Thousands of Apple ID Passwords Leaked by Teen Phone Monitoring App Server

[DEMinSoCAL]

Jesus H, this product is abominable. True helicopter parent dystopian BS. Just let kids be kids!

Says someone who either has no actual young school-age children today, or home-schools their kids.

I get so tired of people blaming the parents for a child's bad choices. Peer influences, music and social media can be more powerful in changing a kid than years of good parenting.

 

[bruinsrme]

Because of thir limited life experiences, kids will do stupid things. Monitoring apps have place, but they are certainly no substitution for the large investment of parental time it takes to mold a child into an adult.

Who is monitoring the adults from doing stupid things?

 

[karazelle]

I'm a mother and obviously I'm concerned about where my kids are and what they are exposed to now with all kind of social media and private chat apps and stuff we did not have when I was a kid. That said, this is also a double edged sword, because while I want to make sure my daughter is safe and know where she is, she must also be able to have some privacy from me. She must be allowed to have a diary I don't snoop in, and be able to confide in friends and even teachers without me knowing every minute detail. Otherwise I fear she won't grow up to become an independant individual person when she grows up.

I saw this thing today when I looked at what else exist in this surveilance world and found https://www.flexispy.com/en/employee-monitoring.htm and to be frank that scared me. In scandinavia, the smart watches for kids that are available had similar poor security to what is described in this leak, and as a parent, I find it a lot more scary when police say they found kids smart watch login details in pedo circles than me not knowing within an inch where my kid is at all times.

My daughter and I are friends on the iPhone friend app. She can see where I am, and I can see where she is. I try to be balanced on this.

 

[mrzz]

As I read these comments, it's easy to tell who are parent's and who are not.

To those who are not, you really have no basis to be criticizing a parent for monitoring their child's activities. As long as I am responsible for my children, I will do what I can to monitor and protect them even if that means they give up a little privacy.

"allows parents to view their child's text messages" .. wtf? This is just disgusting regardless idea behind. Fabulous way how to destroy trust between parents & kids. It must be a nightmare to be a kid in similar families.

 

[karazelle]

...I will do what I can to monitor and protect them even if that means they give up a little privacy.

This needs to be weighed against the risks, such as mentioned in this article, that a monitoring or spy service is to be trusted as well. My concern, as a parent, is that a number of these spy services had incredibly bad security. In Scandinavia, the kids' smartwatch GPS tracker watches had cloud accounts that could be brute force hacked or even have the URL modified to reveal information about other kids of other parents. And when login details for these services surface when police bust pedo rings?

Also over time as a parent, we need to back off as they get older. I talked to a father who demanded his 25-year-old daughter call him when she left her student apartment and returned to it, every night. He was adamant that she "retain her innocence" and not bring "shame to the family". His son, however, is gone for entire weekends at a time and he has no clue where the son is.

 

[Digitalclips]

Interesting, just yesterday Apple requested me to change my Apple ID password. I’m not sure if this due to fact that my young daughter also has Apple ID and this was just precautionary measure or if it’s just routine for Apple to request password change if the password is very old. However, I have never used “Teen Safe” or any similar service. In any case I have had two factor authentication activated since it became available so I’m sure there hasn’t been attempts to access my account.

Are you were sure it was Apple making that request?

 

[omihek]

It’s not always that simple. I was just on a jury panel a couple of weeks ago of a murdered 16 year old. If her parents had access to the info that was exchanged between their daughter and her boyfriend/murderer then perhaps she would be alive. She showed various messages and things to her friends but when asked why the friends didn’t do anything they basically said they hadn’t gotten around to it. As one of them said, “I guess hindsight is 20/20.”

Yes, sometimes it is bad parenting but it’s too easy to just blame the parents — a well that never seems to run dry these days. Just consider that sometimes it is the kids — even with the parents’ best efforts.

I see "16 year old" and "boyfriend" in the same story and come to the same conclusion. Bad parenting.

 

[btrach144]

What a mess! Company needs to be held accountable

 

[omihek]

As I read these comments, it's easy to tell who are parent's and who are not.

To those who are not, you really have no basis to be criticizing a parent for monitoring their child's activities. As long as I am responsible for my children, I will do what I can to monitor and protect them even if that means they give up a little privacy.

Parent here. I'm all for monitoring and protecting them, but putting a spy app on their phone? You might as well tell them, "Hey kid, I've never trusted you and I never will. Do whatever you want, just make sure you don't use your phone to do it." If you need to spy on their phone, don't give them one.

 

[karazelle]

It’s not always that simple. I was just on a jury panel a couple of weeks ago of a murdered 16 year old. If her parents had access to the info that was exchanged between their daughter and her boyfriend/murderer then perhaps she would be alive. She showed various messages and things to her friends but when asked why the friends didn’t do anything they basically said they hadn’t gotten around to it. As one of them said, “I guess hindsight is 20/20.”

Yes, sometimes it is bad parenting but it’s too easy to just blame the parents — a well that never seems to run dry these days. Just consider that sometimes it is the kids — even with the parents’ best efforts.

I blame the guy who killed her. Neither she nor her parents deserved that. The entitlement that allowed him to do this heinous act is to blame.

 

[omihek]

Says someone who either has no actual young school-age children today, or home-schools their kids.

I get so tired of people blaming the parents for a child's bad choices. Peer influences, music and social media can be more powerful in changing a kid than years of good parenting.

And parents don't have any control over their child's peers, music, or social media, do they? Please. I get so tired of parents blaming everyone and everything but themselves for how their kids turn out. It's your fault. Own it.

 

[antiprotest]

Why would Apple allow a third-party app that asks for Apple ID and password? Is that normal?

