Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A NEW APP called ‘SelfieCop’ aims to deter children from engaging in ‘sexting’ by sending their parents a copy of every photo or video taken by the child on their mobile phone.
Sexting is when people send sexually explicit messages and photos between mobile phones.
The app was the idea of a father and two uncles, all web developers.
The aim is that before taking or sending on a photo the teenagers will have to ask themselves: “Do I want my mum to see this?”
SelfieCop works by emailing any images or video taken by the child with the camera on the mobile or tablet as well as any images taken through other apps such as SnapChat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, MessageMe, Twitter and Kik on to an email address assigned by their parents.
All parents have to do is download and install the app to their child’s phone or tablet, enter a private email address to which the images will be sent and lock the app with a password, so that the child can not disable it.
Sexting
A study by McAfee in 2012 found that of the 21.5% of teens who post photos online, 7.5% are in revealing clothing.
Children sexting each other has become such a concern that one police force in the UK has warned that children who share so-called “sexts” with friends could face prosecution in court.
The Nothinghamshire police wrote a letter to all schools in the area stating that they were receiving reports on a daily basis of naked images being circulated between teenagers.
The makers of app said that the app has already been well-received, with police forces in the UK expressing interest in it.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I suppose “No nudes is good nudes”…
What if a bloke sends a nude to a girl…does her mum see that as well? If she does…twice the excitement for him!
I love the moral panic inducing stats in this one, 7.5% of the 21.5% that post photos is actually 1.6% of the total and their crime is the wearing of “revealing clothing”.
#Rhetoric!
Ah sure we need a moral panic surrounding teenagers every few years. Either they’re all practicing the dark arts of they’re knocking boots and becoming p*rn stars.
Are all parents really are dumb herd animals led by tabloid media??
You would have to ask serious questions as a parent if you had reason to use this app. If you’re worried your child is sending naked picture and sexting between the ages 9-13 then there might be other, more important problems to address first. But of course, we all know the best way to deal with teenagers is to force them into cooperating by any means possible. The craziest people I knew growing up by far had the strictest parents.
Love it. Wishing success to the app creators.
Thanks Patrick. Appreciate it.
Great idea. Tried to do something similar about four years ago but couldn’t raise the finance (not a programmer). Had a couple of different features. Best of luck.
You would want to be some sick parent to be looking a nude pics of your kids
“The aim is that before taking or sending on a photo the teenagers will have to ask themselves: “Do I want my mum to see this?” ”
I’m not a teenager, but it depends on how attractive my parents are.
“Hey sweetie, happy 16th birthday!! Here’s a new phone just for you :)
Now, never EVER use it!! ”
Fu@kin nanny state!!
It’s a parent saying you can have a phone so you can call home / stay in touch with friends etc but we’re not allowing you send photos you wouldn’t want us to see.
Seems reasonable for parents of pre-teens. It’s called parenting – state has literally nothing to do with it
Its called personal responsibility and personal freedom
What is the point of giving them liberties just to tell them they’re half assed liberties and you’ll be watching them?
They’re not babies, they’re growing adults, learning more every day and rather than spend every waking moment believing they’re up to something, it’s best to sit down, have a long talk about the dangers of it all, then step back and pray to god that some of what you said sticks.
They’re going to make mistakes, they’re going to fcuk up and they’re going to let you down at times but you know something, you’re going to let them down sometimes too.
It’s not a parents job to shield their children from the world
It’s their job to guide them through it
They’re smarter than you give them credit for and if you only give them low standards they are going to live down to those low standards.
You’re some as*-clown. The app’s target market is 9-13 year olds, as stated in comments above. So you think we shouldn’t shield this age group? You think it’s a parent’s job to guide them through potential exploitation/premature sexual experience??
“Yes sweetie, there are many dangers associated with child exploitation of a sexual nature through uses of smartphones/internet access. But it’s my job to hold your hand throughout your journey through this, not to protect you from these pitfalls or preserve your childhood.”….
SAID NO PARENT EVER!!!
This raises another question of child’s right to privacy. Since when do we consider it a norm to monitor all of the other person activities? “Home-scale NSA” ?
You’re dead right. Parents have had it out for their kids since day one.
Child’s right to privacy? Get lost ya loony. I check my 14 year olds phone when I want. He complains, I tell him to buy his own house and he can make his own rules.
I’m a parent. Not the fecking NSA.
My house my child my rules
Why do you check his phone?
Mainly to make sure he not being bullied. Or doing the bullying. Or looking at Porn.
I’d be worried if he wasnt lookin at porn.
Trust more in the job you did raising him.
I don’t agree with taking his phone whenever you want though- that sends the message you don’t trust him and if he starts to think that, why would he trust you enough to talk to you about bullying ect
As for the porn thing that’s normal for a boy his age, accept it and move on.
Actually Sergey makes a good point, and it is something we put a *lot* of thought into.
