THE APPS THAT LET PARENTS 'SPY' ON THEIR KIDS

Parents are allowed to install spyware on their children's phones in the US

Think your kid's being bullied? Or sending sexts? Or dealing drugs? There's an app for that.

In the United States, nearly 80% of teenagers own mobile phones. About half of those are smartphones - with access to the internet, games, cameras and social media.
That worries many parents. And those fears are fuelling a growing number of so-called parent apps - to track what kids are doing online.
TeenSafe can work as a personal CIA spy for parents.
The company urges parents to tell their children they are being monitored, but the app can work covertly and show what kids are posting on social media as well as deleted texts and messages sent via popular apps such as Kik, WhatsApp and Snapchat.

Teensafe allows parents to monitor their children's online activity, including deleted messages

"It's absolutely legal for a parent to do this discreetly," says TeenSafe's chief executive Rawdon Messenger.
"The real question is, 'Is it justified?' and those are moral decisions a parent has to make. What we believe is that when it comes to protecting your child from these things - privacy is trumped by protection."
Boundary alerts Mr Messenger says he believes about half the families who use TeenSafe use it to spy on their kids.
TeenSafe operates in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and is hoping to expand to the UK soon. Since it started in 2011, it says it has had 800,000 people sign up for the service.

Mamabear's developers say their service is often used by parents who have just given their child their first smartphone

Aside from tracking social media use and texting, other parent apps can actually monitor how fast someone is driving or moving in a vehicle as a passenger.
MamaBear offers that service, and co-founder Robyn Spoto says the app is used to link entire families and send alerts when someone is driving above the speed limit or has ventured outside a pre-determined boundary. It cannot be used covertly.
"Technology is your right-hand man to give you the information that you need so that you can have the right conversation," says Ms Spoto.
She adds that many families find it reassuring to get push notifications about their children's whereabouts.
Ms Spoto uses MamaBear for her parents and 10-year-old son, who does not have a phone but uses an iPod Touch.
But don't her own parents feel annoyed that their adult daughter gets push notifications every time they speed to work or come home at 01:00 from a party? Laughing, Ms Spoto says they're used to it.
"It's not like I'm creeping on them," she says, adding that she likes the assurance of knowing they got home safely.
Teenagers are typically better at using technology than their parents, and apps such as these can create a cat-and-mouse game of kids trying to avoid prying eyes.
But the parent apps are prepared - if your child does not call you back or turns the phone off, you can disable the phone so it only works to call mum or dad