Tech Lockdown Alpha Released!

Ben

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Updated April 4, 2024

We've been hard at work creating an all-new Tech Lockdown platform.

With this new version, you'll gain more control over what is blocked, who it is blocked for, and when it is blocked. 

This is the dream content blocking solution I've always wanted and I'm so excited to be able to make this available to the public!

Here is a high-level view of the biggest changes:

Tech Lockdown integrates with Cloudflare

1. New DNS Filtering integration with Cloudflare. This is an incredibly powerful integration that is the foundation for the platform going forward.
2. Improved accountability features through account sharing and lockable profiles.
3. Better premium guides.

Tech Lockdown members who are part of the early access group can request access to the alpha. Learn More .

Content Policy

A Content Policy is used to define what should be allowed, blocked, or SafeSearch enforced.

Screen shot of the Content Policy with some sample rules

Here are the highlights of what you can do with the new Content Policy.

Selecting Content

Select content to apply a specific action.

In most cases, you are deciding what content to block, but you can also use an allow-list approach where you block an entire category and selectively whitelist items within a category.

Here are a few notable ways that you can match content:

Categories

There are over 200 categories to choose from, so you can get as granular as you want when selecting content to allow or block. 

Screenshot from the Rule Editor (mobile view)

Apps

Allow or block apps from a huge repository of apps.

Scoping a Rule

Once you select the content that the rule should apply to, you can scope that rule down a few ways:

By Person

Create rules that apply to everyone sharing your account:

Or apply to specific people who are sharing your account.

By schedule

Schedule when a rule should be enabled.

Learn more about the new Content Policy in our docs.

Account Sharing

Invite other people to share an account with you. Invited members can login using their own email address.

Here are a few use cases for account sharing:

1. Additional accountability. Other account admins can see Activity Logs, Content Policy change history, and other information about the account. 
2. Personalized content blocking. Content Policy rules can be assigned to users on your account, so you can block or allow content differently depending on the unique needs of a person on your account.
   
3. Personalized Bypass Prevention. Members of your account can lock their own profile to prevent making changes that would reduce restrictions, while still always being able to add to the restrictions. 
4. Better Technical Assistance. If you are struggling to configure a content policy correctly, you can invite a person to your account to assist with setting things up.
   

More in our Help Docs:

Lockable Profiles

A core component of Tech Lockdown is preventing bypass of content filtering rules. Bypass prevention is usually not a problem when you are blocking security threats or increasing your online privacy, but it is a problem when trying to break addictions associated with internet use.

Our solution to this problem is Lockable Profiles. When you lock your profile, you are prevented from performing actions that reduce restrictions, while still having access to troubleshooting features and making your Content Policy more restrictive.

When a profile is locked, certain actions are disabled. For example, you can't deselect items in a Block Rule.

Error message triggered when a locked profile attempts to de-select a category in a Block rule.

When locking your profile, you can specify the unlock methods.

Screenshot of selecting unlock methods

You can combine multiple methods together. For example, enabling Random Text and Password requires two steps to unlock the profile:

Screenshot of unlocking a profile with multiple unlock methods specified.

Learn more about profile locking in our Help Docs:

Premium Guides

Premium guides have been improved substantially. There are new guides and we've consolidated the information.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get access?

1. Become a Tech Lockdown member
2. Join the early-access group
   
3. Fill out the form emailed to you
4. We'll get in touch once your account has been granted access

What devices are supported?

iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android (Google, Samsung etc.), Windows, Mac, routers (IPv4/IPv6), Chromebook.

Can I install this on my router?

Yes, and you can use IPv4 or IPv6.

More FAQs in our Help Docs: