Some ‘unofficial’ parental control apps have excessive access to personal data and hide their presence, raising concerns about their potential for unethical surveillance as well as domestic abuse, according to new research from UCL and St. Pölten UAS, Austria.
  • MajorHavoc
    2·
    3 days ago

    Particulary relevant bit that made the rest of the topic more accessible, to me:

    The researchers noted that a backlash against apps being marketed to catch cheating spouses, for example, has seen developers switch to marketing apps as parental control tools instead.

    Ms Eva-Maria Maier, first author of the study from St. Pölten UAS, said: “The key issue with the extensive functionality of these unofficial apps is consent. If a parent has an open, transparent relationship with their child, they shouldn’t need to hide them on their child’s phone or have access to so much private information.