Why focusing on developing critical thinking skills instead of fear-mongering is paramount
The term “stalkerware” usually refers to people covertly tracking their romantic partners. But a recent analysis of the advertising messaging and positioning used by the nine most common stalkerware apps detected by Avast antivirus found that stalkerware is also used to covertly track children.
“Stalkerware can be installed on somebody’s phone without their consent to stealthily monitor their communications activities, which we consider highly unethical,” Avast CISO Jaya Baloo says. “With this study, we took a closer look at the messaging used by these apps to understand the psychological tools they use to attract users. Unfortunately, these apps are preying on parents’ fears of protecting their children.”
These child monitoring apps use marketing that focuses heavily on scare tactics, especially cyberbullying, access to inappropriate content, and the fear of online predators. They dig deep into the anxieties and concerns that parents already have and position themselves as the solution, offering everything from monitoring messaging apps, SMS, and phone calls to monitoring web browsing, allowing remote control of a smartphone, and turning on the microphone in the background to record conversations.
But while it might be tempting to track kids without their knowledge, doing so might hurt your relationship with your child — and it could even make them less safe.
“That’s really a violation of freedom, boundaries, and consent,” child psychologist Catherine Knibbs previously told Avast. “It’s a betrayal. And it also reinforces the idea that their parents don’t trust ..
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