Mom and Dad Spying on Kids Online

Parents are spending more than ever on internet security for their kids online. That means spying. So, kids, welcome your new shotgun riders in your internet, iPod, mobile phone, texting, Facebook connected world. Say hi, mom and dad. Kids don’t like it. Mom and dad are uncomfortable about spying to insure internet security for their kids. But parents look out at the high speed, My Space, keyboard world and find a new and dangerous Wild West as far as the eye might see.

Their fear has been confirmed by a number of horrific news stories reporting about kids online who are caught up in dangerous situations, unimaginable only a decade ago. And mom and dad see their primary job as protecting their brood from an ambush by the bad guys in black hats.

So get used to it, kids. Mom and dad are riding shotgun for internet security whether you want them there or not. And don’t think your parents are stupid. Mom and dad are rapidly catching up to you on the web highway, aided by smart software developers and parenting experts who are teaching parents about kids online and the subsequent need for internet security.

You may have been born into and raised in the new connected world and think you know all the tricks to cover your cybertracks but you don’t. Your days of surfing and texting  bikinibabes.com 7,000 times per week are numbered.

First, mom and dad have more brains than you. They also have the experience of years to concoct really sneaky plots to follow kids online. Finally, they have more money than you.  Open the wallet and the latest James Bond gadgets you never heard of tumble out on the table. Face it, kids, you’re outgunned. Brains, money and experience gives your mom eyes in the back of her head.

Parents can hang so many tricks, gadgets, and spyware on you that you’ll flash and sing like a Christmas tree on Times Square. They can read your texting, tunnel into Facebook and see your profile and reprint every web page you ever downloaded. That’s the easy low-cost small stuff.

Remember the money thing? Mom and dad can hire professional cyber-spies to track your every move. And spies are getting cheaper everyday. So no matter where you go, who you meet or what you say, there’s mom and dad waving hello and reading a painfully detailed report all about their kids online.

How’s that song go?

He’s making a list
Checking it twice
Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice
Mom and dad are coming to town.

Shall we look at the internet security tools you’re facing? Yes, let’s.

Every keystroke can be recorded. All your incoming and outgoing text messages can be read. Your time on your mobile phone can be set and managed like a digital alarm clock. Every call you make or receive can be tallied and classified. Parents can buy software that intercepts your incoming and outgoing e-mail and then forward that e-mail to the parent.

For about $30 annually, parents can subscribe to a service that will read outbound and inbound text messages. The service will also give the phone’s location, block messages from certain numbers and send alerts if certain keywords are written in messages.

Then there’s vehicle monitors that tracks speed, distance traveled and braking data. In a nutshell, it gives a record of how safely you drove.

The above is a small sampling.

If you think your puny anti-spy freeware will cover for you... Forget it.

Remember nanny software? Well, Miss Nanny is getting bigger, more clever and snoopier. Mobile phone nanny software is available to block and monitor cell phone use. Parents can set controls on the time a cell phone may be used and restrict access to questionable numbers. Some come with GPS features that pinpoint your location.

Face it, kid, you’re young, unsophisticated and barely acculturated, so that makes you ripe for picking. Mom and dad are hanging around to make sure you don’t get plucked and eaten.

Remember the stupid kids sending nude pictures of themselves over the mobile phone? Well, the prosecutor is considering charging the idiot texters with child porn. A conviction for perversion follows you for life. That means forever. You’ll be lucky to get a job slinging hash in an ex-pat, low-rent greasy spoon in Bangkok.

Now, catch this -

A dominant message is coming out - and being largely embraced - that good parenting involves phone and internet monitoring by parents using various control strategies, properly adjusted for individual situations. That means your wild west days are toast.

The momma bird message is overwhelming the nutty pop culture psychologists who insisted that parents treat kids as adults and let them do what they want. The libertine sun is setting, being replaced by old fashioned personal responsibility.

Let’s spell it out: Moms and dads are spending millions to keep their kids out of jail or worse. They don’t want to see you with a new name that starts with “Prisoner #,” followed by a state issued number. Who can blame them?

Look at yourself. According to the Garlik survey, kids online have a stupid habit of befriending strangers on the net. One in five admit to meeting these “friends” offline. How dumb is that?

Two-thirds of kids admit to posting what school they attend or their home phone numbers on their profile. Duh...

Adults have an attitude about protecting their hard-won possessions. The car gets parked in a locked garage. The dog gets chained in a fenced yard. The compound noun “house cat” has an obvious implication. Parents want to keep their stuff secured. Imagine what they’ll do to keep you, their most valued possession, safe.

So you may be the next Neil Armstrong or General Eisenhower, but you ain’t there yet, puppy dog. You’ve got some stewing and brewing to do before you’re ready for a place on life’s banquet table. And mom and dad will make sure you’re done just right.

Let’s start with Facebook. This popular site can be accessed by anyone, including mom and dad. If parents want to watch kids at Facebook, they can head over to keyloggerdownloads.com and read about dozens of keylogger programs that will find your screen name and passwords.

There’s also a psyops strategy that parents can use to watch kids at MySpace.

Sites exist where parents can learn all your truncated, super-duper secret on-line teen lingo. You’re not going to fool them unless you learn USMC Navaho code-talker. (Go look it up or rent the movie “Windtalkers.”)

Parents can find personal monitor programs with instant security alerts delivered to their computer. Another program will control the amount of time a child uses the computer.

Other companies offer spy service to silently record SMS text messages, GPS locations, calls made and other data. Want to meet one of the big cyber dogs on the block?

Mobile Spy records every text message - sent and received. Every call is tracked, all photos and videos taken by the phone can be seen. It can “see” all incoming and outgoing calls. All the log results can be browsed in a secured online account. This service can also remotely monitor your computer and smartphone from anywhere in the world.

The software doesn’t rely on the phone’s call and message logs. If the user wipes his tracks, it’s too late. The data has already been captured and stored at a private account. It’s compatible with iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones. It can also be used on Windows Mobile, Symbian OS and iPad.

And you won’t be hacking in or finding it with any cheap spy catcher software. It’s invisible. Plus it’s an SSL secured site which is password protected. So trying to uncover it with Spybot Search & Destroy or Malewarebytes will be fruitless.

And speaking of spycatcher software, the majority of this stuff that claims it can detect and eliminate spyware is spyware itself. How’s that for a kick in the pants? So if you want to find out if mom and dad are spying on you, the application you upload could spy on you. There’s a long list of this malicious software that can plant oodles of malware, spyware, viruses and trojans on your hard drive. Go fish but be careful of what you catch.

Three-quarters of parents admit to spying on their kids online. Some even create false profiles on sites like Facebook to watch their kids, and others admit to logging into their child’s account when they aren’t around.

There you go, kids. You’ve met your new passengers riding shotgun and providing internet security in your online world . Hi, mom. Hi, dad.

Now, shall we go surfing...