The following examples are from SmartFilter , a censorware program made by Secure Computing. This program is used just because I had some work available from prior investigations. But the issues are general to all censorware, not any particular program.
Some health-related sites banned as
"Sex"
by SmartFilter, December 11 2002:
[My comments, as to potential reasons, in brackets, emphasis mine]
http://www.acdaoralhealth.org/
"Alliance of the American Dental Association" -
"Foundation for Dental Health"
[Uh-Oh - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TO: "Oral Health America"]
http://www.activehealthcare.com/
"ActiveHealthcare.com is your source for dependable Medical Supplies
and Equipment and quality Home Health Care Information."
[" ... Handicap scooter, Medela breast pumps, Electric breast pump,
Breast pumps, Support stockings," - guess which
keyword was the problem?]
http://www.eyeshealth.com/
"Our Aim is to actively promote eye care knowledge to the public,
encourage healthy eyes and prevent blindness"
[A site with both foreign and English versions - maybe the
foreign language triggers the censorware somehow]
http://www.healthcare-nrw.org/
"Health Care NRW, a federal state initiative, brings together North
Rhine-Westphalia's pharmaceutical companies, research facilities,
scientists and academics, service providers"
[I have no idea what was the problem here]
http://www.pwhealth.com/
"Professionals for Women's Health"
[Let's see - keywords
" ... Professionals for Women's Health, women's health, women, ...". Probably
to many "women" too close together]
http://www.womenshealthnp.org/
"Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner Program"
[Hmm, "Adult/Family NP" - "The Adult Primary Care Nurse Practitioner" ...
maybe too much "adult" content]
Verification screen shot 1
Verification screen shot 2
[Note - this material is not associated with or endorsed by, the Kaiser Family Foundation study See No Evil: How Internet Filters Affect the Search for Online Health Information . Merely inspired by it. ]
Update: They were finally all changed from "Sex" around January 7, 2003
(if you subscribed a few months ago, please resubscribe due to a crash)
See more of Seth Finkelstein 's Censorware Investigations