VIDEO: Parenting Apps to Keep Your Children Safe

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- New apps are being developed everyday but now more than ever child safety and security are top priorities.

Multiple apps already exist for parents to monitor their child’s usage of their phone.

These devices right here are capable of more things than most of us even know about.

And now they’re playing the role of baby sitter and watchdog for parents.

“One of the key features of a cell phone is the GPS that’s included, is the GPS that’s included and so now if my child has a cell phone, I can basically use GPS to track exactly where they are,” says professor at Mississippi State, Dr. Byron Williams.

But that’s not all… Thanks to software improvements- more and more apps are being developed with parents specifically in mind.

Apps that lock children’s phones until they respond to calls or texts from their parents…

There are even apps that disable a child’s phone when they are driving!

“All of these features basically enable parents to number one, keep track of their child but also ensure that all the benefits that that cell phone provide are readily available in terms of me being able to contact them and then also monitor their activity,” says Williams.

Williams specializes in app development. He says developers are in their prime right now.

“It’s a result of just where we are as a society and the amount of information that we share with public companies online,” says Williams.

He also says with children now having phones at younger ages, safety and security are key.

“The same protections that are in place for and thought about in terms of privacy and security for adult users, definitely have to be in place for our children to protect kids when they’re surfing or just using a cell phone,” says Williams.

Byron says when his students build apps, they are taught to keep security a top priority.

“We start with building security in mind and about those layers of protection for the end users so that the apps cant be hacked but then so that also people using the applications, they’re kind of protections already in place. The sky is truly the limit in terms of cell phone hardware and software development,” says Williams.

For a complete list on the top parental security apps to sync with your child’s phone, you can head on over to the Apple and/or Google app stores.

Categories: Local News

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