SafeScreen FAQ

What does SafeScreen do?
SafeScreen is designed to monitor images being viewed on a PC or Laptop and provides multi-source image detection, analysis and prevention. SafeScreen runs on computer start-up monitors and report on the images being viewed, and depending upon the product configuration, will prevent inappropriate and illicit images being viewed.

How does SafeScreen work?

SafeScreen runs continually on a computer and if a suspect image is viewed on client PC screen, which transgresses a set level of sensitivity, a copy is made and sent to the Parental Administration Console. A Gallery of suspect images is available for review by the parent administrator.

What file types can be scanned?

SafeScreen does not rely upon image formats or file types in order to cause a trigger to scan an image. This is due to the fact that SafeScreen intercepts images at the screen level and assessed based on the image that will be viewed by the User, therefore SafeScreen protects against inappropriate images in ALL file types.

How accurate is the Image Analysis Engine?

SafeScreen's Image Analysis Engine has been proven to provide results which are 95-98% accurate. The software has been tested on millions of images.

Can SafeScreen detect illicit images in cartoons?

SafeScreen is designed to detect all images but is optimised to detect pornographic images. As a result SafeScreen will detect life-like cartoon images as being of an illicit nature, however the less lifelike a cartoon is, the less likely it is SafeScreen will detect it.

Will SafeScreen affect the performance of my PC?

Typically, running SafeScreen is not a very CPU intensive operation. SafeScreen has little impact on the desktop. The monitoring process typically uses between 1 and 2% of the CPU resources. However, the software will scan every image being accessed for inappropriate material based upon the configuration determined by the parent Administrator. As a result of the software scanning every image file it encounters, it is possible that some Users will experience some minor performance reduction when surfing the web or viewing a large number of images.

How does the SafeScreen detect the images?

The monitoring process is constantly performing a 'pre-audit' which splits the screen into quadrants and searches for a number of skin pixels. If a certain threshold is reached which means the probability of skin tones is quite high then the image is fully analysed. Many analysis techniques are used to determine the nature of the image including skin tones, presence of people, foreground, background analysis and luminosity.

Can the SafeScreen be tampered with?

The software has been specifically designed with security in mind. The client software cannot be uninstalled. The install directory is protected and the captured thumbnails are encrypted. The processes are protected and if tampered with will restart automatically. If prolonged tampering occurs on the client machine this behaviour is alerted to the Parent Administrator and appropriate action may be taken.

What is the minimum system specification for SafeScreen? Hardware Requirements

• P4 Desktop PC; • 256MB RAM; • 1 Gb free disk space.

Operating System Requirements

• MS Windows® 2000 Professional SP2; • MS Windows® XP Professional