Deledao ActiveScan, presented by Hāpara: Rules and filtering Follow
In this article:
- Overview
- Rule hierarchy
- Creating rules
- Policy selections
- Add URL to blocked and allowed list
- Select blocked or allowed YouTube categories
- Policy templates
- Student access to allowed sites only
Overview
Deledao ActiveScan, presented by Hāpara uses a policy manager to create rules. These rules determine the web content each person with the web filter extension is permitted to access.
The default rule will apply to everyone with the extension, but there are times you may need to have more granular oversight of the sites that are filtered, whether that be blocked or allowed sites. This can also be determined by location, time of day, Google organizational unit or Google user account.
Rule hierarchy
- The default rule is the rule that will be duplicated whenever a new rule is created.
- The default rule is also the rule that will be applied when all other rules fail to be applied.
- The rule that is listed at the top of the All Rules section is the rule that will be applied first. If the first rule fails, the next applicable rule in the list will be applied. When all rules fail to apply, the default rule will take effect.
- To change the rule order, click on a rule and select the toggle/move arrow icon that will appear on the right side of the selected rule. The default rule's location cannot be toggled and will always be the last rule listed.
- If a rule is disabled, then the next rule (from the top of the list) that can match the OUs associated with the disabled one will be used.
Creating rules
The web filter allows administrators to create a rule that applies to the parent organizational units where all sub-OUs get the same rule automatically.
- To create a rule go to your Admin Console > Policy Manager.
- Click + Add New Rule to create a new rule. This action copies the default rule as a starting point for the new rule you are creating.
- Scroll up to the top and enter a rule name. Choose your conditions for that rule. The rule can be applied based on location, organizational unit, user, IP range or time.
Policy selections
- Next, choose the policies to apply to that rule.
In the policies section of the rule, admin users can choose safety settings, add search keywords to be allowed or blocked, black out foul words, set the sensitivity of real-time analysis, and block selected webpage categories. The policies will tell the AI technology how to filter the browser session.
By default, ads will be blocked for all users with the web filter extension, unless you would like to allow ads for certain sites.
In those cases, you can add the URL to the Allow ads for these sites (e.g. for compatibility) box.
When Block third-party tracking is enabled, as in the image below, a list of “Allow third-party cookies for these sites (e.g. for compatibility)” shows, where certain sites can be allowed as exceptions.
Next, make your choices for blocking third-party tracking and Google search tracking. Under Content safety, you will see YouTube, Google, Yahoo, and Bing safe mode.
If you have these settings enabled in your Google Admin Console, turn them off here.
Having it turned on in both your Google Admin Console and the web filter admin console will cause a conflict. This will result in a constant redirect and asking for CAPTCHA verification.
Refer to Deledao ActiveScan, presented by Hāpara troubleshooting: Google search redirect or asking for Captcha verification in those situations.
YouTube settings can be selected to use YouTube restricted mode, to Remove YouTube suggestions and to Block YouTube shorts. When Block YouTube shorts is selected, all YouTube shorts videos will be blocked, including those that are added to the allowed list.
When YouTube restricted mode is turned on, Moderate or Strict option is available:
Moderate Mode:
- Blocks age-restricted adult content
- Blocks videos with mature metadata flags from YouTube community
- Allows video previews/thumbnails
- Allows comments on videos
- Allows live streams
- Allows annotations, cards
- Filters search suggestions but allows some non-age-restricted results
Strict Mode:
- Blocks any age-restricted content (set as 18+ by uploader)
- Blocks videos flagged as containing mature content by YouTube community
- Disables video previews/thumbnails that could contain mature imagery
- Disables comments on videos to avoid mature language
- Blocks all live streams (as they can't be pre-screened)
- Blocks annotations, cards that could link to mature content
- Heavily filters and limits search suggestions
- Blocks videos even if not age-restricted if deemed potentially mature
If there are certain keywords you would like to block from being searched, enter them in the Blocked Search Keywords section of the policies.
If there are certain keyword searches you would like to allow, enter them in the Allowed Search Keywords section.
Note: Fuzzy match is NOT used for allowed keywords. If a word is placed in quotes, only exact searches are allowed. Otherwise, searches containing those words are allowed. For example, "drugs" would allow "drugs" search only, while drugs would allow "buy drugs."
Additionally, if there are certain words you would like to cover with a solid black bar on webpages, enable Black out foul words on webpages and enter those words in the box below.
You can also click Add default list to use a list of words we have provided for you.
Note: This feature does not apply to a Google file (such as a Doc, Sheet, Slide) as Google does not allow the contents of a file to be altered.
The example above shows a student's Google search for song lyrics. These "foul words" are covered by a black bar with the web filter.
There is a distinction between the blocked keyword list and the foul language list.
