Social Location Apps Smack Privacy

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If parents didn’t have enough concerns to worry about when it comes to keeping their kids safe on the internet, they do now. Subjects such as sexting, cyber bullying, stalkers, predators and privacy issues on social networking sites are topics we are still trying to get our head around.

The latest technology that utilizes SMART phone GPS features are known as ‘social location applications’. These applications have the ability to ‘announce’ where we are to our ‘friends’.

Four Square is one such popular application that allows registered users to connect with friends and update their location. Points are awarded for "checking in" at venues. Users can choose to have their check-ins posted on their accounts on Twitter, Facebook or both. Launched in January 2010, it has become popular with smart phones users.

On 19th August 2010, Facebook launched their own social location application. As this is so new, not much information is available. However, I imagine that the application will be able to announce the location of the user to ALL their Facebook friends.



Most teenagers have around 200 – 300 friends. A lot of the time they do not know all of these people personally. Is announcing exactly where one’s location is, to several hundred people of which some you do not know, who have access to personal photos and other information, really such a good idea?

In a few years time when smart phone technology with GPS is cheap enough for us all, parents need to be concerned about location based applications. Teenagers may see it as ‘fun’ but there is real dangers we need to consider. I for one will not be activating such technology on my phone!

NZ Suicide Rate Higher Than Road Toll

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While reading the article on Stuff today http://bit.ly/bl2DAK I am not surprised. The fact that it is 50% higher is tragic. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of teen suicide in the world per capita.



More education needs to be made available, in helping parents identify patterns and risks early, before they get out of hand. People do not decide to take their own life all of a sudden. There will be a pattern of behavior over a period of time that will lead to it.

Implementing software to monitor internet activity will help parents in knowing where teens are going to on the internet. Our software captures sites visited, search terms used, email and also records chat. Details are presented in summary format, with the option to drill down into the detail. This still allows for a certain level of privacy.

The Newspaper Publishers’ Association CEO Tim Pankhurst says "I would like to see quite a lot more media coverage of what leads people to such a desperate act and what intervention there could be to help them."

WebSafety NZ Limited believe a pattern of activity, whether email, text messaging, internet surfing or a combination, may show signs of negative behavior. Therefore using software to monitor usage can help identify that behavior before it's too late.

Is Internet Addiction Related to Depression?

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Recent studies in Australia tend to say YES. In a study conducted on data from 1,041 teens aged 13 – 18, it identified that after 9 months, the risk of suffering from depression in teens were 2.5 times higher from those who claimed they were addicted to the internet, than those who said they weren’t.

Parents need to play an important role in restricting and limiting time their children spend on the internet.



As parents, we cannot be over their shoulder 24/7. That’s where ‘parental control’ software comes in. Simple to install, parental software such as PC Pandora will give a parent the ability to block types of sites they choose, be able to monitor internet activity, and set automatic time scheduling to limit activity.

The affects of internet addiction leading to depression are too great to ignore. Children become withdrawn, and their social life and school work ultimately suffer.

Facebook in New Zealand

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Facebook in New Zealand is growing at an alarming rate. We now have almost 1.7 million users!

Looking at the data more closely, it is great to see that over 45,000 of these users are 65 or older. I congratulate this group and it is a great way for them to not only embrace technology, but also keep in touch with family.



The results also show that 29,000 users fall into the age group of 13 or younger. Given that a user must be at least 13 to join Facebook, I wonder how many children are on Facebook by faking their age?

Children often don’t understand the importance of privacy, and run the risk of making themselves vulnerable by sharing too much information, if they do not set secure privacy settings on their Facebook profile.

Please contact us directly, should you require any help with your Facebook privacy settings. WebSafety NZ recommends parents sit with their children and ask them to show you the privacy settings on their Facebook profile. That way you are empowering your children, and can possibly both learn at the same time!