Parents could 'spy' on kids' mobile phones

Parents could 'spy' on kids' mobile phones

www.abc.net.au

Parents may soon be able to read their children's text messages as part of a plan to give them more control over rapidly developing technologies.

It is being billed as another tool in parents' armouries, but civil libertarians say if you need to pry into your kids' phones then you are not doing a good job as a parent.

The technology could be rolled out in Australia by August but privacy issues loom as the main obstacle.

Mobile phone bullying, 'sexting' and the danger of sexual predators have all emerged as risks as young people use their mobile phones at younger ages.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I find this a good piece of software, in this day and age with so many external dangers from perverts or bad crowds this could be another way for parents to keep tabs on their children. We are all very aware of what can cross our home's tranquil life and totally turn a persons world upside down.

Oh yes, this could be obviously used for other purposes which are apparent to most of us, so its totally up to the user to define how much or what amount of information he would like to be informed about. Either way, its your choice.

www.abc.net.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

Not giving the children cell phones in the first place would probably be a far more cost effective way of dealing with such nonsense as sexting, bullying, whatever. I seriously don't see where young children have need of a cell phone, its not like they have jobs other than going to school.

It is being billed as another tool in parents' armouries, but civil libertarians say if you need to pry into your kids' phones then you are not doing a good job as a parent.

If you pry into your children's messages, then you are not doing a good job.

You're doing if a good job if you ignore your children's phone.

So, you should ignore your children completely to be the best parent.

Don't pry at all! Leave them alone, just ignore them completely from birth!

I agree that this could be a good idea. You know, everyone talks about how parents shouldn't need to do this or how they need to do that to have raised good children. I have found that some of the craziest children have come from parents who think they raised their children right.

This would be a little to invasive for my style but I could see some parents needing something like this. Not because they are bad parents but just because of what their children are getting into. Anybody who thinks they can control every detail of their kids life is living somewhere off in wonder wonder land. The most anybody can do is teach their children how to react to certain situations and hope that's what they do.

If you pry into your children's messages, then you are not doing a good job.

You're doing if a good job if you ignore your children's phone.

So, you should ignore your children completely to be the best parent.

Don't pry at all! Leave them alone, just ignore them completely from birth!

By keeping tabs on your children does not mean that your a bad parent, it only means your making sure no harm comes to them, its that simple.

Well, i cannot see your logic according to your post, your either not a parent or you just cant see beyond what your mind allows your eyes to see. Do you even know how many children are abducted,raped, trafficked just to mention the least.

Although i cant see why a child would have a cell phone but there are small cell phones designed for children which have pre defined numbers with specific speed dial with limited text ability to pre defined numbers.

In closing yes, i do monitor my family's cell phones, well i monitor them without me diving into their lives, only if and when there is a raised concern do i trace their location and incoming and outgoing lines/messages. Perhaps i know slightly more of whats out in the real world and trust me, its no fairy tale.

You can already get this technology.... by using a blue tooth program that links to another blue tooth phone and reads their whole phone's memory.
check it out..
store.bigdaddyspy.com...

I honestly don't believe it to be a "bad idea" or "bad parenting" to have this option...kids should have certain "rights" but until they are of legal age and/or can support themselves,I also believe that the "rights" of a concerned and involved parent should come first.
It's just not that negotiable where I come from.

Kids are usually brighter and have more time to work the angle than their parents do,LOL...I've seen this first-hand.
Much better to be able to "police"say what a teen is doing via sexting for example than to have some tragedy as described here on a recent thread where a girl took her life as pictures of her were being passed around.

I think even a "mistake" made my a kid that a parent discovers opens a door to a healthier (I didn't say easier) line of communication.

I believe kids need a bit of control until again,they can absolutely care for themselves.

I'm in favor of it to a certain extent.

I'm one of those parents that took my own privacy very seriously, especially as a child and teen. I very much value my own privacy now. I tried to raise my daughter to be trustworthy enough to deserve the same kind of privacy of her own. I guess you could say that I've always been a pretty liberal kind of parent. Rather than shelter my daughter I prefer to be a safety-net to catch her when she falls. Over the years I've given my daughter a lot of liberties and expected more of her because of it. Being a responsible parent we talk a lot about everything and because she has been taught to be conscientiously responsible I respect her opinions and her desire to live her life the way she feels is best for herself, using my vetoing powers only when it is something most dire.

However, a year ago my 11 year old brought it to my attention that some stranger, a 40 year old guy in Hawaii, had been txt messaging her and sending her pictures!!! I had to explain to my daughter why it is dangerous to talk to strangers and if ever someone she doesn't know txts her she needs to tell her mommy or daddy immediately. I immediately called the guy and read him the Riot-Act. Turns out the guy was a Police Officer, no less, and started threatening me with several felony charges. When I told him that I would track down his real-life identity and sent copies of all his correspondences with my 11 year old daughter to his local law-enforcement employer, significant-other, and local media making sure that he was charged as a pedophile and registered as a known sex-offender ruining his life, losing his job, significant-other, and making sure he could never approach another child again, his attitude changed and the whole story came to light.

