Google Translate

Is Google Translate safe?

Google Translate is a great tool and can particularly help students where English is not their first language, however, there are some risks associated with the site.

What are the risks?

Google Translate (along with many other translation sites) include the ability to translate entire web pages by processing the pages through Google servers. This means that the URL of the website is no longer visible to the filtering, just Google Translate. This would mean that any site run through the translator would be accessible regardless of what category it is in. This is effectively operating as a proxy server.

Which part of Google Translate is blocked?

The whole website translation function in Google Translate operates on a different domain name (translate.goog) which is blocked as a 'high risk' website.

Can we use Google Translate in school?

Yes, all functionality in Google Translate except the whole website function is available by default through SchoolProtect and HomeProtect.

What about other translation sites?

Google Translate is the most popular translation tool that includes whole website translation. Others such as Bing translate don't include this functionality so don't pose a risk. Other sites that include this functionality are generally classified as 'proxy anonymiser' in SchoolProtect.

Google Translate isn't working despite being allowed through SchoolProtect.

If your school uses Sophos Endpoint Protection, this can also block Google Translate. To allow it through Sophos, follow these steps:

Log into your school’s Sophos Central console and navigate to: My Products > General Settings > Website Management
Click Add in the upper right of the page.
In the Add Website Customization dialog add translate.google.com and translate.google.co.uk in the top box.
Add a ‘Tag’ for ex., “Google Translate”
Click Save.
Now navigate to My Products > Endpoint > Policies
Scroll down and then Click on Base Policy - Web Control
Select Settings (Next to Group under Policy Type)
Ensure that Control sites tagged in Website Management is Enabled.
On the right-hand side, click on Add New
Select the Google Translate option you created earlier
Select Action: Allowed
Click Save.