building safe search engine for kids ?

Question

my project this year : build safe search engine for kids

so i need some info about :

1- where to find some studies , papers about this topic ?

2- how to make use of open source tools ?

3- what the technologies that i need to learn for my project ?

and some advices please

thanks .

update : safe mean that when kids search for any thing they dont see results about (pornography)

Answer 1

Your solution will be a generalization of spam filters for email.

You can either write a rule-based solution or one that learns as it goes (e.g. Bayesian filters).

Defining what's "safe" and what's not will be the real trick. It's subtle. Obviously no child should be exposed to pornography. How will your filter know it? From the URL? The content? Headers? What about violent images? Do you consider reading about evolution or creationism "unsafe"? How will your filter figure those out?

I don't know if it can be done. Or if it's worth it. We're all unsafe while we're here. Best to learn how to navigate the shoals.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Your questions are split into two categories, functional and technical.
You need to address the functional questions first before you can consider the technical ones.

You have a broad goal, but you need to be much more specific. Some related questions:

1. What age groups are you focusing on? Should the 'safe' content change accordingly?
2. What country are you aiming at? Different laws apply to each.
3. How do you ensure the content is safe for the group?
4. How do you determine who is using the search engine, and thus which rules to apply?

Then the technical ones:

1. How do you index content?
2. How do you filter content? etc.

Plan it first, start small, and break work into the smallest phases you can.