Parents of Teens, Did you know....

[AC7179]

There is an app for the Iphone that teens download called Private, or Privacy, or something of that nature.

The app allows kids to store pictures, etc., that are too personal to have on their camera that anyone might see. It is password activiated. However, there are two passwords.

If a parent suspects inappropriate activity and asks the child to see what is in the Privacy App, the teen can enter the decoy password, and pictures come up that the kids have saved to their decoy screen. However, the kid has ANOTHER password that they can enter to see the real deal.

As sexting is an epidemic, I thought this was a pretty clever idea. I feel like I'm pretty "in the know" but I had no idea and that one totally would have gotten over on me!

 

[Maleficient]

Thanks for giving me one more reason for not supplying them with Iphones!! Holy cow - what next??

 

[SandrA9810]

I think there's a bigger issue if you can't trust your teen to show you exactly what's on the phone.

Is there anyway to delete this app?? I'm guessing there's a few decent reasons for having an app like that (but not for teens).

 

[dislaney]

Now I know. It's so hard to keep up!

 

[LuvOrlando]

Good to know, thanks for sharing that.

 

[FireDancer]

For many industries, like mine, there has to be a way to encrypt data on the phone. Unfortunately something strong enough to provide enterprise class encryption is going to work to hide data as well as protect it. The state of Massachusetts has made it illegal to have certain kinds of personal data on a portable device without encrypting it. I assure you, iPhones are portable. There are also disclosure exceptions for data that is lost or stolen if the device it is stored on meets certain encryption criteria.

Being in the tech industry the conversation of kids and information comes up a lot. The consensus among the educated computer community is that monitoring what you kids do, while important, is not as crucial as explaining to them why certain things are unwise. No matter how locked down you have your kids computer, and believe me I can lock down a network with the best of them, your kids will find a way around it. Maybe not at your house, but at a friend's with more lenient parents or older brothers or at a free WiFi hot spot.

Adults and kids need to understand that the things you put out there online are somewhere forever, even if they are erased. If there is anything I wouldn't want my yet to be born children or any potential employer down the line to see I don't put it out there. This is the attitude that has to be taken with sexting and sexual content put out there on the Internet for the world to see.

The threats to kids online now are not very different to those we faced in the 80's. Sure, it is easier for a predator to get to your kids but it is also easier for your kids to avoid predators online if they know what to look for. Just like my parents, and probably yours, watched out for us at parks and playgrounds, they couldn't be there 24/7. Instead they both watched out for us and also educated us on what to look for and how to avoid it. It is the same online.

Stay up with all the latest tech, just like the OP did when finding out about the app in question. Realize that no matter what you do monitoring-wise, there is a work around. It is pretty much an arms race. Education is just as important as oversight.

I don't have kids but I work with all of my friends who do, at least those that have kids old enough to be online. Being waist deep in the technology business we have these kinds of discussions all the time when speaking about legislation and rules that, while well meaning, really do little to solve the underlying problem.

When in doubt, use the Google.

 

[luvmyfam444]

WOW! Does the itough have the same capablilities? (dd has a friend with one)

 

[IDoDis]

There is also a ringtone that only kids/teens/20s can hear called a "Mosquito Ringtone." The kids can download it as a ringtone to their cell phones so that when the phone rings or signals a text older adults can't hear it but the teen can. The sound is a tone outside the audible range of hearing for most people over the age of 30.

Listen to the different pitches here and see which ones you can't hear at all that your child can hear. It's FREAKY!

http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/

 

[pixiewings71]

Yes, the iTouch has the same app. DBF thought he was being slick and sneaky but little did he know EVERYthing he downloaded was emailed to our hotmail acct. LOL Busted! LOL He ended up deleting it, not at my request but apparently my finding it made it not fun anymore. I have no plans to get my girls smart phones anytime soon, heck DBF and I don't even have phones like that......

 

[sunnyday123]

There is also a ringtone that only kids/teens/20s can hear called a "Mosquito Ringtone." The kids can download it as a ringtone to their cell phones so that when the phone rings or signals a text older adults can't hear it but the teen can. The sound is a tone outside the audible range of hearing for most people over the age of 30.

Listen to the different pitches here and see which ones you can't hear at all that your child can hear. It's FREAKY!

http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/

Holy crap! I could hear the clicking on my speaker, but I could not hear some-ok most of those ringtones! Sneaky little......

 

[golfgal]

Or you can instill values in your child so this doesn't become an issue

 

[AC7179]

Golfgal,

That's great in a perfect world. As a disclaimer, my own daughter does not have this app nor has she ever participated in any sexting.

However, in the past week, I have been made aware of the sexting epidemic. There are kids that, if you knew them, it would blow your mind that they were involved. These are A students, community volunteers, etc., but it is happening. For my own daughter, I have talked about inappropriate phone usage with her. She also is aware that those pictures can come back to haunt you, etc. She has all the information that she needs to make the right choice.

In addition, however, as long as she continues to live in my house and have me pay for her phone/internet, I will have passwords to all accounts, read her text messages, etc. I don't do it all the time, but I do check it occasionally and will continue to do so.

When she goes to college in two years, I will no longer monitor her like that, but I will feel I have given her all the possible information she needs to make an appropriate choice for her.

Try not to judge though, Golfgal. All children make mistakes, regardless of the values you have instilled.

 

[Tinijocaro]

Or you can instill values in your child so this doesn't become an issue

And we all know that that always works, every time, right?

 

[golfgal]

Golfgal,

That's great in a perfect world. As a disclaimer, my own daughter does not have this app nor has she ever participated in any sexting.

However, in the past week, I have been made aware of the sexting epidemic. There are kids that, if you knew them, it would blow your mind that they were involved. These are A students, community volunteers, etc., but it is happening. For my own daughter, I have talked about inappropriate phone usage with her. She also is aware that those pictures can come back to haunt you, etc. She has all the information that she needs to make the right choice.

In addition, however, as long as she continues to live in my house and have me pay for her phone/internet, I will have passwords to all accounts, read her text messages, etc. I don't do it all the time, but I do check it occasionally and will continue to do so.

When she goes to college in two years, I will no longer monitor her like that, but I will feel I have given her all the possible information she needs to make an appropriate choice for her.

Try not to judge though, Golfgal. All children make mistakes, regardless of the values you have instilled.

I know plenty of teens that are most likely involved in sexting and I would say that the majority of these kids were NOT raised with the kind of values that would prevent this for most kids. Many of these kids come from "good homes" but were raised to believe they were the best of the best. They were raised to believe that their looks were more important then being a good person. They were raised to believe that you hang out with the "right" kids meaning the "popular" kids vs the good kids. It is all over Facebook too, not just phones. Yes, kids make mistakes but most kids that were raised to be responsible don't make mistakes like THIS. My kids are fully aware of the implications of this as well but unfortunately there are parents out there that are more concerned with their kid being popular then being a good person.

Also, this is just new technology for an old problem. Before kids just did this with digital cameras and emailed the pictures or printed them off.