As we progress further with the technological advancements we realize that the internet might be the one that has appealed to people the most. With the possibility of searching up all the information you need to stay in touch with your friends regardless of the distance, the internet has slowly become the everyday routine for many people.
Parental control is a tool used to restrict the internet content and pose limitations
Although there are many useful and good things to do online, we must acknowledge that having over 5 billion users at the moment is going to have some rotten apples. This has been most worrisome to parents who wanted to protect their children while they are online. Additionally, with the publicity VPN is getting in the past couple of years parents started to wonder if they could set up parental control for teens using VPN.
What is VPN?
VPN or Virtual Private Network is an essential internet tool that provides the user with anonymity and data protection while online. Using single-shared networks and high encryption protocols they allow the user to browse the internet without limitations or the ability to be tracked or located.
The biggest use of VPN is in business models, mostly for remote-access working, which allows workers to work remotely from their offices with the same amount of productivity. However, lately people have been starting to use VPN for private reasons. These reasons are mostly due to personal information protection and data safety.
By using encryption protocols the user internet traffic is hidden from the open web
While being connected to a public network, such as airports, coffee shops, restaurants, people are sharing the connection with a lot of people. This allows hackers or scammers with adequate skills to easily track the location of the connection and hijack information and data. This is where VPN comes in handy. With a large variety of servers from which the user can choose from, VPN successfully hides the real IP address of the user and replaces it with a virtual one. This stops tracking and surveillance from the government, the ISP (Internet Service Provider) or any third-party user.
It also uses high encryption protocols which strengthen the security of information being sent from the user device so no one can peak into them. This prevents any website traffic fingerprinting and ensures that the user is anonymous and safe.
With all of this being said, one must wonder how is this something that can hurt your child. Well, this exactly is the opposite of what most parents want to achieve, and that is internet control.
What if you were to put up parental control?
The biggest advantage of using a VPN is that it allows the user to freely browse the internet, without any limitations. This is possible because VPN creates a new, tunneled connection between the device which the user is using and the virtual server that was selected from anywhere in the world.
From that moment on, the user internet activity is being read as if he was at the location of the server. Many different VPN providers offer a no-log policy to clients as it allows them to get rid of all of the data and internet activity the second they disconnect from the server. This leaves no evidence of anyone using that connection or searching the web. For adults, it can be easy to understand why a VPN is a necessity for using the internet, but it is a different situation with children.
Parental control can be avoided using VPN and this poses a real problem to parents around the world
Parental control is a measure that allows people to restrict certain internet content or blocked undesired websites from the internet. If your child is using a VPN it can easily bypass the restrictions and disappear into the internet.
Can you set up parental control if your teenager is using VPN?
This is a question that has a lot of parents wondering lately. There are numerous reports of children asking their parents for a VPN app to have a better internet connection when playing games, or to help them find information about homework faster, but it mostly turned out to be a way for them to bypass school internet restrictions and join the wide web.
If you are looking to set up parental control if your teenager is using VPN, we are sorry to inform you but there are no real measures for setting a parental block on the usage of VPN. As it is a software used to do just that, bypass any rules or restrictions that have been set up. However, this does not mean that everything is lost because this is something that should be done outside of the virtual world.
- Communicate with your child about their online activities and why they want to use a certain app. This will have the best mental effect on your child and will allow them to be more open and honest about their intentions on the internet.
- Monitor their online activity on a regular basis. See if they have searched any VPN related content on the internet or the store. This should be the best way to tell if your child is using the app to bypass the restrictions.
- They need to understand why they should not be exposed to the open internet. There are a lot of people on the internet looking to scam someone. As adults, we can differentiate between a fraud and something that is genuine but children cannot. They can easily be manipulated and tricked into paying for something or doing something. Allow them to openly communicate with you about what they encounter. This will give you the best insight into their online activity.
Setting up parental control if your teenager is using VPN is not going to be enough even if it were possible. Children need to realize the dangers that lurk on the internet and learn how to be open about what they encounter. Communication is one of the best ways to teach your children how to use the internet safely.
