Parental Controls Automation (have you done your chores?)

[h0me5k1n]

Just throwing this out there as an idea right now...

I’d like to be able to control internet access or maybe access to YouTube, NetFlix, etc. for specific devices based on whether the kids have done their chores. This would need to depend on a service which tracks tasks with due dates (like Trello maybe) and automation on the router that checks whether they’re due and have been completed... with knowledge of which task owner relates to specific MAC addresses or IPs in order to apply a block until it’s done. Basically a chore will be a trackable task and Internet access will be restricted from the time it becomes overdue until it's completed

Thoughts? Not interested in the ethics of this... just whether there is interest in this kind of capability!

 

[h0me5k1n]

I started anyway ... I looked at self hosting a task management web app but decided to use "remember the milk" (RTM) in the end as I used to use it a few years ago, they have the features I want along with android and iOS apps and they have a well documented api!

I now have a script that will tell me when RTM tasks are overdue along with who is assigned (participants) and the "tags" associated with the task - as tasks are not "assigned" until accepted so I'm probably going to use "tags" to identify "owners".

Next I'll map tags/assignees to mac addresses and investigate the wrs_rulelist and wrs_app_rulelist nvram variables used by the web apps and filtering in AI Protection... I'm planning on using this to apply blocks to devices rather than firewall rules as it means I don't have to look up ip addresses from the mac addresses (which might not be connected at the time of the blocks!).

 

[L&LD]

Glad you're not my dad!

But honestly, I wouldn't be who I am if I weren't made to do things because it was the right thing to do, rather than because I was forced/threatened in one way or another.

Being taught to do 'good' by a human being that does the same is superior to being automatically punished by a router + script when 'bad'.

 

[h0me5k1n]

Being taught to do 'good' by a human being that does the same is superior to being automatically punished by a router + script when 'bad'.

I'm not seeing this as a punishment My teenagers access to internet based services is one of the main distractions from their chores... they use apps for most things - shopping, entertainment and social interaction (especially during covid) and having a "chore chart" in the kitchen clearly hasn't worked so this is me trying something new. This quote springs to mind - "If You Always Do What You’ve Always Done, You’ll Always Get What You’ve Always Got"!

The script is complete but not yet tested on a router directly (only on a laptop)! The logic handling works to apply and remove blocks and only makes changes to nvram variables when there is a change in state required. Looking to transfer it over soon and test for a couple of weeks against my own devices.

 

[L&LD]

@h0me5k1n, thank you for taking my comments in the right way. I'll be looking forward to the write-up of your working script. I'm sure it will help many modern parents today!

 

[h0me5k1n]

Going live this week at home ! Scripts not published yet still though.

I have made some core changes to my approach... I've made it modular and either rememberthemilk or quire can be used. Other task management tools can be added by simply adding a new sh script which does the auth and the pulling of open tasks into a file.

 

[h0me5k1n]

Technically, this is working flawlessly! I need to do some more work to clean up the initial authentication scripting (api keys) but, once up and running, there is nothing to do (except make sure your chores are done and marked complete ).

It didn't go down well though initially when this gets published, it will be for educational purposes only!

 

[L&LD]

Looking forward to this. Maybe ask @thelonelycoder the requirements to include it in amtm too, the audience you gain will be very pleased!

 

[webdriver]

Capable kids will find out how to dodge the checking ... if that happen you'll be happy!