Our original plan was to allow parents to track every photo & video on their child’s device. But, as development progressed, we began to pare back in response to a greater understanding of the “rule-saturated” lives of modern kids.
For example, the book “The social life of the networked teens” (by Danah Boyd), shows how structured many kids’ lives are (e.g. Monday = football, Tuesday = friends, Wednesday = swimming, etc.) such that their peer-relationships really suffer. The only place they have left to socialise is via their smartphones locked away in their bedrooms. Hence the huge growth in Instagram, Snapchat etc.
The problem is that teens are impulsive & do not always understand the effect of their actions. 90% of smartphone use is unsupervised and sexting is filling this void.
The aim of SefieCop is to deter unsafe behaviour by allowing parents to see every photo or video taken by their child’s phone/tablet.
Of course, the aim is not to embarrass kids or to catch them out. SelfieCop is not SpyWare. For the app to work, parents must always tell their child that it is installed and what it does.
Combining an app like SelfieCop with regular inspections, kids are then forced to STOP-&-THINK every time they take a photo or video, “Do I really want my mom or dad to see me like this?”
Overtime, this type of self-policing becomes second nature and can vastly reduce the chances of your child taking (or sharing) an unsafe image.
As regards age groups, we recommend that SelfieCop be installed on the phones of kids aged from 9-13. Children of this age have less of an expectation of privacy and are more open to long-term learning about unsafe behaviours.
Are these the right decisions? We think we have the balance about right, but remain open to all comments and criticisms.
I think it’s fair to say Doey doesn’t have any kids
@Cpm… and I havnt forgot what it is to be one either
When we were nine years old, we were kicked out of the house the moment the sun rose out of the ground and if we came back before supper time someone had better of died,
I see “grown-ups” going along with media hype eating it up like cattle and wondering why their falling out with the younger generations
Rules without explanation didn’t work on us, disciplinary hitting didn’t work on us and over the top control didn’t work on us so why in the hell do you think it’s going to work on modern kids?
It’s one to thing to worry about your kids
It’s another thing entirely to monitor their every waking moment
You”re dead right. Who else will protect them? No one else will.
“rules without explanation didn’t work on us”
Eh, actually it did. It’s why I work hard, don’t break the law, provide for my family and also have a great relationship with my parents.
As for the Porn thing, of course I expect a 14 year old to be interested in Porn. But the Internet took Porn to a very different level than when we were 14. No harm in keeping an eye out.
Child is your property? I guess it is time to call social service guys on you. Who knows in which other way you abuse your child…
Does not that looks much like a prison to you?
Simply factory reset the phone and the app is gone. :-D snap away. Lol
Hi Alan.
As a fail safe, everytime SelfieCop is installed on a smartphone/tablet, a corresponding entry is made to our database. Throughout the day we ‘ping’ the device to ensure the app is working.
If our latest ‘ping’ is not answered within 1 hour (because the phone is off, out of coverage, or because of a factory reset), an alert email is sent to the child’s parent recommending that they check the phone to make sure all is OK.
This provides a belt-and-braces way to ensure SelfieCop remains active.
So if the device is not connected to Internet or the plan the child has on their device does not include data connection, how do you plan to “ping” it.
Good question.
If the device is not connected to Internet, the ping will not get through. This is recorded by our database. After 1hour, if the device still does not respond, an email alert s sent to the parent.
As regards a child whose device does not include data connection, SelfieCop should not be installed as it will not work. It is only designed for phones/tablets that can access the internet.
So therefore when the child uses up all there credit and you don’t get a ping, you contact the parent worrying them if the child in not close to hand or that they may be fiddling with your software. Don’t forget “Airplane Mode” is pretty standard on most smart phones.
Older could just transfer their ” selfies” to a pc while in Airplane Mode and then delete the pictures from the device.
If there’s a way, the modern smart kid will find it. It is a good idea but it has flaws and really needs to be integrated into the device and not an app.
*Their Credit
Good insights. Perhaps it is too much to send alerts everytime a device is out of contact – maybe just when the app is uninstalled or ‘stopped’? I’d be interested in your thoughts.
Regarding it not being a complete solution, that is something we freely admit. SelfieCop can only work when combined with responsible parenting.
It is probably inevitable that older kids will figure a way around it. As that happens we’ll have to react in the usual way of such “arms races”. That said, our experience so far tells us that “non-techie” kids of 9-13 (our target) do not find it easy to interfere with it.
The app stopped or uninstalled call back/home would be only an option with a network connection like any other ping/call back.
But do you think there would be concerns surrounding Data Protection. Issues surrounding the privacy and data of the registered owner of the device, even if it is installed by a parent or guardian. They may do it without the consent of the registered owner if the device is already owned by the child/teen or it can also be used against a spouse or partner. Just thoughts and concerns I would have.
Thanks Alan. Ref privacy, we put a lot of thought into that. The sensitivity of the data we handle ensures it is permanently at the top of our meeting list.
