Is your company CIPA compliant?
Safeguarding is a legal requirement of every educational establishment in the country.
It keeps students protected from accessing or being exposed to harmful online content, which can leave lasting psychological impressions on children of young ages. In order to ensure the highest level of protection against harmful images or links, there are a series of stringent measures laid out by relevant authorities and governments in each country that must be adhered to.
We had such a great response to our first piece on CIPA compliance that we wanted to take a deeper dive into the subject, and this article will explore CIPA, E-rate discounts and Senso’s compliance with CIPA in greater detail.
What is CIPA?
The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was approved and implemented through Congress in 2000, mandating that schools receiving the E-rate discount must restrict access to harmful and violent content. It means that children won’t be able to view content that could leave harmful impressions or encourage or glorify abusive material, if properly safeguarded.
The protection of children from content too violent, sexual or graphic is an extremely important issue, especially considering the vast amount of inappropriate content circling around the internet. If exposed to this content, it can leave traumatic lasting impressions on young children – hence, safeguarding is a vital part of the school experience.
What is the E-rate discount?
The E-rate discount program provides federal funding towards the cost of electronic devices in the classroom. Technology is an integral part of education in this day and age, with 63% of classrooms using technology every day and 58% of teachers using educational apps. However, the US Government has stipulated that in order to receive the discount, schools must be CIPA compliant – if not, they will no longer be eligible for the E-rate discount.
What are the CIPA guidelines?
As with all safeguarding policies, there is a list of banned categories that schools need to enforce. This includes standard sensitive content, such as pornography, alcohol, gambling, tobacco, violence and so on. However, it is not just images that schools need to filter and block in order to safeguard. They also need to:
- Ensure the safety of minors through monitoring chat rooms, messages, emails and any other online communications
- Prevent the ability to hack, install malware or engage in other criminal activities
- Restrict access to materials that could be harmful to minors
- Ensure there is no disclosure of personal information of minors or unauthorized disclosure of the personal information of others.
How does Senso comply with CIPA?
Senso understands the importance of keeping everyone safe on the internet, and our industry-leading safeguarding software has been designed by a team of experts to provide the highest level of security and protection. Our cloud-based Web Content Filter is a highly effective filter and blocker of inappropriate and harmful content, and we are proud to say it is a CIPA compliant software.
What features does Senso’s Web Content Filter include?
Our Web Content Filter appropriately filters and blocks content that could cause harm or distress from K-12 students. Designed with K-12 in mind, Senso have designed our Web Content Filter to recognize content that contains harmful subject matter and block access to it.
Not only is our Filter powered by extensive category-based libraries to identify and block inappropriate material, it also uses Artificial Intelligence to review the content of any website a student attempts to visit and instantly blocks access upon recognizing a violation.
Another unique feature of the Filter is its remote capacity – if your student takes a device home at the end of the day, they’re still protected by the Filter installed by your school network.
How much does the Web Content Filter cost?
Senso is proud to market our Web Content Filter from just $3 per device per annum. Our innovative technology and commitment to ensuring the highest standard of safeguarding, coupled with our incentive to provide affordable solutions, results in industry-leading technology that comes with an accessible pricing point.
How do I find out more?
In order to promote a clearer understanding of our products and their specialized features, we offer the chance to book a demonstration, which you can sign up for here. We can highlight how our Content Filter runs and its unique features with a one-on-one online demo by one of our experienced team members.