The feature is part of
expanded parental controls on the Messenger Kids app aimed at children under 13
Facebook is rolling out a
slew of changes to Messenger Kids that give parents more control over how their
children use the messaging app. You can review who your kids are interacting
with and review their chat histories, according to the social network’s blog post this week.
In addition, you get access
to the most recent videos and photos your kids have sent or received, and you
can remove the content if needed. The app’s revamp also gives you the option to
see a list of devices where your children are logged in, and force a log-out
remotely.
“Parents remain in control
of who their child is connected to in Messenger Kids and can remove people from
their child’s contact list at any time,” said Facebook product manager Morgan
Brown. The new features can be accessed through the Messenger Kids Parent
Dashboard in the Facebook Android and iOS apps.
You can also request a copy
of your child’s Messenger Kids data, much like you can do with your own information shared with
Facebook. “The download will include a list of your child’s contacts as well as
the messages, images and videos they have sent and received. Your child will be
notified through the Messenger Kids app when you request this information,”
said Brown.
Facebook has also made it
easier for kids to block contacts and overall manage who they interact with. As a parent or guardian,
you can now also see if your child has reported or blocked, as well as
unblocked, other users.
In addition to rolling out
the new features, Facebook announced an update to its privacy policy to add extra information
about “data collection, use, sharing, retention and deletion practices”.
The company said it would
use age-appropriate language to educate children on data collection. “For
example, we inform kids that people they know may see their name and photo,
that parents can see and download their messaging content and that they are not
able to delete any messages they send or receive,” said Facebook.
The social giant has
previously given assurances regarding the use of collected data and was quick
to reiterate its promise again: “We don’t use children’s data from Messenger
Kids for advertising. There continue to be no ads in Messenger Kids and no
in-app purchases.”
Geared towards children younger than 13 years, Messenger Kids is
designed to be a controlled-environment alternative to the social network’s
main Messenger app. The kid-friendly app was launched for iOS devices in the
United States in December 2017; other countries and the Android version
followed a few months later.
The app gives children a
way to stay in touch with their relatives and friends while giving parents some
measure of oversight, including by allowing
them to pre-approve the list of people their kids interact with.
Facebook came under fire
last year after a design flaw in the app undermined these parental
controls by allowing some of the app’s users to chat with complete strangers.
https://www.welivesecurity.com/2020/02/06/facebook-now-lets-monitor-childrens-chats/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eset%2Fblog+%28ESET+Blog%3A+We+Live+Security%29