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General

What is Canopy and how does it work?

Canopy is the only parental control app that detects and blocks inappropriate content (like pornography) in milliseconds before it reaches your child’s screen. With Canopy, parents can rest easy knowing their children are safe, no matter where their digital adventures take them.

Canopy uses advanced computing technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, to recognize and filter out inappropriate content on the web and many popular apps. In addition to our Smart Filter, which detects and blocks inappropriate images and videos, Canopy has other features you can’t get anywhere else, such as Sexting Alerts (which help detect and prevent inappropriate photos sharking, also known as “sexting“) and Removal Prevention (which ensures Canopy can’t be deleted or disabled without parental permission).

For more information on Canopy’s specific capabilities, such as our Smart Filter and Sexting Alerts features, please scroll down or visit the Technology section of our website.

How is Canopy unique?

Canopy is the only digital parenting app that stands directly between inappropriate content and your family. Because Canopy scans every image and video your child encounters in real time, it can stop exposure to explicit content almost everywhere while still allowing your child to freely explore the safe parts of the internet. If you choose, Canopy can even block suggestive content, like revealing swimsuit photos. With Canopy, you get all the good of the digital world without the bad.

In addition to the Smart Filter, Canopy offers other features you can’t get anywhere else, including:

  • Sexting Prevention (for Android devices) and Sexting Alerts (for iPhone and iPad), which monitor and detect sexting and notify you immediately if your child is at risk of sharing inappropriate photos

  • Removal Prevention (for all supported devices) to make sure your child is always protected and can’t tamper with Canopy

Over 100,000 families around the world already trust our technology to enable them to experience the digital world without the risk. But Canopy doesn’t just protect your kids – it also encourages responsible habits, facilitates transparency and trust, and creates opportunities for important conversations. We hope Canopy will help you and your family build trust, learn valuable lessons together, and develop healthy habits to last a lifetime.

How much does Canopy cost? Can I try it for free?

When you sign up for Canopy, you’ll automatically get a 7-day free trial. You can cancel free of charge any time before the end of your trial period. After that, depending on which plan you picked when you signed up, Canopy costs:

  • $9.99 per month to protect up to three devices

  • $11.99 per month to protect up to five devices

  • $15.99 per month to protect up to ten devices

  • $107.99 per year under our Buy & Save Annual Plan to protect up to five devices

Every subscription includes access to all of our great features. We also offer a 7-day money-back guarantee – if you don’t love Canopy, just let us know up to seven days after you created your account for a full refund. 

Please note that if you wish to cancel your subscription, you must do so within the app, from your Canopy web dashboard, or through the app store where you originally subscribed to Canopy. Deleting the app will not cancel your subscription.

How do I get started with Canopy?

It’s easy! You can create your account on the Canopy website. Once you do, we’ll lead you through the process of setting up Canopy for your family.

What kinds of devices does Canopy work with?

Canopy can be installed on a variety of devices, including:

  • Android devices (smartphones and tablets) running Android 5.0 or higher

  • iPhones and iPads running iOS 12 or higher

  • Apple computers running a recent version of MacOS

  • Any computer running a recent version of Windows OS
  • Chromebooks running Chrome OS.

You can use any combination of devices with Canopy as long as they both meet those specifications. For example, if you have an iPhone but your child has an Android device, that’s totally fine!

Does Canopy have two different apps?

Yes, Canopy for Parents and Canopy Kids. While they might seem similar at first, they serve different purposes. If you’re new to Canopy, you should start by creating your account and installing Canopy Kids on your child’s devices. Only Canopy Kids includes Canopy’s Smart Filter technology. 

Canopy for Parents allows you to monitor your family, receive notifications, and remotely customize your child’s settings. It should only be installed on your personal device – one your kids don’t use or have access to. You can download Canopy for Parents from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. You can also manage your family’s Canopy devices from the web dashboard, which has all of the same features as the Canopy for Parents app.


Canopy Kids should only be installed on your child’s device(s). Canopy will guide you through the process of installing Canopy Kids when you first set up your account.

How should I talk to my child about Canopy?

While you know your child best, we recommend using Canopy as an opportunity to start an open, ongoing conversation about the role of technology in their life. 

 

Encouraging healthy dialogue between parents and children is a key part of Canopy’s mission. That’s why Canopy allows children to make requests and parents to respond, all from within the app. It’s also why we designed Canopy to be clearly visible on your child’s device, just like any other app. We believe design decisions like these help foster trust and open communication.

How does Canopy protect my family’s data and privacy?

Earning the trust of Canopy families is central to our mission. We’re very serious about protecting your family’s data and privacy.

 

With that in mind, we collect no more data than we need to provide you with a superior product. We will never sell your data, and will always keep it safe with world-class security. In addition, we will never keep your data longer than is necessary to offer you an excellent experience. If you would like your family’s data deleted at any time, please contact us.

