How do parental control apps communicate with parents about their child?

Parental control apps communicate with parents about their child through various methods, primarily by providing alerts, detailed reports, and enabling direct management of device usage. These communications are designed to inform parents about their child’s online activities, potential risks, and to allow them to adjust controls as needed.

Typical key communication methods include:

Safety Alerts: Apps like Bark use advanced AI to scan texts, social media, images, videos, and audio for concerning content such as cyberbullying, self-harm, or p****graphy. When such content is detected, parents receive timely alerts, often with personalized insights and expert recommendations. Apple’s Communication Safety feature also warns parents if nudity is detected in messages or FaceTime calls.

Activity Reports and Monitoring: Parents can receive reports on websites visited, apps used, and the duration of use. Tools like Microsoft Family provide activity reports on sites, apps, and games, while Google Family Link allows parents to review app permissions and block apps. Bark specifically allows parents to customize the sensitivity of alerts, choosing to be notified about issues like drugs while filtering out profanity.

Requests and Approvals: Children often need to send requests to parents for certain actions. For instance, Apple’s Communication Limits require children to send requests to parents when they want to communicate with new phone numbers, which parents can approve via Messages. On PlayStation consoles, children can request exceptions to play restricted games or use communication features, with parents receiving notifications and emails for approval. Bark Phone also requires parental approval for app installations and contact additions.

Location Tracking and Alerts: Many parental control apps offer live GPS tracking, location alerts when a child enters or leaves a designated area (geofencing), and check-ins. Bark, for example, alerts parents when their child arrives at school or work.

Screen Time Management: Parents can set custom schedules for app usage, limit daily screen time, or pause internet access altogether. These settings can be managed directly through the app, and some devices, like Bark Phone, prevent children from tampering with these controls.

Direct Messaging within Apps: Some educational or daycare apps, such as Brightwheel and Class Dojo, facilitate direct messaging between parents and staff, allowing for quick communication about daily activities, needs, and any issues.

While these tools provide extensive monitoring and control, it’s noted that the effectiveness is often enhanced when integrated with open parent-child communication and negotiation, rather than being used as a standalone surveillance tool.