Launch of Test Filtering+ from SWGfL

[SWGfL_Official]

We are pleased to launch Test Filtering+, an enhancement to the Test Filtering tool, which strengthens the approach towards filtering and safeguarding. The tool is here to strengthen vigilance around device filtering for schools and safeguarding professionals, implementing a consistent and user-friendly process. Test Filtering+ can be accessed through packages - find out more from the following pages. https://swgfl.org.uk/services/test-filtering-plus/ https://testfiltering.com/plus/

 

TestFiltering+ brings automation to continually check your devices, providing you alerts and reports. By subscribing to the annual service, you’ll be able to easily monitor all your devices across your whole network, and be informed when there are any issues.

 

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

[synaesthesia]

That's interesting. @SWGfL_Official, could you please confirm whether a school would need to license for every single device they have that is compatible, or could a school purchase a 20 device license and only use up to 20 selected devices?

[Cat_Jam148]

Is it only me that think that is quite an expense for something which basically just phones home and stores the results on a dashboard? (Yes, I know its a little bit more complicated than that) £200 for 20 devices is steeeeeep.

 

It's more expensive than our Classroom Cloud sub, which does a whole load more than this offers from a quick glance at their website. Yes, CC doesn't do this sort of reporting but I don't really have anything else to compare it to.

[synaesthesia]

Yes; in bulk it's a lot of money. 200 a year to automate something you should be doing manually anyway on a regular basis plus after any changes to firewalls, filtering or other security systems however isn't a lot from a school's perspective.

Easy money from SWGfL's perspective however.

[sigma]

Is it only me that think that is quite an expense for something which basically just phones home and stores the results on a dashboard? (Yes, I know its a little bit more complicated than that) £200 for 20 devices is steeeeeep.

 

It's more expensive than our Classroom Cloud sub, which does a whole load more than this offers from a quick glance at their website. Yes, CC doesn't do this sort of reporting but I don't really have anything else to compare it to.

 

Its a basic "old style" ISP filtering test.

 

TestFiltering.com enables you to check that your internet filter is working correctly without having to access harmful or illegal content manually. We work with specific partners to host test URL's on various lists and have test pages hosted where they will be blocked.

 

 

That's more or less going to tell you if filtering is "on" or "off"?

[Steve21]

I may be missing the obvious, but when we used to use the free version of that it'll check for items as the user who's logged in/accessing those items. e.g. IT knows when the test is run

 

Wouldn't deploying a client to machines around the school then report that all those users are trying to access that site? And give false reports to those staff/students?

 

Steve

[sigma]

I may be missing the obvious, but when we used to use the free version of that it'll check for items as the user who's logged in/accessing those items. e.g. IT knows when the test is run

 

Wouldn't deploying a client to machines around the school then report that all those users are trying to access that site? And give false reports to those staff/students?

 

Steve

 

That’s correct!

 

Could have serious implications on devices that get taken home…

Edited January 8, 2025 by sigma

[synaesthesia]

I would hope that's taken into consideration and made rather obvious by hits coming from the testfiltering domain, and exceptions can be added to the filter reports if needed.

[sigma]

I can see the testfiltering.com domain being the referrer of 3 of the five hits, but not for the IWF hit. As we don’t own the prevent and safeguarding reports, we can’t make exceptions.

 

Something also seems odd about a hit to a testfiltering.com’s own url that is coded as a specific url block by our ISP, which generated what I can only consider to be a very spurious claim - given I tested through staff level filtering.

[SWGfL_Official]

Thank you for your questions. Our team would be happy to clarify any information - please do email [email protected]. Test Filtering + is an extension to testfiltering.com and is a simple utility that is easily installed on the devices you want to check automatically. It regularly runs the testfiltering test and notifies you if your filtering is not working as expected. For more information and to see why we have launched the extension, please visit our website. https://swgfl.org.uk/services/test-filtering-plus/

[SWGfL_Official]

Following our previous post, please find further information.

 

There aren't any restrictions regarding the number of devices. You can deploy the extension on a minimum of 20 devices and do not need to install Test Filtering+ on every compatible device; however, if you wish to install the extension on more than 20, packages are available for up to 50, 100, and over 1,000 devices.

 

Regarding how Test Filtering + works alongside TestFiltering, the extension doesn't affect how the free tool works - the TestFiltering tool will continue to work as normal, as stated in our FAQs (Please see below)

 

''Without our service, the only way to know if your filtering is working would be to try and access webpages you would expect should be filtered (this is NOT advisable). Our service can do this on your behalf through test pages that have been inserted on to the various block lists that are used to block illegal and inappropriate content, automatically and invisibly. When run from your device, TestFiltering attempts to access these test webpages. If TestFiltering is not able to access the test webpages from your device, it assumes they are blocked and hence filtering is likely to be active.

If, however, it is able to access these test webpages, it concludes that your filtering is not active and displays a warning or failure. Please note the testing process happens in the background and is not visible to the user.''

 

With this in mind, Test Filtering+ is not considered as an additional reporting tool, but brings automation to the TestFiltering process. If you wish to continue to use TestFiltering without the extension you can continue to do so, however, TestFiltering+ builds on the tool to provide bulk automated and regular testing of your Internet connection to ensure that your filter is always working effectively, provide an audit trail of this, and to notify you if it fails. The option is here to provide essential consistency and supports staff with time management.

 

We hope this has clarified some of the points above, however, our FAQ page is here to help with further questions. Please visit https://testfiltering.com/faq/

[sigma]

We host a page which contains offensive language to test whether your filter is blocking pages that contain profanities.

 

My ISP blocks "the url of that page" with a url block for that page, and "testfiltering" comfirms that offensive language is blocked.

 

Is that how its supposed to work?

 

I agree it will tell you if filtering is on or off.

Edited January 9, 2025 by sigma