The PGKey SafeKey: A Review

As a mom with not one, but THREE teenagers under her roof that love to be online, yet are oblivious to the dangers lurking in the virtual world, I was thrilled when I was given the opportunity to review the PG Key SafeKey.

The PG Key is a plug in device that has been created to monitor your child’s online activity and designed by a team of experts to assist parents in creating a “kid safe” online environment. 

This tool is not designed to take the place of the parent but to allow parent’s a way to monitor their child’s online behavior, whether that would be making sure that they stay on track with their assigned tasks for school or maintain appropriate conduct when chatting with their friends on Facebook.     

The Benefits of the PG Key:

• At $49.99 and no annual fee, the PG Key is an affordable product for many families.
• The PG Key is easy to install;  just plug the key in the USB port and begin using. Most consumers will be able to effortlessly load their product within minutes and begin gleaning the benefits of an Internet safety device.
• The PG Key was created by a team of experts that include an impressive list of law enforcement educators, Internet security experts, child and family psychologists and parents just like you and me.
• The PG Key boasts incredible features that I’ve not discovered elsewhere, like the ability to record 60 hours of online activity and ‘watch’ it later which includes social networking sites, emails and both sides of a chat which my kids call the ‘spy feature’.  
• A recurring problem in our house is the excessive use of the computer. With the PG Key, I am able to set time limits monitoring when the computer is able to be used and for how long.   
• The PG Key is not simply disabled by ‘unplugging’ the key. If the key is removed, the computer will be inaccessible and will require a password to continue.

You can learn more about the benefits of the PG Key by watching this short video clip. 

A couple things you should know:

• Though the PG Key is great at monitoring activity,and you are able to list words and phrases that you deem inappropriate, this product DOES NOT block access to those sites. I have mixed feelings about this. For my family, I believe the fact that my husband and I are able to closely monitor all online activity will deter most inappropriate conduct. However, as an adult that has once or twice stumbled upon pornographic material (searching Girl Scouts, of all things) it would be nice to know that some junk just wouldn’t be a temptation.
• I was unable to set control parameters for individual users, meaning the settings were the same for every user on the computer.
• My children complained that their computer operated slower than it  had prior to installation of the PG Key.
• The product I received to review broke rather quickly which concerns me as to its durability. It would probably be best to use the PG Key on a desktop computer or a laptop that is primarily stationed in one particular location. Carrying a laptop from place to place and bumping the PG Key around doesn’t seem to be a good combination.  However, I was able to call customer service and was extremely pleased with the service department and received a replacement within days.

The benefits of this program clearly outweigh the concerns that I have and my family will gladly continue to use and evaluate this product. I’m excited to share with you that for a limited time, the manufacturer is allowing you to try the PG Key at no charge with a free trial to determine if this gadget will be a good fit for your family.

If you want to skip the trial and get started right away, The PG Key can be purchased through their website for $49.99 plus shipping or at Amazon.com.

As part of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I received this product to review free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. You can stop by the Crew blog to read what other Crew Members had to say about this same product.