Systems and methods for managing parental controls

• US 8,881,225 B1
• Filed: 02/01/2012
• Issued: 11/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gen Digital Inc.
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Schepis, Adam, Caola, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Colin, Carl
• Assistant Examiner(s): Siddiqi, Mohammad A
• Application Number:
  US13/364,286
• Time in Patent Office: 1,007 Days
• Field of Search: 726 26- 28, 709224-225
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/37 Managing security policies for mobile devices or for controlling mobile applications

Abstract

A method for managing parental controls may include enabling real-time collaboration between a child and a guardian of the child to manage one or more parental control policies by 1) initiating a collaborative parental-control-management session between the child and the guardian, 2) during the collaborative parental-control-management session, recording actions the child performs on a first computing system, 3) as the child performs the actions, streaming a representation of the actions of the child to a second computing system, 4) using the representation of the actions of the child to enable, at the second computing system, a guardian of the child to view the actions of the child as the actions occur, and 5) during the collaborative parental-control-management session, modifying the one or more parental controls. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing parental controls, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

receiving a request to initiate a collaborative parental-control-management session between a child and a guardian of the child that enables real-time collaboration between the child and the guardian to manage one or more parental control policies that control how the child uses a first computing system, wherein the request is received from at least one of;

the child;

the guardian;

initiating, in response to the request, the collaborative parental-control-management session between the child and the guardian by pairing the first computing system with a second computing system that is accessible to the guardian and separate and distinct from the first computing system;

during the collaborative parental-control-management session;

recording actions the child performs on the first computing system;

as the child performs the actions, streaming a representation of the actions of the child to the second computing system;

using the representation of the actions of the child to enable, at the second computing system, the guardian of the child to view the actions of the child as the actions occur;

modifying the one or more parental control policies.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein modifying the one or more parental control policies comprises:

receiving, at the second computing system, feedback from the guardian about the actions of the child;

using the feedback from the guardian to modify the one or more parental control policies.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein modifying the one or more parental control policies comprises:

changing the one or more parental control policies such that the one or more parental control policies are more permissive while the guardian of the child views the actions of the child on the second computing system.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the collaborative parental-control-management session between the child and the guardian enables the child and the guardian to work together to manage the one or more parental control policies.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein pairing the first computing system with the second computing system comprises:

authenticating the guardian and the child before initiating the collaborative parental-control-management session.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein pairing the first computing system with the second computing system comprises at least one of:

establishing Bluetooth network communications between the first and second computing systems;

establishing WIFI network communications directly between the first and second computing systems such that the first and second computing systems communicate directly with each other without sending communications through a WIFI router;

establishing near-field communications between the first and second computing systems.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

terminating the collaborative parental-control-management session when the first and second computing systems are separated by more than a predetermined distance.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein streaming the representation of the actions of the child to the second computing system comprises sending log data that tracks the actions of the child to the second computing system.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein using the representation of the actions of the child to enable the guardian of the child to view the actions of the child as the actions occur comprises enabling the guardian to view, via the second computing system, at least a portion of a screen of the first computing system.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein modifying the one or more parental control policies comprises at least one of:

changing the one or more parental control policies;

creating the one or more parental control policies.

11. A system for managing parental controls, the system comprising:

a device pairing module programmed to;

receive a request to initiate a collaborative parental-control-management session between a child and a guardian of the child that enables real-time collaboration between the child and the guardian to manage one or more parental control policies that control how the child uses a first computing system, wherein the request is received from at least one of;

the child;

the guardian;

initiate, in response to the request, the collaborative parental-control-management session between the child and the guardian by pairing the first computing system with a second computing system that is accessible to the guardian and separate and distinct from the first computing system;

a tracking module programmed to, during the collaborative parental-control-management session, record actions the child performs on the first computing system;

a communication module programmed to, during the collaborative parental-control-management session and as the child performs the actions, stream a representation of the actions of the child to the second computing system;

a display module programmed to use, during the collaborative parental-control-management session, the representation of the actions of the child to enable, at the second computing system, the guardian of the child to view the actions of the child as the actions occur;

a parental-control configuration module programmed to, during the collaborative parental-control-management session, modify the one or more parental control policies;

at least one processor configured to execute the device pairing module, the tracking module, the communication module, the display module, and the parental-control configuration module.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the parental-control configuration module is programmed to modify the one or more parental control policies by:

receiving, at the second computing system, feedback from the guardian about the actions of the child;

using the feedback from the guardian to modify the one or more parental control policies.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the parental-control configuration module is programmed to modify the one or more parental control policies by:

changing the one or more parental control policies such that the one or more parental control policies are more permissive while the guardian of the child views the actions of the child on the second computing system.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the collaborative parental-control-management session between the child and the guardian enables the child and the guardian to work together to manage the one or more parental control policies.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein pairing the first computing system with the second computing system comprises:

authenticating the guardian and the child before initiating the collaborative parental-control-management session.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein pairing the first computing system with the second computing system comprises at least one of:

establishing Bluetooth network communications between the first and second computing systems;

establishing WIFI network communications directly between the first and second computing systems such that the first and second computing systems communicate directly with each other without sending communications through a WIFI router;

establishing near-field communications between the first and second computing systems.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the device pairing module is programmed to:

terminate the collaborative parental-control-management session when the first and second computing systems are separated by more than a predetermined distance.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the communication module is programmed to stream the representation of the actions of the child to the second computing system by sending log data that tracks the actions of the child to the second computing system.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the display module is programmed to use the representation of the actions of the child to enable the guardian of the child to view the actions of the child as the actions occur by enabling the guardian to view, via the second computing system, at least a portion of a screen of the first computing system.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

receive a request to initiate a collaborative parental-control-management session between a child and a guardian of the child that enables real-time collaboration between the child and the guardian to manage one or more parental control policies that control how the child uses a first computing system, wherein the request is received from at least one of;

the child;

the guardian;

initiate, in response to the request, the collaborative parental-control-management session between the child and the guardian by pairing the first computing system with a second computing system that is accessible to the guardian and separate and distinct from the first computing system;

during the collaborative parental-control-management session;

record actions the child performs on the first computing system;

as the child performs the actions, stream a representation of the actions of the child to the second computing system;

use the representation of the actions of the child to enable, at the second computing system, the guardian of the child to view the actions of the child as the actions occur;

modify the one or more parental control policies.