Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Research from Cybernews found child tracking apps are a double-edged sword. So the opportunity to collect their data and security do not always comply with the highest security standards.
The research team examined 10 popular applications. None of the reviews received the highest privacy scores, quoted Friday (1/7/2022):
1. Pingo by Findmykids : 53
2. Family GPS tracker KidsControl : 47
3. Find my Phone, Family GPS Locator by Familo : 45
4. MMGuardian Parent App : 44
5. Family Locator – GPS Tracker & Find Your Phone App : 43
6. MMGuardian App For Child Phne : 43
7. My Family locator, GPS tracker : 41
8. Find my kids: location tracker : 36
9. FamiSafe: Parental Control App : 30
10. Phone Tracker by Number : 25
According to open source data, the child tracking app in this study was installed more than 84 million times. Cybernews wrote that each application was installed more than 1 million times, and the most popular more than 50 million installs.
Cybernews also noted that Phone Tracker By Number had the lowest score for privacy, indicating ‘critical risk’. One of the Phone Tracker By Number applications has a Sharing Broadcast Receiver, meaning that it can be accessed by other applications that are not specified by the device.
Malicious applications on the device, can access the data of the tracking application and tell the perpetrator the location of the child who uses it.
According to Jason Galssberg, co-founder of Casaba Security, the app could expose children’s information to unauthorized parties.
“It’s basically a backdoor to your child’s phone, which will at a minimum collect their data and in the worst case scenario could do much more dangerous things.”
According to the CEO of cybersecurity firm Social Engineer, Chris Hadnagy said apps could easily use the acquired data for malicious purposes. If the company behind the app is dishonest.
“If a child sends an inappropriate or sensitive photo, the app may have access to it. Anything that has been shared with the app, such as accounts, passwords, personal information, can be exposed if the app is ever breached,” Hadnagy said.
Hadnagy also suggested that parents should do some research on the app. One of them is about the user experience with the application.
While Galssberg assesses parents should not use tracking applications because it violates the bond of trust with children. Instead, children should be taught how to recognize online treatments and stay away from harmful websites.
(npb/roy)
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