Circle with Disney helps parents monitor online activity

Disney is teaming up with a company called Circle Media to help parents keep track of how their children are spending their time online. Circle with Disney is a small, white box that connects to a home router via Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and can be set up to control which devices are allowed online, how long they can stay connected, when they can connect and what content they can access. The device sells online for $99.

Disney's role in this is somewhat minimal and self-serving. The company helped bring the product to fruition and is helping with distribution. In return, the device will offer Disney content that is available offline when a user reaches his or her allotted Internet time.

Consumer Internet monitoring technology is getting better as parents become more concerned with how their children are spending time online. Fifteen to 20 years ago, website blocking technology was so touchy, it blocked websites that could barely be considered harmful by any reasonable assessment. Software-based Internet monitoring was considered ineffective because it was device-specific, and savvier users could always disable the software. Putting more control in the hands of parents is a win for consumers who have longed for something more effective in this area, but the device is game-changing in another way: It can block advertisements.

Ad blocking is a big concern for media companies, but targeting children has long been considered an unfair practice by many parents. Having hardware that filters out the ads also makes it much harder for advertisers to reach consumers. When a user bounces from computer to smartphone to tablet within the home, the ads will all be blocked, making ad-blocking software for each system unnecessary. Routers themselves can also be programmed to cut off specific content such as ads. Such scripts already exist for custom router software such as DD-WRT. As consumers become more aware of ad blocking and more robust content monitoring systems, their expectations for their Internet hardware may start to change.

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