 

For more information on our privacy and security practices, please see our Privacy Policy.

Features

What can Canopy do?

Canopy provides several powerful tools for protecting your family that aren’t available anywhere else.


SMART FILTER 

Canopy’s Smart Filter uses artificial intelligence to understand digital content in context, no matter where on the internet it appears or when it was created. It even works with many popular apps. If necessary, Canopy blocks inappropriate images and videos in milliseconds, before your child sees them, and replaces them with harmless white rectangles. The Smart Filter seamlessly filters out pornographic content while allowing unfettered access to safe, age-appropriate content. Optionally, parents can set canopy to also block suggestive content that includes partial nudity, like swimsuit photos. 


SEXTING PREVENTION (ANDROID) AND SEXTING ALERTS (iPHONE AND iPAD)
Canopy’s Sexting Prevention (for Android devices) and Sexting Alerts (for iPhone and iPad) features help you make sure your child is using their device responsibly and developing healthy digital habits. They use artificial intelligence to detect inappropriate images taken by your child’s device camera or downloaded to their device.

Sexting Prevention (for Android devices) stops sexting and encourages kids to make smart choices. It is currently available only on Canopy for Android devices. Here’s how it works:

  1. Canopy automatically monitors photos taken on or downloaded to your child’s device.

  2. If it detects a risky photo, Canopy immediately prevents your child from accessing or sharing it until it is deleted or reviewed by you, the parent.

  3. Canopy gives your child the option to keep or delete the photo. If they choose to keep it, the photo will be sent to you for review.

  4. You review the photo from your personal device and decide whether to allow it or delete it. If you delete it, Canopy will remotely delete the photo from your child’s device.

When Canopy notices an image that might be harmful, it will give your child the opportunity to delete the image. If they choose to keep it, Canopy will notify you and let you review it. You’ll then have the option to remotely delete the image from your child’s device.


Sexting Alerts
(for iPhone and iPad) deters sexting and encourages kids to make smart choices. Sexting Alerts is available on Canopy for iOS devices. Here’s how it works:

  1. Canopy automatically monitors photos that are saved to the Camera Roll of your child’s device. This includes all photos downloaded to the device and most photos taken with their device’s camera.

  2. If it detects an inappropriate photo, Canopy gives your child the option to keep it or delete it. If they choose to keep it, the photo will be sent to you for review.

  3. You review the photo from your personal device and decide whether to allow it or delete it. If you delete it, Canopy will remotely delete the photo from your child’s device.

Both Sexting Prevention and Sexting Alerts give you two levels of protection to choose from:

  1. Standard, which detects full nudity

  2. Strict, which detects full and partial nudity (such as underwear and revealing swimwear)

By default, Sexting Prevention and Sexting Alerts are set to Standard. They can be changed in your Canopy settings.

Both Sexting Prevention and Sexting Alerts are intended to act as a deterrent, encouraging kids not to take risky photos in the first place. For this reason, we recommend having a conversation with your child about how they work when you first download Canopy.

Please note that Sexting Prevention and Sexting Alerts do not currently monitor videos taken on your child’s device.


REMOVAL PREVENTION

Removal Prevention and Removal Alerts (available on all compatible devices) give you confidence your child is always protected by Canopy. When these features are enabled, your child will not be able to disable or remove Canopy without your knowledge.


Removal Prevention completely prevents your child from deleting or disabling Canopy, changing important device settings, or resetting their device. You can enable Removal Prevention during installation or in your Canopy settings.


Removal Alerts will notify you any time your child attempts to disable or remove Canopy. This feature is automatically turned on. 


CUSTOM APP & WEBSITE BLOCKING 
Canopy tells you about every app on your child’s device and lets you decide which ones they can use. With App Management, you can easily prevent access to individual apps or games while still letting your child access their device’s productive features. Canopy also makes it easy to unblock apps in just a few clicks. This feature is available on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

Canopy also allows parents to easily block any website that isn’t already blocked by the Smart Filter. It also includes many pre-built lists of apps and websites, so that parents can block entire topics (such as “drugs” or “gambling”) in a just a few taps, without having to block each site and app individually. 

LOCATION AWARENESS (iPHONE, iPAD, AND ANDROID)

Location Awareness allows you to keep up with your kid all day, no matter where life takes them. Canopy’s detailed, real-time GPS map lets you see the precise current location of your child’s device whenever you want, giving you the peace of mind that comes from knowing they are where they’re supposed to be.

DOWNTIME
Set healthy limits on screentime by easily creating daily or weekly rules for when your child can go online.

