However, it’s important that you’re aware of what safe search doesn’t stop so that you can teach your children how to behave online.
Google safe search only works on Google search results
While Google is likely to be your child’s default search engine, you should remind them not to use other search engines like Bing or Yahoo if you want the results to remain filtered – as a Google tool, Google Safe Search only works on Google.
Safe search is not 100% accurate
Google itself admits that the filter is not always 100% accurate and actually provides another tool for users to report any sexually explicit content that appears even when safe search is on. This means that your child might still be exposed to inappropriate results that you should teach them to recognise and report in order to keep improving the Safe Search functionality.
Safe search doesn’t restrict websites
It’s true that safe search doesn’t allow sexually explicit results to show up in a search, however this is where it’s jurisdiction ends: once your child is on a website or social media platform, safe search cannot stop them from clicking on links that lead to inappropriate sites. Knowing how to recognise reliable linksis a crucial skill to teach your children to keep them safe no matter what route they take to find content online.
Safe search is definitely something you should enable on your child’s browsers, but it is not the complete solution for online safety. When combined with other tools, like CAP’s Child Authentication technology, Google safe search contributes to a secure online environment for children that you can feel confident leaving them to explore – providing you have explained to them the risks they may still face when using the internet. To find out more about CAP Certified’s solution, register your interest at www.capcertified.com.