Turns out, my daughter initiated contact with him accidentally by typing a wrong number for the area code. A two-way conversation via texting started up and looking at the text messages she sent, it would appear that he genuinely never had any idea that she was 11, but rather thought it was an adult female flirting with him. He even asked her if she had a boy-friend, and my daughter told him "Yes, and even though he tells me he loves me, he hits me all the time" (which has totally different connotations when you consider her age). He falsely assumed that she was in an abusive relationship and I, the father, was her abusive boy-friend (reinforced all the more when I called him up to read him the Riot Act).

Thankfully, no bad came of it and both she and the Police Officer from Hawaii learned some very valuable lessons about being more cautious when txting strangers on their cellphones.

No service can take the place of good parenting. I will continue to talk to my daughter and make her feel safe enough to approach me and openly disclose what goes on in her life, but at the same time casually remind her that I do have the ability to review everything she does on her phone and online and that she better act accordingly lest she give me a reason to review them. To me, that trust is a very important issue on both sides of the street.

How far should one go in protecting their child? How does one draw a line between a child's safety while respecting their right to privacy? It's a fine line that has arguments both ways.

This is a service I would get, but I would hope that I would never have to use it.

reply to post by Optix


Indeed there are many software programs on the market but if that user plugs his or her phone into the pc they will detect the new software installed. Its the non commercial methods that are 100% stealth and cannot be detected unless you know how to read program incorporated into your cell phones cpu. Keep in mind, you only need to send a simple sms message and when he clicks to read its self installed. The only visual means that your cell has been compromised is that your phone will switch off and will need to be switched on again and then you have the target phone cloned for the rest of its operating life. You cannot uninstall the program. This method is used by alpha agency with a 100% success rate.

Kids don't need cell phones. Period.

lol wow! Finally parents can do what the government has been doing for years! Maybe this is to get us used to the idea of no privacy so 10 years from now the government can take a bill and pass it to were they may do it to anyone. Kinda slowly dip into warm water before jumping right in. Enjoy your lack of privacy!

reply to post by fraterormus


After reading your post i could imagine your dilemma at the whole outcome. But lets remind ourselves that when we were 11, we had no such technology in our hands. I for example, like many of us were warned by our parents about talking to strangers and accepting any gifts from strangers. But the fact is, society today has 1000 more ways of our children falling prey to perverts and mentally sick animals.

By keeping that one eye open at night does not mean i do not trust my children but making sure that no harm comes to them from anything or anyone.

Originally posted by LordBaskettIV
Kids don't need cell phones. Period.

I agree with you, its just there are times when i just feel the need to say a simple hello and see how their day was. As i travel alot, its easier for me to contact them rather than waiting when they are home.

Why not just attach GPS units to all our children so we can monitor everywhere they are while we are at it? It seems like kids cant be kids any more.

Children, especially young teens, need their privacy just as much as us adults do!

If my mother read my texts when I was fifteen not only would that have severed the issue of trust between parent and child, it would only further aggravate me and make me go to even greater lengths to keep what I am doing totally secret and separate from anything the parents may be able to monitor.

Stalking, monitoring, and not trusting your children does NOT change their behaviors. I would actually argue that it makes it worse. Thats when children run away, and get into a whole new mess of problems.

I advocate cryptographic algorithms for text messaging (even a simple substitution cipher would be enough to keep most parents at bay) JUST for teens to use so the parents cannot spy on the childs behaviors. That is immoral, wrong, and totally betrays any trust the child may have thought they built over the years.

The only rights that kids have are those that the parents grant them. Too bad if they object; when they are adults they can do as they choose - not before.

Parents are responsible for their children's welfare. With that responsibility comes rights.

Did you guys hear about the little girl that was talking to grown men about sex using her PSP?? These parents need to take a step back and realize that THEY are the ones buying these gadgets for their children and opening them up to this world.. How can you not know what your child has access to? I'm not saying that its entirely the parents fault, but come on.. Why go through all the extra effort to spy on your kids?? Just take the thing away and be done with it!

Thanks for posting about this topic

[edit on 6/1/2009 by deadline527]

reply to post by deadline527


I think its the opposite. These kids have access to things we NEVER had when we were young. I played with Barbie dolls and played manhunt.. These kids are talking to complete strangers and exposing personal info about themselves.. We had to worry when we were young about strangers, but if you lived in a good town where everyone knew each other it wasn't THAT bad.. Now a days the KIDS are bringing the strangers to THEM.. Thats crazy IMO.

reply to post by LordBaskettIV


We got along without it ok but today it has almost become a necessity. How much easier would life have been with such a device back then. My butt would have been saved from a few close calls which i do not wish to experience again. I do understand why you say they do not need phones, i have been there with my kids on many occasions.

I think this is a really good thing. Not to chase away boyfriends and such but to step in just in case something more serious should arise. As we use technology to get what we want or need so would some really bad people do to get a child.



[edit on 6/1/2009 by qonone]