Help your kids learn to use their devices wisely by limiting when they can connect to the internet. No streaming during dinner? No social media after bedtime? It’s up to you! Rules that you set can automatically repeat daily or weekly, so your family’s routine is consistent and predictable.


EASY MANAGEMENT

Canopy makes monitoring your child’s online activity quick, easy, and unintrusive. You can adjust your child’s Canopy settings directly from your personal phone or computer using our convenient web dashboard or Canopy for Parents app. The web dashboard and Canopy for Parents also let you receive helpful notifications about your child’s online activity, including Sexting Alerts and requests to access websites.

How do I know if Canopy is working?

When Canopy is enabled, it is always working in the background. To check if it is enabled, go to your web dashboard or the Canopy for Parents dashboard and tap your child’s profile. If Canopy is working, you’ll see the words “Device is Protected” below their name, along with information about which Canopy features are active on their device.

To easily test whether Canopy’s filter is active, visit testcanopy.com on the device where the filter is installed.

Does Canopy inspect everything that happens on my child’s device?

Currently, Canopy monitors all Internet browsing (including images, text, videos, and URLs), all photos taken on or downloaded to Android devices, and most photos taken on or downloaded to iOS devices. Canopy does not currently scan text messages, emails, phone calls, content within non-browser apps, or videos taken on your child’s device. 

Canopy will work with most browsers, including Safari, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge. Some secure browsers, such as DuckDuckGo and Brave, are not compatible with Canopy. As a result, Canopy blocks DuckDuckGo and Brave by default.

Does Canopy detect every online threat?

In testing, Canopy’s algorithm correctly categorized 99.8% of content containing nudity or pornography. This means there is a small chance that, once in a while, Canopy will make a mistake. We’re proud of Canopy, but it works best as a supplement to the lessons you teach your family offline. 

 

Because Canopy uses advanced machine learning to continually improve its capabilities, it is getting better every day. Currently, we’re training Canopy’s algorithm to identify an even greater range of inappropriate content, such as extreme violence.

 

If you encounter content you believe should be blocked by Canopy, please email us right away at help@canopy.us. In your email, please include the relevant URL and a description of the issue. We take such concerns very seriously and will address them as quickly as possible.

Does Canopy filter streaming services like Netflix and Hulu?

Canopy does not filter on-demand streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, and Amazon Prime Video. However, each of these services offers parental control settings that you can use to help ensure your kids aren’t exposed to inappropriate content while streaming movies and shows. We highly recommend setting up these parental controls. For instructions, please visit the website of the streaming service your family uses. This Canopy Blog article contains links to setup instructions for parental controls on eight of the most popular streaming services. 


If you wish to block a particular streaming service’s app and/or website on your child’s device, you can create a Custom Filtering Rule to do this from your Canopy for Parents app or web dashboard. For step-by-step instructions, click here.

Support

Can I use Canopy and another parenting app at the same time?

Of course! Canopy won’t interfere with most other parenting apps, and most other apps won’t interfere with Canopy. In fact, using multiple parenting apps at once can be a great way to maximize your child’s protection.

 

Canopy may not be compatible with other apps that use VPNs or MDM profiles. For more information about Canopy’s interactions with specific apps, please contact our Customer Support team.

Will Canopy consume my mobile data or drain my battery?

Canopy does not consume mobile data. However, your device may show Canopy as the source of mobile data usage. This is because Canopy filters your web traffic through our special server before it reaches your device. In such cases, Canopy is only a middle layer between your network and your device, not the real source of the data usage. 

 

Similarly, Canopy is very efficient, and does not consume more battery than most other apps. Our tests show that battery usage on a device with Canopy is almost identical to the same setup without Canopy. Some devices may identify Canopy as the source of significant battery usage, but that is only because Canopy is filtering activity from other apps. These other apps, not Canopy, are probably draining most of your battery.

Will Canopy slow down my device?

Canopy shouldn‘t slow down your device. That said, Canopy’s technology accomplishes a lot quickly. Every time your child encounters new content online, Canopy scans it piece by piece, decides whether it contains nudity or pornography, and blocks it if necessary. All that work requires a lot of rapid, complex communication between your device, our servers, and the relevant website or app!

 

Currently, the technology behind Canopy supports more than two million daily active users in Israel without any noticeable difference in speed or latency.

 

If you encounter any speed issues with Canopy beyond what you’re experiencing with other apps, please contact us right away at help@canopy.us. We’re committed to deploying as many serves as necessary to ensure our users in North America have a fast, seamless experience.

I’m having an issue with Canopy. Who can I talk to?

We’re here to help. First, we recommend checking the Canopy help center at help.canopy.us, where you’ll find answers to many common questions. You can also contact our friendly, experienced Customer Support team by emailing help@canopy.us or calling +1 (888) 820-1918, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. CT, any day of the week.

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