According to data published by the National Statistics Institute last year, More than half of 11-year-olds already have a smartphone, and according to the latest General Media Survey (EGM) the number of Spanish minors between four and 13 years of age with internet access has increased by about 7% in the last five years.
These figures alert parents, concerned about the free internet access their children have as well as the cases of bullying and harassment through networks that are heard more and more frequently. Education, information and the installation of parental controls, such as Parental Click, are essential to avoid unwanted situations.
Parental Click allows to provide legal evidence
So far, the only way parents had control your children's use of the phone it was through spy applications, which could be installed without the consent of the owner of the mobile device and whose purpose is to filter the contents to which the child had access.
This type of control applications allow to detect problems of cyberbullying or bullying but does not help to solve them, since the evidence that parents can provide could be dismissed at the legal level by violating the rights of the accused, the right to privacy of the minor or the secret of telecommunications.
For all this, the lawyer Pedro Valle decided to design a app based on the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court and thanks to which all the information that parents obtain can be used as legal evidence in a trial with guarantees of success.
The application, called Parental Click is defined as the solution that allows parents to access the mobile content of their minor children with their knowledge, to make them make a constructive and prudent use of it.
Thus, the main objective of this app is that parents, by mutual agreement with their children, can control their use of the mobile phone and legally prevent cases of sexual harassment, cyber bullying and bullying."Currently in Spain, more than one million parents spy on their children on the Internet, despite feeling that they are not doing the right thing. From Parental Click we do not want to develop an environment to control everything children do through an app, but help parents anticipate a problem. Help them to better guide them to develop responsible behaviors in their use of technology "- explains its creator, Pedro Valle.
"For day to day, the immediate result that is achieved with the use of the app is that minors reconsider before doing anything on the Internet: talk to strangers, post photos, comments, participate in games, jokes or contests, take pictures of your friends, selfies ... If you do not want or can share it with your parents it is a mistake to create that content and very dangerous to share it on networks, "he concludes .
Parental Click also has the support of Psiconueve, experts in child and adolescent psychology, and the technology consultancy Grupo Hasten, who share their advice and experience so that parents can answer any questions about them.
How does Parental Click work?
The app is specially designed for those parents who trust their children but not the unknown and strangers of the Internet, and who seek to have a tool that, being installed in a consensual way with your child, does not violate that relationship of trust but offers them all security guarantees.
The first thing parents should do is register on the Parental Cick website and with the code provided download the app on your children's mobile phone, by prior consensus with them.
Depending on the age of the child, their degree of maturity or certain particular situations, parents may configure certain options and in case of specific high-risk situations they will activate others in hidden mode without violating the law.
Supposing the child detects harassment or aggression by another person through the telephone, you must activate a resource that has the application called "Button of the fort". Shaking your mobile will activate the geolocation and recording systems of images and sounds.
These recordings will constitute legal proof of what happened and may be presented in a trial as legitimate evidence, also providing data of great importance as the exact location of the facts.
Parental Click has two options, one basic and free that allows web functions, and another with an annual fee that allows both web and mobile functions. Some of the possibilities offered by this app are:
That parents can see the photos and videos that the child receives through their phone even if they are deleted
Have access to the child's browsing history, calls, contacts calendar or downloaded apps
Content of the publications in their social networks
Geolocate the child
Ask questions or participate in discussions with other parents
A difficult reality to avoid
Some of my son's friends already have a cell phone and although, at the moment, it is not something that we consider in the short term, I know that the day will come and I want to be prepared for it because, I confess that it gives me real fear.
I firmly believe that new technologies can be great allies, but they can also lead to serious problems if they are not used correctly. Therefore, it is important to know how to handle them so that the experience is safe and positive.
There is no doubt that the parental control systems that parents can count on become our great allies. But with Parental Click, in addition, We can legally accompany our children and teach them to identify potential dangers both through the Internet and through their mobile phones.
However, and despite the external help that this type of applications can provide us, the dialogue with our children, education and information to make proper use of the Internet and technologies, they must prevail above all.
Photos | iStock
