There are many ways to spend time online. But the most popular ways are social media. And online texting apps like WhatsApp. You may think texting apps are harmless. Your kids are contacting with his/her friends with those apps. You can see them laughing and smiling at the screen. Most of the time they are using WhatsApp. Is WhatsApp safe for children? Here is what you need to know about the dangers of WhatsApp and how to protect your children.
You can easily check your kid’s whatsapp activity easily using phone tracking app
What is WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is a free multiplatform messaging app that uses the phone’s internet connection (wifi) to send messages, photos, videos. You can also make video and voice calls with just a Wi-Fi connection. The app was created by two former Yahoo employees in 2009 and social media bought the app in 2014. Now Facebook is the parent company of WhatsApp.
In February 2020 Facebook reported that WhatsApp supports 2 billion users around the world which is 700 million more than the Facebook messenger. In 2019 WhatsApp was the most downloaded app with 850 million downloads. It clearly shows that WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world right now.
Why Whatsapp Is So Popular Among Kids?
It’s easy and free: Creating a WhatsApp account is just a matter of a few clicks. It has a simple and user-friendly interface and kids can operate it with ease.
Group chats: The most popular feature of WhatsApp is its group chats. Anyone can create a group chat and add up to 250 people to the group. Normally parents feel it less harmful and do not bother to check it.
Cool Features: WhatsApp has lots of features that attract kids. Using the status feature users can send disappearing photos, videos. There is another popular feature named broadcast feature. A User can send a particular message to several people creating a broadcast list. It seems like a chat group but there is a major difference and that is people can not see other people in the same broadcast list.
It’s fun: Many WhatsApp hacks are popular among kids. Anyone can find a functionality app on google and use it to enhance their WhatsApp experience.
Is WhatsApp Secure? What Are The Vulnerabilities?
Potential malware threats: Users now can download WhatsApp from the web for desktops. Criminals, hackers, and scammers have all taken advantage of this method. Attackers are passing off malicious software as WhatsApp desktop applications. If anyone downloads and installs this application their computer can be compromised with malware. If any App is whatsapp safe for my kids.
The Vulnerability Of Unecncypted Backups: Normally the WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted. It means your message is secure. Not even WhatsApp or Facebook can read your message. But the encryption does not work for back up data. You can make a backup of your WhatsApp messages and save it on your device or any other cloud service. This backed up data is not encrypted. It means anyone with access to this backup can decrypt this message.
Parents Need To Know
The minimum age limit for using WhatsApp is 16. It was dropped to 13 years earlier but in April 2018 returned to 16 years. Like many other social media apps, children may ignore this and signup for WhatsApp.
What Are The Potential Dangers Of Whatsapp For Kids?
1. Inappropriate Or Secretive Content:
The first concern is is in the way kids and others use the app. Kids can be exposed to inappropriate content. They also can exchange inappropriate content with others. These days kids use acronyms or slang on social media. So they can use those to hide risky behavior. Is whatsapp safe for my kids but how?
2. Strangers With Harmful Intentions:
As teenagers largely use WhatsApp it is a perfect place to catch underaged victims. Any member can copy the group chat links and share them with anyone who then can join the group. So it is not a tough job to befriend a kid on WhatsApp and pursue them to share a on scene photo of him or her. Thus a kid can become a victim of sexual abuse.
3. Cyberbullying:
Kids always share entertaining videos, photos, memes in WhatsApp chat groups. If a rumor or a funny photograph of any kind is shared or conflicts erupts, situation can get intense very quickly. If any of the group members share that on the web then there is a high chance that that kid will become a victim of cyberbullying. is whatsapp safe for my kids.
4. Privacy Concerns:
WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted. But that does not stop people from taking screenshots of messages and sharing them. Users can download private discussions and photos. There is another thret and that is how the app collects data from the users. This can be reviewed from the WhatsApp Terms of Service, but not all kids are aware of that.
5. Scammers And Hackers:
Like any other social app WhatsApp is not free of scammers or hackers. WhatsApp had issues with spyware, phishing, money requests, and fraudulent job opportunities. Hackers often upload files with malware to hack devices. Clicking a false link or downloading a malicious file can handover user’s data to the hackers.
6. Fake News:
Using WhatsApp chat groups it is easy to go viral with fake news or news that is not accurate. There was a tragic incident in 2018 mobe killing was happened this way.
How To Protect Kids From The Dangers Of WhatsApp?
Guide your kids at a younger age: Create a private WhatsApp group just for your family. Teach your kids to create a safe profile and maximize safety features. So teach them to block strangers and report bullying. Also teach them how to safely share pictures, videos, and other files with other users. Teach them about fake links and potentially dangerous files.
Discuss the app: Ask them about their life with WhatsApp. What they like, What kinds of group chats they are part of, what kind of media they share and receive, ask them in a friendly manner.
Tell them to control location sharing: If the location-sharing is turned on then the location of your kid will be shared automatically when sharing a picture. So tell them to turn it off.
Tell them to avoid strangers and strange links: WhatsApp is a easy medium to share phishing links. Tell your kids not to click on any link given by a unknown person. And tell how these links can hurt him/her or even the family.
Use monitoring Software: Doesn’t matter how hard you try there is a chance that they do not listen to you. Or give you enough data about their WhatsApp life. For this kind of situation, monitoring software is your best option. A parental control app like spouseware can help you monitor your kid’s WhatsApp activities. You can see WhatsApp conversations without touching the phone, without a trace. Do you believe is whatsapp safe for my kids.
What Else Will You Get From Spouseware?
You will get lots of things from spouceware to monitor your kid’s online activities. Here are some crazy things you can do with spouseware.
1. Saved contacts, calls, SMS.
2. Call and SMS records.
3. Record the call and hear it later.
4. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or any other social network activities.
5. Stored photos and videos on the phone
6. Browsing history
7. GPS location and live tracking
8. You can access your child’s phone camera and see around!
Bottom Lines
Every parent wants to keep their children safe. In this digital era, the process has become more complicated than in earlier times. You can not stop your children from using technology. So, what is the solution? You teach them how to use it properly. Tell them what to do and what not when using social networks. If you are feeling bad about anything then consider using monitoring software. Spying on a teenager’s phone or tablet is a kind of violation of privacy rights but this is approach is validated by law.