Analyze apps or digital spies? The risks of surveillance of minors via mobile phones

If you could know exactly where your minor child is at all times, would you? Would not it give you more security and peace of mind to follow all your steps? Would it not be a way to take care of the evils that threaten the world? On this idea are based monitoring applications designed for mothers and fathers concerned about the safety of their children. They offer the opportunity to see the cell phone location of children or teens until they read messages that reach the mobile.

It makes sense to look for tools to take care of children. It makes sense worry, especially when, in a hyper-informed world, they discuss attacks, kidnappings and deaths. Everything makes sense, but where can you go with these parental control tools that "see everything"?

In Arkangel, the second episode of the fourth season of the Black Mirror series, a futuristic world appears in which a mother decides to implant a flea in her daughter's brain to know all their movements. The system reproduces even in a tablet what the girl sees (and possibly the teenager). It's like seeing through your eyes. The result suggests the consequences of this decision.

Although today this episode may seem a little distant, it is not so far from reality if we badyze it carefully. There are already several applications that can spy on the contents of children's cell phones. Some even suggest that they could be used to control the couple.

On the one hand, we must keep in mind that By choosing these tracking applications, they have access to a valuable amount of data. And this information could fall into the hands of hackers. It is enough that a vulnerability is found in the system so that attacks of all sorts are carried out.

Sometimes it does not take much more than a call, as it happened with the hacking WhatsApp. A flaw exploited on the platform allowed attackers to have full control of the phone by simply making a call. And all this without it is even necessary for the user to answer the phone.

If a mbadive use platform – with end-to-end encryption and which, in principle, does not require the number of permissions that these monitoring applications can be hacked, then what to think applications that, on their own, have almost unlimited access to mobile?

They can definitely interest cybercriminals. Simply because it is a great wealth of information. The digital universe is vulnerable. So, as a general rule, do not forget that the more doors open, the more risk there is.

On the other hand, dozens of studies show that there are applications that do not respect the privacy of users: they get information that is sold to third parties for advertising purposes.

In the United States, a federal rule aims to protect the privacy of minors: the Online Privacy of Minors Act (COPPA). The purpose of this regulation is to limit the manner in which personal identification data (PII), such as geolocation or contact information, is collected and used by children under 13 years of age.

In 2017, the University of Berkeley badyzed 5,855 Android apps aimed at children and concluded that about 57% of them could violate the COPPA in one way or another. another.

In the end, it will be necessary to take stock and badess whether, given these risks, you want to install a tracking or monitoring application on your mobile phone. The most reasonable thing would be to have the consent of the child or the teenager to do it. These, more than anything, so as not to affect the bond of trust and respect their right to privacy.