TOS review: PG Key SafeKey

PGKey SafeKey is a flash drive you plug into your computer to assist you in keeping your kids safe on the internet.  From the back of the box it came in:

SafeKey is a patent pending, award winning device that simply plugs into your children's computer's USB port and immediately creates a safer and more "kid friendly" online environment.

PG Key SafeKey is simple to use.  Plug it into a USB port, install the program, and register it online.  Once it's installed you need to take a quick minute to register the PGKey to access all its features. It was very simple.


When you initially set up the SafeKey, you choose which users are set up for the SafeKey program.  For example, we have two users on our computer.  One is titled kids and the other is my husband's name.  When the kids want to use the computer, they sign in on the kids account which requires the SafeKey to be connected to the computer.  If they remove the SafeKey from the flash drive, a pop up states that you need to either connect the SafeKey again or change users. When my husband or I use the computer, we sign in with his name and a password that the kids don't know.

Here are the features advertised on the box and how they worked for our family.

SafeKey Time Lock

This feature allows you to set a time limit for the PG key user.  This feature worked just fine for us. I set the time limit to 90 minutes and each time the kids account has been used for 90 minutes a pop up appears on the screen not allowing the kids to do anything.  It didn't mess up what they were doing on the computer.  If I wanted to let them stay on the computer longer, I just typed in the password (which of course they don't know) and they could continue what they were doing.

SafeKey Safe Search

PG Key sets up your home page on your internet browser to the PG Key Safe Search.  From the box:

The PG Key Safe Search home page and toolbar help ensure that innocent searches don't result in unwanted images and content.

We have never used any parental controls on our computer.  The main reason I have even wanted parental controls is because I would like my children to be able to search what we are studying.  Until we started using this program, I did the searching and then they used the pages I found to read through and look at.
I think the key here is in the wording:  "help ensure that innocent searches don't result in unwanted images and content."  (emphasis mine.)  Of course, I decided to start searching a word that I would not consider innocent at all--sex. I got 30 pages of websites. Many of the websites were state sex registries. (In comparison, I typed sex into google and got over 500 million websites-a huge difference.)  There were some sites that were not at all what I would want my children to see but only one of the sites I randomly checked contained a completely inappropriate picture. Now, realize that I did not click on each of the 30 pages of websites, I tested only a few and with searching a word like sex, I am not surprised that some inappropriate content got through. Also, there were a few sites I clicked on that were blocked by the SafeKey. I received a message that PGKey blocked it.


Next, I allowed the kids to do some searching on their own while I was in the room with them.  They searched Legos, wolves, coyotes (my daughter loves animals-especially any type of dog), the military and watermelons among other things.  Everything they searched turned up fine.  There wasn't anything in what they looked at that would be objectionable.  However, I went and searched watermelon later and did end up with one website that I would not want my children to read--it was a science website.  The subject matter was inappropriate, but the pictures were fine.

Precise Prince has used the search feature several times now and there were a few times that he would click on a website and PG Key would not allow him to view it.  I was able to watch a recording of what he searched and see that nothing inappropriate showed up in his searches.  (You'll read about the recording a few paragraphs down.)

It's important to mention here that you can choose to block any websites you want with the parental controls.  The example given in the instructions was facebook-so if I don't want them to be able to access facebook, I simply type facebook.com into the blocked websites section and PGKey will block it if the kids try to access it.  I tried this feature with several websites and it worked just fine for me.

 Another option is to set up the internet access on the PGKey account so that only websites you choose would work.  For example, I could have it so the only websites my kids' could access were http://www.pgsafekey.com/ and http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/.  If they typed in any other websites, PGKey would block them.  This is a great feature for younger kids who are still learning to navigate the computer.  You don't have to worry about them accidentally clicking something.

SafeKey Alerts

From the box: 

PG Key will send you an e-mail or text message when words or phrases you choose are used, or when your child or teen doesn't follow the rules you set.

I tested this out by choosing to be notified any time the word sex is typed.  I have received several notifications in my email while typing out this blog post. 

SafeKey Session Recorder

SafeKey takes a picture of the computer screen every 5 seconds (unless the screen has not changed at all). You can also change the setting to take a picture at longer intervals. You can then go in and watch the recording.  It also records the text being typed. 

PGKey recorded what I was doing and I was able to watch it just like a DVD.   It also recorded my text-including all the passwords I typed in, except the one used for the PGKey SafeKey.  As a parent, I don't have a problem with this-I know my kids passwords for anything on the computer-but I would want to be sure that I erase the log regularly.

I also looked at the recording after my son and daughter did their own searches.  I was able to see that they were doing what they were supposed to be doing and that the SafeKey did block a few sites when my son was searching information on the military. 

In order to watch and erase the recordings, you need to have your password so your children can't access this feature.

SafeKey Encryptor

Basically this ensures that your kids can't figure out your password by using the computer.  There was really no way for me to test this so I'm just going to believe them.  :-)

Overall, my experience was good with PG SafeKey.  I did need to call customer service once.  I had to uninstall and re-install PGKey twice because I was unable to search.  The third time I couldn't search, I called customer service.  The support person was very friendly and helpful.  He walked me through a few steps and we discovered that the reason I couldn't search was because the PGKey search is powered by google and I had put google on my list of blocked websites.  I unblocked google and after a few minutes, my problem was solved. (I had been playing around with blocking different sites and had blocked and unblocked google a few times, never making the connection myself.)

I personally like the PGKey SafeKey and I would recommend it to others but I do think it's important to remember that no program replaces the responsibility of a parent.  I appreciate that the back of the quick start guide also states this.

PGKey is a one time purchase for continued protection.  You do not pay monthly or yearly fees for this product.  You can go here and purchase PGKey for $49.99.

To see what my fellow crewmates had to say about the PGKey SafeKey go here.

(I was given a PGKey SafeKey for free in exchange for my honest review.  No other compensation was received.)