 

[omihek]

Who is monitoring the adults from doing stupid things?

Exactly. Adults are just kids age 18+.

 

[andy89]

Parents might want to try actually talking to their kids instead.

 

[BigDO]

Jesus H, this product is abominable. True helicopter parent dystopian BS. Just let kids be kids!

Was just thinking that. The only parents who would need this are ones with broken or non-existent trust with their kids.

 

[Shackrat]

I will do what I can to monitor and protect them even if that means they give up a little privacy.

And by doing so, you will raise a child into a young adult who is lacking in confidence and self-reliance, a child who will enter college and a profession, thinking someone will be watching and correcting their every move. I see the result of "guard rails and training wheels" parenting all to frequently in our interns. Very sad.

 

[rembert]

I never have used something like this app with our three teen kids. However we proposed they'd share all their accounts with passwords with us. For safety sake but also to monitor them when something fishy seems to go on. We strongly stressed we didn't want to monitor them, and did want to provide them as much privacy as possible although within limits. All teen kids agreed with us when they were about 10, 11 years old, also allowing us to check their passwords regularly.
In 8 years time only once we decided it to be necessary to invade the privacy of one kid as talking with the kid didn't solve the situation. We went through his social media, email and some other media and indeed discovered a probable reason of his strange behaviour. At that point we stopped as we found enough to have a chat with our kid - indeed a topic difficult enough to bring under attention of your parents (and the other way around wasn't much easier either). We did find a solution to the situation and everything was back in control. The kids did never tell us they had for instance a secondary gmail account. And I can only applaud them to have done such things. I'd have done the same thing for sure.

Start to discuss online safety when your kids are young, starting at 9 or 10 or even younger. Part of it are the password agreements we made. If you're starting to discuss this when they're 14 or 15 you're probably out of luck. At that age many are less likely to give up their privacy for safety sake. And then you might have to rely on solutions like this app.

Our teen kids are grownup now and didn't run into severe situations and never complained about this agreement. With our remaining 9 year old kid we do discuss this regularly.

 

[nwcs]

I blame the guy who killed her. Neither she nor her parents deserved that. The entitlement that allowed him to do this heinous act is to blame.

I blame that guy, too, as he was convicted of first degree murder.

 

[PaulRustad007]

Jesus H, this product is abominable. True helicopter parent dystopian BS. Just let kids be kids!

Until my kids turned 18, which they did recently, I always monitored their online presence and what apps they were using. They never had a problem with me seeing their texts to friends. It was used to build trust and also to make sure they were not being victimized by others. And now they are 18 and are able to make good choices. They even still allow me to track where they are via the phone. And I allow them to track me as well.

 

[Xgm541]

What you mean take their phones away totally and let them grow up, as children have done for the past couple of million years as well rounded, normal human beings, without worrying, and staying up and night due to what someone may say about them, or needing to broadcast their every action to social media for their friends to see?

Yes. Let's take the dam phones away and let them grow up as well adjusted people before the curse of the mobile phone it thrust into their lives.

Yeah good luck growing up "well adjusted" by being the outcast of any friend groups simply because mommy or daddy won't let you have a cell phone. By thinking your kids can grow up "fine" by doing the same things you did, rather than adapting to modern day parenting needs is shallow. Talk to you kids.

 

[PaulRustad007]

I never have used something like this app with our three teen kids. However we proposed they'd share all their accounts with passwords with us. For safety sake but also to monitor them when something fishy seems to go on. We strongly stressed we didn't want to monitor them, and did want to provide them as much privacy as possible although within limits. All teen kids agreed with us when they were about 10, 11 years old, also allowing us to check their passwords regularly.
In 8 years time only once we decided it to be necessary to invade the privacy of one kid as talking with the kid didn't solve the situation. We went through his social media, email and some other media and indeed discovered a probable reason of his strange behaviour. At that point we stopped as we found enough to have a chat with our kid - indeed a topic difficult enough to bring under attention of your parents (and the other way around wasn't much easier either). We did find a solution to the situation and everything was back in control. The kids did never tell us they had for instance a secondary gmail account. And I can only applaud them to have done such things. I'd have done the same thing for sure.

Start to discuss online safety when your kids are young, starting at 9 or 10 or even younger. Part of it are the password agreements we made. If you're starting to discuss this when they're 14 or 15 you're probably out of luck. At that age many are less likely to give up their privacy for safety sake. And then you might have to rely on solutions like this app.

Our teen kids are grownup now and didn't run into severe situations and never complained about this agreement. With our remaining 9 year old kid we do discuss this regularly.

I applaud your approach. They have learned to make good choices and will have a better social experience.

 

[Xgm541]

Until my kids turned 18, which they did recently, I always monitored their online presence and what apps they were using. They never had a problem with me seeing their texts to friends. It was used to build trust and also to make sure they were not being victimized by others. And now they are 18 and are able to make good choices. They even still allow me to track where they are via the phone. And I allow them to track me as well.

Yeah, until 10 years from now you find out about all the things they went through to circumvent whatever checks you put in place.

 

[lederermc]

Any app that wants your password to another account is to be avoided at all cost. Especially financial aggregators like Mint.com.

 

[nwcs]

I see "16 year old" and "boyfriend" in the same sentence and come to the same conclusion. Bad parenting.

That's quite judgmental when you don't have any of the facts. And sometimes there can be outstanding parenting but the kids are the problem.

 

[miscend]

Unencrypted Passwords? What the ****
[doublepost=1526910037][/doublepost]

Why would Apple allow a third-party app that asks for Apple ID and password? Is that normal?

It's pretty normal for the numerous password managers out there. A lot of people use password managers, I don't think its safe to store all your passwords in one place.