Spy Parent » Snapchat http://spyparent.net You Need to Know Wed, 12 Mar 2014 10:04:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.1 Yik Yak App: New Weapon for Cyberbullies http://spyparent.net/blog/yik-yak-app-new-weapon-for-cyberbullies/ http://spyparent.net/blog/yik-yak-app-new-weapon-for-cyberbullies/#comments Sun, 09 Feb 2014 17:16:31 +0000 http://spyparent.net/?p=1739 The new message app Yik Yak is keeping principals up late at night. It is the newest message app that high school teens are using to bully their classmates. Unlike messaging apps such as Whats App, Kik, or Snapchat, Yik Yak is totally anonymous. There are no user names, passwords, or profiles to identify users. It functions similar to twitter except the Yak wall does not have users names. The app only shows a stream of anonymous messages. Users can either up vote or down vote the messages.

Yik Yak was designed to allow college students to share anonymous stories that take place on campus. In our review of the app a lot of Yaks popped up regards to things that were happening on the campus of Georgia Tech. Yak maybe appropriate on a campus with thousands of students. It is less likely that the app will be taken serious by young adults. The problem for parents is that the app has caught fire in local high schools. Principals since the release of the app have been dealing with incidents of bullying. Some principals have went as far as banning the app.

In response, Yik Yak has created a zero tolerance policy against cyberbullying. Any users using full names or telephone numbers will be banned from the app. This policy is having a small impact due to app users complaining on Google Play that their accounts are being deleted due to bullying.

It is important for parents to block this app or delete this app off their teen’s phones. The developers clearly intended for the app to be used by adults. The app is rated 17+ in the App store for Nudity, Sexual Content,Crude Humor, Drug Use, etc. Parents can also request that school IT departments block access to the app within the school.

Please let us know below if your child has come into contact with Yik Yak.

]]> http://spyparent.net/blog/yik-yak-app-new-weapon-for-cyberbullies/feed/ 0 Apps Your Teen Uses to Capture Snapchat Porn http://spyparent.net/sizzler/sexting/apps-your-teen-uses-to-capture-snapchat-porn/ http://spyparent.net/sizzler/sexting/apps-your-teen-uses-to-capture-snapchat-porn/#comments Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:15:03 +0000 http://spyparent.net/?p=1491 Teens and even Wall Street Bankers are still going crazy over the photo sharing app Snapchat. Snapchat is the popular iOS and android app that allows users to send (snap) pictures to each other. The sent images can be set to self-destruct within 5-10 seconds. Snapchat has outpaced Instagram and other social media sites. Snapchat founders are valuing the company close to 1 billion

One of the most recent issues with the app is it’s Android vulnerabilities. A recent firm discovered that vanished images could be restored from the app. The bad news for parents is that a teen does not need to pay 400-500 dollars to hire a data retrieval firm. There are several apps in the Google Play Store that allow teens to capture and restore deleted snaps for under 3 dollars. Here are the top Snapchat Capture apps.

SnapCapture [ROOT]- All Snapchat incoming Snapchat images and videos are saved to the phone. The app runs in the background of your phone. The person that sends the snap is not notified that their snap has been captured. The app requires the phone to be rooted.

SnapSave- saves all images and pictures even if the Snapchat meter is set at 1 second. Phone must be rooted

Snap Sync (Root)- All snaps are synced to your dropbox account. App blocks the sender from knowing that their images and videos have been copied.

Developers have found a quick way to monetize the ability to capture naughty Snaps. This trend will continue in the near future.

Here are three ways to Protect Your Teens

1. Communication- you need to let your teen know that apps exist that will covertly store all of their snaps. They need to be very conservative with any snaps.

2. Deny Root- never, never, never allow your teen to root their cell phones. All snap capturing apps require root access. Most nefarious apps are made for rooted phones. Root phones also allow malicious viruses to be downloaded

3. Monitor Storage- you should always check your teen cloud device storage systems such as Dropbox, Box, Google Drive,and Evernote to ensure that they are not downloading any pornographic materials.

Protect your teens parents!

]]> http://spyparent.net/sizzler/sexting/apps-your-teen-uses-to-capture-snapchat-porn/feed/ 0 Recovered Snapchat Photos Increase Revenge Porn http://spyparent.net/blog/uncategorized/recovered-snapchat-photos-increase-revenge-porn/ http://spyparent.net/blog/uncategorized/recovered-snapchat-photos-increase-revenge-porn/#comments Tue, 28 May 2013 05:51:38 +0000 http://spyparent.net/?p=1428 The popular App Snapchat has a major vulnerability on Android cell phones. Forensic investigators have found a way to view deleted photos on the Android platform. Although the developers of Snapchat have argued for the past year that the app’s self destructing pics could not be viewed by the end user, the quick removal of an extension file will uncover all of the pics.

This is major news since Snapchat has become the number one social media outlet for teens. It has outpaced Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumbler in popularity. The problem is that the developers intended the app as a sexting app in order to maxemize profits. You can invision them in their dorm rooms thinking of how to make millions by creating a “safe” sexting app.

This vulernability leads to revenge porn. This is the new phenomenon in which couples exchange sexting pics during their relationship. Once the relationship ends, the jilted lover unleashes all of the private sexting photos to embarass and shame the ex partner.
We went into the twitter verse to check out revenge Porn.

Our review of Snapchat provides a tutorial for all parents on monitoring Snapchat

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