

The Circle with Disney app ( free at the iTunes app store) is the interface through which access to the Internet is granted or denied. If ever there was a more apropos use of this beat-to-death reference to The Lord of the Rings, we’ve yet to see it. Once Circle is connected, it has complete reign over anything connected to your Internet connection, and that’s when you can start establishing some rules - or, you know, at least some guidelines. This can be done by either connecting it to a router with an Ethernet cable, or by connecting wirelessly. You simply add Circle to your Internet connection by giving it access to your router. How Circle worksĬircle with Disney is not a router, so you don’t have to replace any equipment to use it. Only you control the sheriff, and you do it with a dead-simple mobile app. If the Internet is the wild, wild, West, then Circle is the new sheriff in town. It can block ads, pause and restart the Internet at the touch of a button, and let its user(s) access historical data about what kind of content devices have accessed, and when. On the outside, Circle is an unassuming, Apple-white box with a face reminiscent of the iconic iPod. But inside, Circle is an Internet gatekeeper with the brains to control which devices can connect to the Internet, when they can connect, which apps and websites can be used, and how long those apps or websites can be used. Now, the device is called Circle with Disney. It’s a great idea - so great, in fact, that when Disney caught wind of it, the famously family-friendly company wanted to partner up. That’s why Jelani Memory, Lance Charlish and Tiebing Zhang created Circle, a little white box that gives a family control of their home’s Internet connection, and the content that flows through it, for any device. They live on individual phones, tablets and computers, and only affect that one device. Indeed, today’s Internet control and monitoring solutions are largely ineffective.

And that’s just one device what about all the other Internet-connected stuff in the home? Ever try setting up parental controls on a smartphone or tablet? It’s an exercise in frustration and futility, because even if you do wade through the right menus and manage to place content and access restrictions on a device, chances are your tech-savvy kid will have a work-around figured out in a matter of minutes. The NSA may make it look easy, but any parent knows monitoring your kids online time is practically impossible.
