Protecting Kids from Malware and Adult Content for Free

With the increased number of kids being on computers due to Covid pandemic and having to do online schooling during the pandemic, I personally have had a raised awareness of the amount of screen time my boys are having. By them being online more often, the risk of them being exposed to some nasty content or content that is just not suitable for children has increased.

Thankfully, given that we are a technically savvy family, we are mostly up to date with the latest technological advances. We recently heard about a service that offers a layer of protection against unwanted content exposure. And, the best part of the service is that it’s available to families at no cost i.e. It is FREE!

We were keen to try it out, so we implemented the service in our home. It’s been a few weeks since the implementation and I can tell you that there is definitely a certain level of ease knowing that there is a layer of protection for our kids online activities. 

As a parent, it can be daunting to try and protect your kids from unwanted content or interaction, which is why we really like this service and the good news, for you, is that it’s fairly easy to get started immediately.

If you are reading this and this is of interest to you, you may feel confronted by the fact that it’s technical and, I know with many people who are not technical, you may think you won’t be able to do this and it will be too difficult. But, PLEASE KNOW it’s not that difficult to do – you just need to follow a few simple steps.

Let me explain further…,

What is this service and what does it do?

The service is provided by a company called Cloudflare. Cloudflare is one of the biggest networks on the Internet. Companies use Cloudflare for web application security and performance..It allows website owners to have more control over their security and the way their website’s function, but that isn’t important for this article as it’s an entirely different topic altogether.

Cloudflare released a feature / service called 1.1.1.1 for Families a few months ago – see snippet from Cloudflare below on what it does exactly.

Introducing 1.1.1.1 for Families — the easiest way to add a layer of protection to your home network and protect it from malware and adult content. 1.1.1.1 for Families leverages Cloudflare’s global network to ensure that it is fast and secure around the world. And it includes the same strong privacy guarantees that we committed to when we launched 1.1.1.1 two years ago. And, just like 1.1.1.1, we’re providing it for free and it’s for any home anywhere in the world.

What to do?

Step 1: Decide how you want to implement the service

Before you do anything, you need to decide whether you want to set this up for the entire household or if you want to set it up on individual computers.

Setting it up on individual machines will take longer, but it’s about personal preference and something you need to decide for yourself and your family.

We opted for router level protection where the whole family is converted without going to each device to configure it.

If you choose to implement changes at your router level (entire household), you will need to speak to whoever helped you set up your internet connection as they need to give you information on how to access your router. In many cases, a username and password may be required, so you need to know those login credentials.

Step 2: Update your settings

You need to update your settings on the router or individual devices as per your decision in step 1. 

Follow the relevant setup instructions for your choice to get started on the link below – they give you step by step instructions for different scenarios – see instructions here: 

https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/1.1.1.1-for-families/setup-instructions

Did you find this information useful? Please leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts and feedback. Please consider sharing with others who may find this useful.