Per the help, this feature:
"You can configure Norton Family to block any attempt to send this information over the Internet. Your child will not be able send personal information either intentionally or accidentally. "
I have all options enabled:
SSN
Phone
Email
Address
Note, it doesn't say "non-encrypted attempts", it says ANY.
I sent a private message to someone on Facebook and it included ALL of those items...
- Nothing logged, nothing blocked.
I sent an email message to someone and it included ALL of those items:
- Nothing logged, nothing blocked
So, pretty much, this feature is worthless. It did not "block any attempt" to send this information over the Internet. It didn't even log that the information was sent.
"In addition, Norton Family notifies you if your child attempts to send any personal information over the Internet."
No notification of these (very plausible events) events were received via email or logged in your web interface. Your help states, "...Norton Family blocks the attempt to send the information on an unsecure website and then notifies you."
I understand your limitations on capturing encrypted traffic - which makes this feature all but useless. If you're intending on protecting sensitive information but can't actually do that effectively - you might as well remove the feature from the product, because you give your customers a false sense of security about what protection they think they might be receiving.
To attempt test this ineffective feature, I attempted to send my personal information on a non-SSL channel. However, I wasn't able to conceive of a single method of doing so other than the following:
- Using HTTP accessed a Joomla! Content Management System interface and created an article with personal information.
In this test, Norton presented a page that stated the information was not allowed. But, again, the odds that a child will have a non-encrypted interface is unlikely. Almost any website that might ask for this information is going to be SSL.