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Browser Restrictions

Guardian allows you to enforce browser-level safety policies directly on your child's web browsers. By using OS-level policy enforcement, these restrictions apply system-wide, preventing children from bypassing them or turning them off.

Currently, browser restrictions are supported on Linux client devices.

Supported Browsers

Guardian applies browser restrictions to the following web browsers on Linux: - Google Chrome - Chromium - Brave Browser

Available Restrictions

You can configure the following safety settings in the parent dashboard under the child's profile settings:

1. Disable Incognito Mode

  • What it does: Disables the browser's "Incognito" (private browsing) window option.
  • Why use it: Ensures all web traffic, history, and active usage are visible to filtering and monitoring. The option to open an Incognito window is greyed out/unavailable in the browser menu.

2. Enforce Google SafeSearch

  • What it does: Forces Google Search to filter out explicit content (such as pornography and graphic violence) from search results.
  • Why use it: Provides an extra layer of search filtering directly at the search engine level. This setting cannot be toggled off by the user within Google's settings page.

3. YouTube Restricted Mode

  • What it does: Restricts mature or potentially inappropriate video content on YouTube.
  • Available Levels:
    • Off: No YouTube content restrictions.
    • Moderate: Filters out many mature videos while keeping most content accessible.
    • Strict (Recommended): Maximizes filtering of mature, violent, or age-restricted content.
  • Why use it: Helps keep the YouTube feed age-appropriate without blocking the website entirely.

4. Block Other Extensions

  • What it does: Blocks your child from installing any third-party browser extensions, except for the Guardian monitor extension.
  • Allowed Extension IDs: You can specify additional, trusted extension IDs (comma or space separated) if your child needs them for school or utility purposes (e.g., Google Translate or password managers).
  • Why use it: Prevents children from installing unauthorized VPN extensions, proxies, or ad blockers designed to bypass parental controls.

5. Disable Browser-Native Generative AI

  • What it does: Blocks native AI features built directly into modern browsers.
  • Affected Features: Disables features like foundational model settings, "Help Me Write" text generation, AI history search, AI tab organization, and AI theme creators.
  • Why use it: Keeps the browsing experience focused and prevents unchecked interaction with browser-level Generative AI models.

Technical Details

Browser restrictions are pushed to the client device using Chrome Enterprise Policies.

  1. When you save restrictions in the Web UI, the server prepares a secure policy payload.
  2. The local Guardian agent retrieves the payload and writes it directly to the system-managed policy directories:
  3. /etc/opt/chrome/policies/managed/timekpr_youtube.json
  4. /etc/chromium/policies/managed/timekpr_youtube.json
  5. /etc/brave/policies/managed/timekpr_youtube.json
  6. Because these files are managed by the root system administrator, they take precedence over user settings and cannot be deleted or modified by a standard user account.