You know that there are dangers on the internet, and you want to keep your child safe. That means keeping track of what your child is doing online. One of the common ways that parents do this is by visually checking the child’s cell phone. But is that enough? Take a look at a few reasons just looking at your child’s cell phone might not be enough to keep your child safe from online dangers and risky behaviors.
Some Apps Look Innocent But Aren’t
One of the reasons that just looking at the phone may not be enough is that some apps aren’t what they seem to be. For example, there’s an app called Calculator%. If you just pick up your child’s phone and look at it, the app appears to be just an ordinary calculator. However, if your teen pushes in a certain code on the calculator, it opens up a locked area where they can put in pictures, videos, and other files that they don’t want to keep on the phone’s main gallery.
Calculator% isn’t the only app like this. An app called Audio Manager can hide other apps while looking like a volume control app. Vaulty not only stores photos and videos but also takes a picture of anyone trying to access the app without the correct code.
Some Good Apps Can Be Misused
There are also apps that can enable poor choices but aren’t necessarily dangerous if they’re used responsibly. Snapchat, for example, is a popular app for both teenagers and adults. The app allows you to take and share pictures that will automatically be deleted in a short time period. It can be a lot of fun.
However, Snapchat is often used by teenagers to share inappropriate photos, like nudes or sexually suggestive pictures. Teenagers often believe that this is safe because the photo will automatically be deleted. But it’s easy to save a Snapchat photo – all the recipient has to do is take a screenshot. And risqué snaps sent on Snapchat have a way of ending up on revenge porn sites, or being circulated among peers. Unfortunately, you may not be aware of these pictures until they surface and start causing problems for your child.
In-App Purchases Can Rack Up Fast
Line is another app that can cause problems for teens and their parents. It’s a social app that allows users to make audio and video calls, send messages and share photos and videos. It also has a hidden chat feature with messages that automatically delete after a certain time period.
Teenagers using Line might run into the same problems that they’d run into using any other social app – for example, cyberbullying or messages from adult users pretending to be teens. But there’s another issue as well – in-app purchases. If your teen has your credit card information saved on their phone, they can rack up a lot of charges, and you may not know about it until you get the bill.
Web monitoring software can help you protect your child from these potential dangers by alerting you to what apps they’re downloading, who they’re sending messages to, and whether they’re putting charges on your credit card. To find out how parental monitoring software can help you keep your child safe, get our free trial.
