Parents are concerned about their kids, whether it be physical health, academic difficulties, or maintaining digital safety. Kids these days get phones at an early age with access to the internet, and they barely know about digital ground rules. In such cases, parents should supervise kids’ online activities. Can you monitor your kids’ smartphones legally?
See: Is TikTok Safe?
Kids, especially those new to social media such as Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat, love to disclose personal stuff online. They make random virtual friends and stay connected without knowing if the user is genuine or fake. Since kids are unaware of online threats and their consequences, parents are the ones to monitor them.
Is it Legal to Monitor Your Kids’ Smartphones?
Undeniably, you can monitor your kids’ smartphones legally. Parents have the right to supervise their kids’ smartphones and their online activities for digital safety.
Monitoring someone without letting them know for sure is illegal, but the case is different when it comes to parents and kids. Kids are innocent and hardly distinguish what is safe online or unsafe for them, and hence its parents responsibility to guide towards good things.
Aside from that, Internet is filled with Online Predators, Malware and Viruses, as well as inappropriate websites that every parent must monitor and block. As such its crucial for parents to protect their kids from online threats.
Similarly, monitoring kids’ smartphones using parental controls without letting them know is not considered to be illegal, and it is legitimate to see through phone activities when they are underage. Read further to learn different ways to monitor your kids’ smartphones legally.
5 Ways To Monitor Your Kids’ Smartphones Legally
I have enlisted 5 ways to monitor your kids’ smartphones legally. Have a look and select the effective measures to manage your kids’ digital activities.
1. Qustodio
You can monitor your kids’ smartphones legally by using the monitoring app named Qustodio. Custodio guarantees the digital wellbeing of your kids by limiting over usage of their cell phones and monitoring online activities. The primary motive to use this parental control app is to make technology kid-friendly and establish healthy digital relationships.
You can supervise your kids any way you want. Qustodio lets you monitor your kids by setting time limits on phone or app usage. Similarly, you can restrict them from accessing websites that display inappropriate content by blocking them. You can also set alerts whenever unusual activities are on your kids’ smartphones.
Features of Qustodio
- Monitor activities such as browsing history, screen time, and views made over sites or Youtube.
- Get location history and track real-time location.
- Set limits on app usage.
- Track calls and messages they send or receive.
- Set alerts when they try to enter inappropriate sites.
Pricing of Qustodio Premium
Small: $54.95 per year with 5 devices connection
Medium: $96.95 per year with 10 devices connection
Large: $137.95 per year with 15 devices connection
2. mSpy
mSpy is another parental control app that lets you monitor your kids’ smartphone and their activities on various social media platforms. You can go through the apps they install on their phone, conversations made over social media, and photos or videos or multimedia files they send or receive online.
Furthermore, the app lets you know who your kid contacted either through phone calls or text messages. The best part of mSpy is that your kids won’t know that you supervise their digital activities.
Features of mSpy
- You can manage the contact list along with incoming and outgoing calls.
- It lets you know real-time location using a GPS tracker.
- You can also screen record your kids’ phone activities on their cell phones.
- mSpy lets you monitor internet surfing and check browsing history.
- Also, parents can check conversations their kids make with virtual friends.
Pricing of mSpy
1 month: $48.99
3 Months: $27.99
12 Months: $11.66
3. Net Nanny
Net Nanny is another parental control application you can use to legally monitor your kids’ smartphones. When installed on your kids’ device by default, the application blocks inappropriate content with integrated Artificial Intelligence.
Similarly, Net Nanny allows you to maintain safe online digital habits by monitoring online activities and blocking adult content. You can also customize screen time and restrict them from visiting unsafe websites.
Features of Net Nanny
- You can filter internet surfing by blocking harmful sites such as pornography.
- With a GPS tracker, you can track real-time locations.
- Net Nanny lets you protect your kid on social media.
- You can also manage screen time for specific hours.
- The app alerts you for every single activity on your kid’s device.
Pricing of Net Nanny
For one device: $39.99 per year
For 5 devices plan: $54.99 per year
For 20 devices plan: $89.99 per year
4. Norton Family
Norton Family is another parental control application for parents to make their kids more concerned about digital safety. With the app, you can keep your kid safe online by monitoring social media activities and restricting access to adult content.
Norton Family protects your kids online as you are informed on how your kids are using smartphones. Since you get real-time notifications about kids’ online activities, you can identify potential dangers beforehand, such as online threats.
Features of Norton Family
- Locate the real-time location along with the location history of your kid and places they visited.
- Set limits on device usage.
- Blocking and restricting access to unsuitable content.
- Check out the total time spent on specific devices, apps, or websites.
- You can also set up an in-built Norton Family browser that restricts websites unsuitable for kids.
Pricing of Norton Family
Norton AntiVirus Basic: $59.99 per year for 1 device
Norton Security Standard: $84.99 per year for 1 device
Norton Security Deluxe: $94.99 per year for 3 devices
Norton Security Premium: $124.99 per year for 10 devices
5. FlexiSPY
Likewise, you can also set up FlexiSPY parental control apps to legally monitor your kids’ smartphones. FlexiSPY is a powerful software that you can use from anywhere and anytime to go through activities on your kid’s device.
You will be notified of the app installed or uninstalled on your kids’ cell phones and monitor how they use those apps. Besides, you can monitor calls and messages, schedule internet usage, track device location, and view multimedia files sent and received.
Features of FlexiSPY
- You can download mobile activities data and set location and keyword alerts.
- FlexiSPY allows you to go through installation history.
- You kid won’t be able to hide phone calls as the app records calls they make on social media.
- Parents can read all the conversations and messages that are sent and received.
- The app also gives access to a kid’s email.
Pricing of FlexiSPY
Lite: $29.95 per month
Premium: $68 per month, $99 for 3 months, $149 for 12 months
Extreme: $199 for 3 months, $349 for 12 months
Conclusion
It is legal to monitor kids’ smartphones. The article highlights 5 ways to monitor your kids’ smartphones legally. Go through the information, select the effective monitoring tool and let us know if the information was helpful through comments.