Tips for Keeping
Teens/Kids Safe Online:
Educate yourself and your child about your devices,
apps, etc. Learn how to use your devices
and apps and look at the sites your child/teen visits
Understand the dangers and be motivated to act. Two,
start a conversation and keep it going!
Use Parental Controls: Including limiting software,
accountability software and filters on all internet connected devices.
Do not let your children take their devices to bed and
set limits for time allowed on the device
Talk to your
kids about the dangers we have discussed online – talk about anything and
everything (pedophiles, bullying, sexting, etc.)
Get
involved/Ask questions about games/apps/sites they like to visit
(ie.Minecraft, TFT, etc)
Be open,
approachable and understanding about what kids are up to online. This way it makes it
easier for them to come to you with any problems they are experiencing online,
and are happy to ask for advice.
netnanny.com,
internet filtering software
X3watch, an
accountability software for all internet capable devices (x3watch.com)
The Screen
Time Parental Control App, allows parents to oversee all of the mobile devices
within the home
Iparent.tv,
an online resource featuring videos and posts to keep parents in the loop on
all the latest tech fads that your children might be into
SafeEyes, a parental
control software (internetsafety.com)
Cybertip.ca, Canada’s national tipline for reporting the online sexual exploitation of
children
Overnightgeekuniversity (Internet
Safety Expert Jesse Weinberger) also on Facebook
Potentially Dangerous Apps
Please see link: Dangers on
Instagram for Kids: http://www.socialschool101.com/7-dangers-on-instagram-for-kids/
Please see
link: The Dangers of SnapChat
https://netguide.co.nz/story/the-dangers-of-snapchat/
Please see
link from CBCNEWS:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/kik-chat-app-messaging-children-predators-pornography-police-1.3553355
Yik Yak is a free mobile app
that allows anyone to post public anonymous messages — not even a profile
or password is required.
Unlike many similar apps, it's location-based, so the messages are targeted at
those within 2.5 kilometres.
Yik Yak bills itself as an app that lets you "get a live feed of what
everyone's saying around you."
Concerns:
In some cases, the app has been linked to
problems such as threats, pranks and cyberbullying.
The "anonymous" nature of this app tends to lull teens
into thinking that what they say and share won't be connected to them, which
makes them more likely to behave inappropriately.
Kids have used this app to spread rumors and
harass their peers, thinking that they are anonymous. Of course, this isn't
entirely the case, and authorities do have the ability to track users. Other
worrisome issues include the prevalence of graphic nudity and sexual content.
The app encourages users to share just about anything, and because they think
it's private, they often do.
The app lets users stream both audio and video to
their audience for an interactive experience that includes feedback and
comments. Audiences can not only interact, but watch and replay the video up to
24 hours after the broadcast ends.
Concerns:
The potential for real-time
cyberbullying.
Sexual harassment, requests for teens to stream inappropriate broadcasts and
inappropriate broadcasts being streamed to teens.
The potential for viewers
to uncover the broadcaster’s personal information, such as username
or Twitter account.
Location services reveal your
teen’s physical location. Once the user’s location was
identified, the news investigation plugged that information into a free website
that allowed them to track the user’s exact location, giving them location
updates every time the broadcaster posted something on social media. Even more
troubling is that the location marks are timestamped, leaving a “trail of
breadcrumbs” to identify the user’s exact movements, allowing the tracker to
follow the user’s physical movements as they go.
Ask.fm is an anonymous question and answer platform website
used regularly by lots of young people in Ireland and around the world. It
allows anyone to post anonymous comments and questions to a person's profile
and is increasingly being used as a means to communicate abusive, bullying and sexualized
content.
Whisper is an app
built specifically for spreading rumors and secrets. It lets users post
pictures and text anonymously. Apps like Whisper could potentially be a good
outlet for teens as anonymous confessions can help people unburden themselves.
Concerns:
Whisper
shares the secrets based on geographic location, so the users nearest to you
are the ones more likely to see your secret. If your child reveals too much, it
can put them in a dangerous situation with friends or adversaries.
The most dangerous
apps for teens use GPS tracking to bring people physically together.