Blocked list keywords result in searches containing these words being blocked outright.
Words on the foul language list will be blacked out and all other content will be visible.
Artificial intelligence allows the web filter to analyze text, images and video in real time. In the Real-Time Analysis section, a medium level is the default setting. The sensitivity can be adjusted according to the needs of your specific school community.
When Restrictive mode is enabled, images will all be blurred when a webpage loads, and the blur will be removed for each appropriate image after analysis is done.
When Restrictive mode is enabled, a switch to Modesty mode will appear. Enabling this will ensure images with immodest clothing will be blurred.
Check the Filter Categories that your school needs to filter. If a category is not selected, then that category will not be filtered.
Add URLs to blocked and allowed lists
The blocked and allowed lists offer greater flexibility in adding exceptions to your policy. In addition to host and domain names, URLs are also accepted. Below are some examples:
- The wildcard * is usually not necessary as we automatically match the webpages hosted under the hostname or URL. For instance, "www.example.com" would match every webpage on www.example.com. However, it won't match videos.example.com.
- "example.com" would match every webpage in the example.com domain, including www.example.com and videos.example.com.
- "example.com/foo" would match every sub-webpage of example.com/foo (e.g. example.com/foo/bar), including itself.
- "*" can be used in hostnames. Each * would match exactly a component in the hostname between the dots. For instance, "*.example.com" would match foo.example.com, but not foo.bar.example.com.
- If a minus sign ("-") precedes a URL in the allowed list, automatic AI analysis will always be disabled. For example, if "-youtube.com" is added to the allowed list, text, image, and video AI analysis will be disabled for the entire youtube.com.
- When using the "+" hidden feature, AI will still be enabled on sites in allowed lists that don't belong to those categories. For example, "+wikipedia.com" would still enable AI analysis on wikipedia.com.
Select blocked or allowed YouTube categories
While you can block the entire Streaming media and download category, which would include YouTube, you can additionally choose to allow or block specific YouTube categories.
This flexibility will allow for a customization of YouTube that can be modified per rule.
Simply check the box next to the YouTube category you would like to allow or block.
For example, to allow all streaming media sites except YouTube, but allow any YouTube videos that fall under the YouTube category of Education, set the following:
- Uncheck filter category of Streaming Media and Download
- Add youtube.com to the Blocked List
- Check Education in the Allowed YouTube Categories
Once you have made your rule choices, click Save at the bottom or upper right corner of the screen on the upper right-hand side to apply any changes made to a rule.
Policy templates
- Templates can be added to rules for special occasions when a user needs to allow or block certain categories or URLs. With the Policy template enabled the policy will override the rule.
- When creating a template, you can choose the categories to be filtered and add URLs to the blocked or allowed list.
- Allowed list in rule can override blocked list of policy template if that option is enabled.
Student access to allowed sites only
The online world can be overwhelming and at times students may need assistance managing their access to the Internet. Creating a rule that blocks all websites except for those necessary for learning creates a safe space for students and may be something that your school finds beneficial in certain situations.
- To create this rule go to your Admin Console > Policy Manager.
- Click + Add New Rule to create a new rule. This action copies the default rule as a starting point for the new rule you are creating.
- Scroll up to the top and enter a rule name. Save this new rule. Click Save to confirm that this new rule will apply to everyone. In the next step, it will be disabled to keep it from applying to anyone until it is fully configured.
- This new rule will now appear at the top of your All Rules section on the left, where it will stay. Having it at the top ensures that it applies first to any students or Organizational Units that could be included in other rules. Click the check mark to the right of your rule name to turn it off until you are ready for it to apply.
- Scroll down to Blocked List, and type an asterisk (*) into the Enter new URL box. > Click Add. This will block all websites until specific sites are added to the Allowed List below. Verify that your new rule is selected and click Block.
- Continue to scroll down to Allowed List. Enter URLs for all websites that students are required to use for any classes they attend. These sites will be the only sites that students or OUs tied to this rule can access.
- Save your rule.
- When you are ready to choose the student(s) or Organizational Units that should apply to this rule, go to your conditions for the rule. > Save the rule.
- When the rule has been entirely configured, click on the red X to enable the rule. It will apply to all student(s) or Organizational Units that it applies to. This rule will now apply first to the student(s) or OUs, even if they are also listed in another rule below it.
If the student(s) added to this rule should remain in this rule for only a limited amount of time, check the box next to This is a penalty box rule.
Click the pencil to the right of the student's name to set the amount of time the student should remain in that rule.
Type the number of Days or Hours the student will stay in the rule and click the OK button to the right of the student's name and email. Click OK after this has been filled in for each student listed.
The number of days or hours remaining for the policy rule will show in the Users section.