (accidentally or on purpose)

• What are the rules about children?• Do they need parental permission?

Essential PolicyComponents (3)

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Publicise your policy!

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Access, Security and Control• Access

• What kind of access do you want to provide and why?

• Security• Do filters answer your security

problems?• Control

• Is your library in control or is the filter?

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Further Information

• An Introduction to Filtering - available at •http://www.earl.org.uk/taskgroups/policy/issue_papers/nocolumns.htm

• Schneider, K. (1997) A Practical Guide to Internet Filters. Neal Schuman: New York.

• Other links and this presentation at http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/public/present/spin/