Ask or Ask fm

Ask.fm

Threat Level – Very High

Ask or Ask.fm started as a web based program that allowed people to anonymously set up an account with email as the only verification. Once you setup an account, you are then assigned your own page specifically for you. At this point, you can set up a profile screen with profile pic and bio, but most kids do not.

I became aware of this app by kids posting on Instagram to “ask me anything” and other posts saying “see my ask me link in bio”. I went to their bio page, I saw the link there. All I had to do is click on the link they have posted on their Instagram bio page of their profile and it took me directly their private ask me page.

When you create an account on ask.fm, it creates a page for you and only you. People can come to your page and ask a question without logging in or becoming a member themselves. Kids think this is funny and innocent. I agree some questions I see posted to children’s ask accounts are innocent and childish. Such as Who is your BFF? Who is your favorite band? What is your favorite song? Questions like that are innocent, but you must make sure your kids are being asked those kind of questions. Make sure there are not coming from an adult or someone that you don’t want asking your children questions. Especially leading or grooming questions.

Up until a month ago, this was all web based and you needed to go to the website to access the asking questions pages. Now you can Download the Ask app. This app is free and when you access your account after installing on your device you can view questions people ask you and respond to them from inside the app.

I gave this a very high threat level, so people would realize that the innocent side is fine, but it only takes a few questions by predators to lure your children away. Don’t let this happen. Monitor your children’s ask accounts regularly.

Viber

Viber
Threat level – Low

It doesn’t take long to realize this app is a very popular one. With 14,000 reviews on the App Store (most being 5 stars) this one is not going away for a long while.

Viber is a texting and phone call app available for mobile devices. The app uses your wireless connection to the Internet to make phone calls or send texts without using your phone plan. This means the app only uses the data plan on your phone.

This app is free and had very high reviews over the past 3 years on App Store. When you first download app, it wants to send you a text message to verify that you have an active phone. Once it sends you your code, you can finish the setup. One feature that is different from most voice over Internet apps where you can send and receive texts is that you and whomever you are communicating with must both be using Viber. It will not allow you to use this app to make phone calls or texts to other people that don’t have. The app uses your telephone number as your Username.

Some pros of this of course is free long distance and another way to save money on your phone plan. Kids probably will be interested in some of the features that make this app unique.

It allows you to set a profile picture under the user account and also allows you to save your existing contacts or your Facebook contacts to the contacts inside the Viber app. This helps the user with who else is using Viber so you can send them a message or call them.

Some features of Viber state that it allows tele conferencing up to 40 people which is more than the standard three way calling a lot of kids use to utilize to talk to friends at the same time.

Another feature of Viber is the text messaging. It has different pictures you can send other users called stickers to communicate. Kids think this is a cute and different way to communicate through pictures similar to Emoji characters and is becoming more and more popular. Via texting inside the app, your child can also send pictures and videos that will only show up from inside the Viber app. Monitor this closely. There may be a reason they don’t want this show in the regular messaging side of their device.

This app has no ads that I could see and also has push notifications that allow your messages to show up on screen if you are not actively using the app.

If you find this app on your child’s device, go to the contacts button at bottom of screen. These are the only people they can contact back and forth with and make sure you know who they are communicating with inside the app.

If you do not approve, deleting this app deletes everything inside of it also. Once it is deleted, the other people they had been communicating with will be gone as well.

The low threat level I gave this app is due to the reason your child would want an app like this on their device. Does it have a legit purpose? Do you know who they are communicating with inside it? If not find out quick.

Purple app, purple, white phone

Let’s Date

Lets Date
Threat Level – High

Lets date is an app developed by Saturn5 technologies that allows users to generate themselves a “dating card”. You do this by signing into the app using Facebook login and then selecting categories you fall under such as, hiker, movie watcher, weight lifter etc.

Once you select your categories and upload your profile pic, you are ready to start selecting Dates. When you select someone, they can then view your card and decide whether to reply with a message and accept the date, or decline.

A couple things struck me odd about this “dating” app. Number one was the explicit pictures that are viewable of profile pics of its users. 2nd was how the warnings of the app on download stated 17 plus, but more strange was all the disclaimers about sexual conduct, nudity, drug use. If this was a legit dating app, why would they need a disclosure on inappropriate remarks?

You also rank the persons card date after the date happens for others to view before dating. Could be an innocent dating app for adults or another sex meet up app disguised as a dating app.

Regardless of this apps intentions good of bad, your child does not need this app on their device. This one is flagged Adults only for a reason.

White, Blue, red, red heart, dating app

Clipchat

Clipchat

Threat Level – Very High

Clipchat is another picture sharing app in the world of self destructing photos that started with SnapChat.

If something is doing well and making money, you can rest assured knowing other companies are going to try and copy. We have seen this with Idelete and now with Clipchat. So you ask yourself. What is the difference?

There is not a whole lot of difference with this app. The concept is the same. Share photos or videos for a short time before the picture deletes itself. With Clipchat, there is a predetermined time frame of 5 seconds. As of right now, you cannot choose different time frames for the person you are sending to be able to view. There are some cosmetic angles that are different with pixeling of the pics before you view them, but that really is purely cosmetic.

One different aspect of this app versus others is more of a social feel with being able to leave messages with your followers. Everything else is just cosmetic. Of course, they are trying to market the encryption of your pics being private and not obtainable due to deletion method. I have a rule of thumb when it comes to technology and data. If you send it, there is no way you can get it back. Keep that in the back of your mind because there usually is a way to get the images through these kind of photo sharing apps.

I ranked this at a very high threat level app, due to it being an app that you cannot monitor very easily and will have to stay up on your kids friends list to see who and what they are sharing via this app.

I’m sure more clones are coming like this so brace yourself and stay educated.

Blue app, white camera, play button, camera with play button

Spyrix Key Logger

Spyrix Key Logger is software that allows you to monitor your child’s actions on a PC with key logger, screenshots and more.  This free download is awesome for the basic intel of finding out what your child is doing on the computer.

Obviously, this is software for the desktop or laptop, but is free.  There is a paid version that allows more options on what you can do, but this would work perfect if you need a quick fix on finding out what is going on.  Screenshots, History the full version has a ton of different tools.  This does not show up as active running software but runs in the background.  Your child will never know you are monitoring their activity.  The link to their site is

http://www.spyrix.com/spyrix-free-keylogger.php