Cyberbullying is much more hurtful when the person bullying your child moves
from online to in-person abuse. In this case, Whisper seems like it could cause
teens more harm than good.
Burn Note – This is a
messaging app where all messages self-destruct (delete) after reading. This app
only uses text messaging. Users cannot send images or videos. Parents would
have no evidence that a conversation took place. This can lead to bullying or
sexting or any other dangerous practice, and parents would have no idea.
9Gag.com – This is an image and
video sharing site. Users can upload a video or image to share. Then the videos
or images are voted up or down, and users can leave comments. Some posts are
cute and fun. But most are not. Users can even browse the NSFW (Not Safe For
Work) section. NSFW videos are blacked out until a user clicks the button to
play the video. But nothing is stopping anyone, including children and teens,
from seeing the inappropriate content.
Flinch is an app by the makers of OoVoo. The
premise of this app sounds fun – it’s basically the digital version of a
staring contest. The first person who smiles, loses the game. While
the technology behind the app is impressive, parents should know that kids
using Flinch can stare down with complete strangers.
Concerns:
The main concern here is that when using Flinch you are inviting
a stranger into your home through a live video session, similar
to Facetime or Omegle.
While the interaction time may be short, you are face to face with a complete
stranger and anything goes. The app doesn’t provide any recording/saving
options but that doesn’t mean the game can’t be recorded or saved by taking a
screenshot or using another camera to record the screen. Evidence of this
is easily found on YouTube.
ooVoo is a video chat app. It lets you make video calls,
voice calls and send texts to friends and family. You can also start a group
video chat with up to 12 people. The default privacy settings are set to
'public', so you can talk to people you don't know, but they can be changed so
that you can just talk to your friends.
Concerns:
While ooVoo has many great qualities and can be used in a
completely innocuous and beneficial way, it’s also home to many adult users and a lot of inappropriate content. A quick search for the #ooVoo hashtag
on Instagram or Twitter reveals many images and videos that aren’t appropriate
for children and need to be filtered out using privacy settings.
Omeggle has been around since 2008, with video chat added in
2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service –
chat participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan
is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you
can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find chat partners with similar
interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your
Facebook “likes” and try to match you with a stranger with similar
likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the perfect channel for
sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail young children, by
starting inappropriate conversations with them, then threatening to send the
messages, photos, or videos to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore
trapping the child in a disgusting, dangerous situation.
‘Vault Apps/Secret Hiding
Apps’
Vaulty, Best Secret Folder,
Gallery Lock, KYMS (Keep Your Media Safe), Private Photo
These are apps used to hide
Media (photos, videos, files, porn) from parents. some of the hiding Apps look like Calculator
Apps and even function the same as a calculator app. However, once a numeric code is entered it
gives the user access to hidden files.
Vaulty will not only store
photos and videos away from parental spying eyes, but it also will snap a photo
of anyone who tries to access the “vault” with the wrong password. Parents who
find it on their teens’ phones can conclude just one thing: Your kid is hiding
things from you.
As
with all online games, websites and apps, we need to take time to see what our
kids are doing Online. Even apps that
look like they are designed for children can have elements that are
inappropriate or even dangerous for children.
For
example, Minecraft, a game designed for children, does contain elements that
Parents should be concerned about.
See
Link: /www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/minecraft-a-parents-guide.
Many
of these apps mentioned above are fine when used properly, however, as with
anything used online we need to educate ourselves and our kids about the risks
involved with these apps. The list of
‘Potentially Dangerous Apps’ is constantly changing and we need to keep
ourselves up to date on what our kids are using. By simply visiting some of the recommended
websites mentioned in Helpful Resources, or by typing ‘online safety’ in a
Facebook Search, we can see trending/recent articles regarding what we need to
know as Parents/Educators.
Finally,
many Parents I have spoken with were not aware of the age requirements to
legally have a Social Media Account.
Please ensure that your teen meets these requirements before opening a
Social Media Account and be sure you are able to access it. Know their passwords.
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/social-media-minimum-age/501920
If
you have any questions, please feel free to contact me:
Cst. Orlando Buduhan#2249
Winnipeg Police Service
Community Relations Div.51 School Education Section
