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CIPA compliance

Updated

For K-12 school clients, Shield provides CIPA compliance tooling: the Children's Internet Protection Act audit log and quarterly E-Rate reporting. CIPA is a US federal requirement for schools and libraries that receive E-Rate funding — they must filter obscene and harmful-to-minors content and be able to prove it. This article covers the CIPA Compliance page, generating an E-Rate report, reading the audit log, and the CIPA filtering mode.

Opening CIPA Compliance

Go to CIPA Compliance in the Shield nav (app.theonestack.com/shield/cipa). The page is for K-12 clients and shows the CIPA audit log on the right and the E-Rate report generator on the left. A summary line shows how many reports have been generated.

What CIPA Records

Every child-safety-relevant action is written to the CIPA audit log. Event types include:

Event What it records
Block action A request blocked under CIPA filtering
Policy change A change to the school's filtering policy
Override A staff override of a block
Report generated An E-Rate report was produced

The audit log can be filtered by client and date range so you can produce the exact record an auditor asks for.

Generating an E-Rate Report

The E-Rate report is the quarterly CIPA audit bundle schools need for E-Rate funding audits.

  1. On the CIPA Compliance page, find the Generate E-Rate Report generator (left rail).
  2. Choose the Client (school).
  3. Choose the Year and Quarter.
  4. Click Generate.
  5. Download the produced report bundle.

The report covers the selected quarter and pulls from the CIPA audit log for that client.

CIPA Filtering Mode

A school's filtering strictness is set by its CIPA Mode, configured per school in Shield settings (Schools / CIPA Compliance settings):

  • Strict — heavier restriction; typically used for elementary schools.
  • Permissive — lighter restriction; typically used for high schools.

CIPA Mode blends the underlying category lists to match the age group. You set a default CIPA Mode that is assigned to new schools, and you can enable CIPA filtering by default for new schools. Adjust per school as needed.

FAQ

Which clients should have CIPA enabled? K-12 school clients that receive E-Rate funding. CIPA filtering and reporting are designed for schools; it is not relevant to typical business clients.

What mode should elementary vs. high schools use? Elementary schools typically run Strict; high schools typically run Permissive. CIPA Mode blends the category lists accordingly. Adjust to the school's policy.

How do I prove compliance to an auditor? Generate the E-Rate report for the relevant quarter and provide the CIPA audit log filtered to the school and date range. Together they document that filtering was in place and what it blocked.

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