An internet filter inspired by Jewish values

What began as a Sydney father’s attempt to create a safe internet environment for his own family has evolved into a free community service protecting thousands of users worldwide.

Michael Brody created ShomerDNS after realising the internet posed daily risks to his family – from misleading search results and deceptive pop-ups to inappropriate content appearing without warning.

“A simple typo in a web address, a misleading search result, or a pop-up that looked legitimate could instantly take you somewhere you never intended to go,” Brody said.

He started putting together small, practical solutions at home, tweaking settings and blocking known bad domains. It wasn’t elegant or public-facing – it was just something he built quietly to solve a problem in his own house.

But as he talked with friends and other parents, Brody realised he wasn’t alone. They were seeing the same things – scam sites that looked real, inappropriate content appearing without warning, and a sense that existing parental controls either didn’t go far enough or were too complicated to manage.

“The big parental control sites and apps were doing the exact thing that I was trying to prevent – the harvesting of your telemetry data, collection of your credentials and the monitoring of your usage and charging you for it all,” he said.

“Many I spoke to felt overwhelmed, unsure where to start, and frustrated that protecting their families online seemed to require technical expertise they didn’t have.”

That was the turning point. Brody began refining his home-grown solution with a bigger idea in mind – turning it into a free, community resource that anyone could use.

The name ShomerDNS comes from the Hebrew word “shomer”, meaning guardian or watchman. The goal was simple – to quietly stand watch at the doorway of the internet.

By stopping harmful, deceptive and exploitative domains at the DNS level – the system that translates website names into addresses computers understand – ShomerDNS protects every device in a home automatically, without subscription fees, software installation or tracking users.

The service blocks pornographic websites, advertisements, adult content, malware and ransomware sites, scam and phishing sites, drug and gambling sites, proxies, artificial intelligence sites and many more categories.

Users can also customise what content is blocked per device, for example, blocking social media on a child’s tablet while allowing YouTube on a parent’s laptop.

The service is built on Jewish values including shmiras einayim (guarding the eyes from inappropriate content), chinuch (supporting parents in the digital age), kavod habriyot (respecting each user’s dignity and privacy) and chesed (a non-commercial, community-driven service).

Brody emphasised that ShomerDNS does not collect personal data or track users.

“From the beginning, it was designed as a service for the community, not a product driven by profit. The focus wasn’t on data collection or upselling features, it was on prevention, trust and accessibility,” he said.

“If a family needed protection, they should be able to get it without barriers.”

The service is completely free with no ads, no tracking, no hidden fees and no commercial affiliations.

Brody said he has no commercial interest or venture capital backing – ShomerDNS is purely a free community service paid for out of his own pocket as a way to give back to the community.

“What started as a personal project at home has grown into something shared by many, but the mission remains the same: to help families navigate the internet more safely, quietly and confidently before problems appear, not after.”

Users can access ShomerDNS by simply changing their router or device’s DNS settings. Full instructions are available at shomerdns.com