Cantufind [can't-you-find] and Family Safe Searching

For almost ten years the Cantufind Directory has advocated the need for family safe searching. Combining this ethos with the strictest of editorial standards we've worked to develop what we believe is the safest general directory environment available. Unlike many other organisations that claim to have the famiily safety on the internet at heart, most don't actually do anything tangible about it.

Rather than discuss this here we decided to create an area to discuss this, for this please visit our Blog. We plan to use the blog to analyze and sometimes critisice the flawed concepts of these self proclaimed 'family safe concerns'. We'll demonstrate that even with the best will in the world, most simply don't know how to, we'll also demonstrate how simple it is to start creating a safe enviorenment and how we can all work together to maintain this. Here's how...

What is a family safe searching?

It's exactly what it says, its a search environment that is safe for the family. When you search for something using our directory you are doing so in the knowledge that you aren't going to find spurious and often offensive results mixed in with relevant results to your particular search criteria.

The problem with search engines is that they now have the capabilities of being able to index literally billions of websites, and, using ever developing techniques the search engines are smart, they use a variety of techniques to find results and they can fairly accurately in providing you with what you're looking for and fast, and as they evolve they get more capable in doing so, but unfortunately they are fundamentally flawed. It is because we recognise this flaw and the fact it will never truly be overcome that the Cantufind Directory was born.

What is this Flaw?

The flaw is that search engines, no matter how powerful they are, can't really 'see' what's on a particular website, certainly not like the human eye can. Sure the search engine software is clever, it can pick up on keyword content and descriptions, they can pick up images and so on, but what they can't do is work out to any real level of certainty 'WHAT' that content really is!

We'll give you the simplest of examples and the one that actually prompted the founders of Cantufind to feel the need to create a family safe search directory. It was when we searched for 'toys' using one of the better known search engines, expecting to find children's' toys we found that mixed in with the plethora of results were toys not quite intended for children, instead being 'Adult Toys'. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you what type of site advertise adult toys, or what type of site they often link into. It was this horrifying reality that we felt simply needed to be addressed..

How do we do this?

Quite easily really, we go that extra yard when reviewing compiling our directory, unlike the plethora of directories and resources out there that claim to be family safe we actually are. We aren't so naive to think we'll ever be 100% safe, this would only really be achievable if we offered a very limited amount of information and sites, a few hundred links perhaps, but for a large internet directory offering hundreds of thousands of links to tens of thousands of subjects we are as safe as your likely to get. We have the strictest of critera in our editorial standards that makes it very difficult indeed for the ordinary user to access any undesirable material, in fact the only way that this could be achieved is if there was a concerted effort by someone to access this.

As we've said, it would be impossible to prevent access to undesirable material, even from the most innocuous of sites, however with Cantufind you'll find that what we've compiled our directory in such a fashion that it would take some doing to get anything other than clean family safe resources whatever the topic your searching for.

Maintaining a Safe Directory

This is possibly one of the hardest things to achieve, simply because of the speed at which the internet changes its contents. Very often a site reviewed one day can quite easily be a totally different subject matter the next. For example, one day you may have listed a site offering children's games, to the next day when it turns into a site offering pornographic material of the worst nature. It really is that bad.

We don't want to scaremonger on the dangers of the web, we don't need to, the facts speak for themeselves. Even the largest of search engines like Google can't keep up with these changes, so how are ordinary directories like ours expected to? Well, we've got some of the most basic of methods in place, they're called humans! We've developed a network of literally tens of thousands of likeminded people around the world who constantly browse our directory soley for the purpose of checking for any changes. Combine this factor with our software that is programmed to alert us, and our army of qualified editorial staff and we are pretty much on top of things as we stand.

We will never be complacent though and would encourage people to help us stay on top of things by being vounteer 'Monitors'. We'll very shortly be compiling a list of our volunteer monitor who all play a vital role in keeping our directory as up to date as humanly possible, you can be a part of that simply be using the Feedback form checking the relevant subject.

Can anyone be a Monitor?

Anyone can apply to become a monitor, currently we have over 16,00 volunteers worldwide from all walks of life, and with varying levels of ability. When you apply you get asked a set of questions, based on the reply to these questions and a short letter on why you want to become a monitor will be the deciding factor if your accepted. We aren't like other directories who take on volunteers without reward, we really do care about internet safety. Monitors with the Cantufind directory have an immense amount of power at their disposal, the power to make the internet safe for generations to come. We also reward our volunteers with frequent competitions and awards, to qualify for this you must be active and demonstrate the fact you are monitering the directory and not just saying you are.

A nother benefit is the fact that we're here for the duration. We're already well established as the leading family safe search directory, in a few years time we aim to be the internets leading authority on safe searching, you can be a part of that.

Keep us Family Safe regardless

We pride ourselves on being a 'Family safe directory', even if you don't wish to be a formal volunteer we still invite you to report any site you may think unsuitable to us where a dedicated team of trouble-shooters are on hand to look into this.   We have a dedicated Support system which allows you to report, amend or reccomend a link.   Be specific with your report, it will help us get the offending site down in the fastest time possible.  If we work together we can make this phenomenon called the internet a far safer place than it is.

Join the Family Safe revolution, join Cantufind.com today.

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