How does Securly Filter filter image searches?

Securly takes a three-pronged approach to filter out inappropriate images.

1. Keyword Scanning: This scans category-specific keywords to filter out inappropriate words and phrases, providing safer results. Click here to learn more.)
2. SafeSearch: This enables the respective version of “SafeSearch” on Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
3. Creative Commons: This restricts image searches to Creative Commons licensed images on Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Creative Commons is a set of public copyright licenses that let creators grant others permission to use, share, and sometimes modify their work without needing to request direct approval. Because these images typically come from reputable sources and are intended for public sharing, applying this filter can reduce the likelihood of encountering potentially inappropriate results.

How to restrict image searches to SafeSearch and/or Creative Commons

1. Log in to Securly Filter.
2. Click Policy Editor in the navigation menu and select the policy you wish to edit.
3. Turn on the "Lock SafeSearch modes" or "Restrict image search to Creative Commons" settings.

We recommend that you turn on "Lock Safesearch modes" and not restrict to Creative Commons for high schoolers and other older users, as Creative Commons results can be prohibitively locked down for them. Restricting image searches to Creative Commons is best suited for younger students.

User Experience

For image searches where the user searches for an explicitly inappropriate keyword, no images will be displayed.

For more ambiguous terms, Safesearch mode will ensure that the user is displayed only safe results.