John Haney

Slm 521 sp 03

4/30/03

Filtering Elective

The Good and Bad of Filtering

Pros

1. Filters block inappropriate material from children, such as pornography.

2. Some filtering systems can help limit the amount of spam you receive.

3. Filtering systems at schools can prevent students from viewing inappropriate images or visiting inappropriate sites.

4. Some filtering programs eliminate pop-up advertisements.

5. Filtering programs can prevent online tracking and increase privacy.

Cons

1. Some websites may be blocked because of keywords that are in the site. (Breast Cancer)

2. Filtering programs are inaccurate and error prone.

3. It is still possible for children to access inappropriate web sites.

4. Some web sites may be blocked because of the filtering companies own political agenda. (TIME Magazine)

5. It is difficult to find out which web sites are blocked by which filtering program, making it difficult to choose the right filtering program to fit your needs.