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Managing your Content Policy

Control and Restrict content on your Devices by creating Content Policy Rules

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Tech Lockdown Team
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Updated December 11, 2024

A Content Policy allows you to specify what should be blocked, when it should be blocked, and who it should be blocked for.

A Content Policy is a list of rules that you use to block, allow, or enforce SafeSearch and YouTube restricted modes.

Rule Actions

Each rule in your Content Policy will have an associated action.

  1. Allow: Unblock a website or app that is blocked in another rule.
  2. Block: Deny access to a website or app.
  3. SafeSearch: Search engines usually have a SafeSearch feature, which provides filtered search results. You can automatically turn on the SafeSearch feature with this action.
  4. Yt Restricted: YouTube has their own content filter, which you can enable by specifying this action.
Note
You can only block apps or websites that require an internet connection.

Rule Order

On the content policy page, you can edit the order of rules. The order is incredibly important.

In the following scenario, there is an allow rule and a block rule that both have the "Music" category selected:

  1. Allow: Music Category
  2. Block: Music Category

The music category will be allowed since the allow rule is above the block rule.

If the order were to change as follows:

  1. Block: Music Category
  2. Allow: Music Category

The music category would be blocked since the block rule is above the allow rule.

You can use this approach to exclude specific apps or websites from a block:

  1. Allow: Spotify App (in the music category)
  2. Block: Music Category

In this scenario, all music websites and apps are blocked with the exception of Spotify. This is called a default-deny approach where an entire category is blocked by default and exceptions are added.

Scoping a Rule

By default, a Content Policy rule will be enabled always, for everyone on your account, all the time.

However, you can customize the scope of a rule.

Scoping by Content

You can configure what kind of content a Rule applies to. This is true for all Rule Actions.

Configure Policy

Configure Rule Content Selection

Choose whether a rule applies to an app, website, category, and more.

Read More

Scoping by Schedule

You can set a recurring, weekly schedule for when a rule should apply. 

Configure Policy

Configure Scheduled Rules

Easily configure a schedule for your rules.

Read More

Scoping by Audience

Rules can be assigned to profiles who've joined your account.

Configure Policy

Configure Rule Audience

Choose who a rule applies to.

Read More

Change History

View past changes to a Rule on your Content Policy, including what was changed and by whom.

Configure Policy

Rule Change History

View changes to a Rule's History.

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Create Rule Presets

Get started quickly with common Rule Presets.

Configure Policy

Rule Presets

View changes to a Rule's History.

Read More

Frequently Asked Questions

Now that we’re familiar with creating a Content Policy rule, let's answer some of the most common questions.

How do I disable, delete, or turn off a Rule?

There are several ways to remove a rule from your content policy:

  1. You can delete a rule on the Content Policy, which shows a list of rules. Select the Edit button and then click the trashcan icon that appears next to the rule you want to delete.
  2. In your Content Policy, open the rule you want to turn off and toggle off the "Enable Rule" option.
  3. Specify a schedule or audience for the rule to exclude certain devices where you don't want the rule to apply.

I'm not able to remove a rule

If you aren't able to do disable, delete, or turn off a rule, there are a few things to check:

  1. Is your profile locked? When your profile is locked, some actions are disallowed, like turning off certain types of rules. You might need to unlock your profile .
  2. There might be an issue with your account. Please contact us to troubleshoot further.

How do I exclude content from being blocked?

If you create a block rule that selects multiple categories, it's possible that a website or app you want to access is blocked in the process. 

The best way to do handle this is to create an Allow rule and add it to that rule to exclude it from being blocked. This will override an overlapping block rule.

How do I block and prevent an App from being opened?

When you create a rule in your Content Policy, you can use the App selector to specify an app that you want to block.

It's important to note that blocking an app using your DNS Content Policy may not prevent you from downloading the app on to your device, but it will prevent that app from communicating with the internet, effectively disabling it. 

If you want to prevent an app from being installed in the first place or opened on your device, please see our dedicated guide for blocking apps. 

Block Apps

How To Effectively Block Apps on Smartphones

Learn about how to block apps on the different smartphones, such as iPhone and Android.

Read More

How do I filter URLs or limit parts of an App?

If you want the ability to block specific webpages as opposed to the domain (for example, block a specific YouTube channel instead of YouTube altogether), this isn't possible with a DNS Content Policy alone.

Instead, you can use URL and domain keyword filtering on your device. Please see our dedicated guide about filtering website keywords:

Block Website Keywords

How to Block Websites based on Keywords

Content Blockers allow you to block specific websites, categories, and apps. What if you want to block a website that uses a word in it's URL?

Read More

For specific apps, we have several guides related to limiting or blocking social media:

Social Media

How to Effectively Block Social Media (Updated for 2024)

Social Media apps need to be handled differently than other apps, since they are so prevalent.

Read More

I set up my content policy, but I'm still able to access blocked content

Once you create your Content Policy, you need to make sure you connect your devices. If you've connected your devices but are still able to access content that should be blocked, use our troubleshooting section to narrow down the issue.

Next Up

Customize a rule's schedule.

Configure Policy

Configure Rule Content Selection

Choose whether a rule applies to an app, website, category, and more.

Read More
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