We believe our privacy/data polices are the strictest of any app, and (although they are long) we have made best efforts to make them as readable as possible. We also initiated contact with the Data Protection to ensure we are in 100% compliance with what he recommends.
Read our polices at https://www.selfiecop.com/privacy/index.htm
As regards spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends using the app to spy on their partner. As per my answer below, SelfieCop is not SpyWare and does not operate in a hidden way. (There are far better apps for spying if that is what people want to do.)
SelfieCop is fully visible to whomever’s phone/tablet it is installed onto, because of the following features:
1. The SelfieCop is logo is visible on the desktop.
2. When the child tries to access Settings, the SelfieCop app opens by default.
3. When the child tries to access Play Store, the SelfieCop app opens by default.
Finally, anyone who is concerned about an installation of SelfieCop can contact us. We can then match details with our database and disable any account remotely. Our Terms of Use make it clear that no contracts exists if the app is used by anyone other than a parent/legal-guardian and child.
See more at https://www.selfiecop.com/terms/index.htm
Whatever about moral and ethical implication of this there are a few practical concerns with using this app. First the kids have to want to have it on the phone because apps are easily uninstalled, it would be very difficult for parents to enforce. There’s then the question of which other apps and services this will have access to. Their website says it records all photos and videos taken using native camera apps as well as Snapchat (may violate their terms of service), Instagram, Twitter, Kik, Facebook or Whatsapp. I have relatives who sends dozens of snapchats a day, use Instagram, Whatsapp and facebook, that’s a preposterous amount of images for any parent to be monitoring even for one child let alone 2 or 3
Ciaran, on iOS, you can use passworded restrictions to allow installing or removing apps. Don’t know about Android or Windows phones.
Two good points.
1. About uninstalling …
SelfieCop includes an ‘applock’ features that makes it difficult for users to ‘stop’ or uninstall the app. (Selfiecop.com/applock)
Of course there are no 100% barriers to uninstalling or force-stopping an app. But our experience so far tells us that “non-techie” kids of 9-13 (our target) do not find it easy to interfere with its operation.
That said, it is probably inevitable that some kids will figure a way to stop it. As that happens we’ll have to react in the usual way of such “arms races”.
2. About image volumes …
You’re right about this. Kids who take a lot of photos/videos will generate a lot of emails for parents to review. This is something we are developing solutions for.
However, we are also mindful that we are merely a ‘data carrier’ and that storing such sensitive files (even for short periods) creates many extra issues.
All that said, it’s also worth bearing in mind that SelfieCop is mainly about deterrence. With that in mind parents could choose to check only a certain portion number of images, whilst still having the same deterrent effect.
Couple of uncles?? “It’s just a security app to stop you using your daddy’s credit card… Now go back to texting your boyfriend”
#creepyuncle
Mobile phone companies are gonna be all over this. Imagine the data charges and credit used if every pic and video a child takes is sent off via the internet. Parents won’t be long getting rid of it.
Maybe it uses a compression algorithm to reduce file size? But I totally see your point..
Hopefully they have made the app smart enough to hold the pics when a data connection is not available, and then send them when a connection becomes available. Then you can disable 3G (or 4G) data for that particular app and the pics would only be sent by wifi.
That’s the loophole. Turn off wifi, take the pic, send it and delete it before the app has a chance to send it.
Hi folks. We put a lot of work into keeping the data load as low as possible. We understand that kids mainly use pay-as-you-go and would soon revolt if their data was chewed up by the app.
As such, we do not send ‘original sized’ copies, but thumbnail sized. These average about 40-50kb per image. As such, 100 such images = 4-5Mb, 200 = 8-10mb, etc.
Although this does subtract from the child’s bandwidth allocation, we believe it is low anough to be tolerable. If not, we could try to optimise further. We await user feedback…
SelfieCop still works when WiFi is off. It stores all copies of images until it detects the network is back up and then sends the backlog. Even if the child deletes the original images while WiFi is off, our copies are stored elsewhere on the device (and no, I’m not saying where ;)
$2.99 for the Americans and
€2.99 for the Europeans.
Bound to be a dicky-diver in this haven of profiteers and strokers!
So am I correct in saying that you’ve created a product that means by mearly gaining access to a child’s phone or tablet for 2-3 mins the aspiring pedophile can now rig it to send every photo taken straight to their own inbox….
No. You’re incorrect.
The reason is that SelfieCop is not SpyWare. It does not operate in a hidden way. It is fully visible to whomever child’s phone/tablet it is installed onto, because of the following features:
1. The SelfieCop is logo is visible on the desktop.
2. When the child tries to access Settings, the SelfieCop app opens by default.
3. When the child tries to access Play Store, the SelfieCop app opens by default.
We also have a feature whereby a notification may appear everytime a photo or video is taken to alert the user that SelfieCop is installed. This feature is due for testing/release in later versions.
Finally, anyone who is concerned about an installation of SelfieCop can contact us. We can then match details with our database and disable any account remotely.
have your say