What is Digg?204 Comments
- zweben, on 10/12/2007, -9/+79This is a good thing, but parents need to tell their kids if they're going to install something like this on their computer. Keeping an eye on your kids is good. Spying on them is not.
Once the kids find out their parents are spying on them, there will definitely be some trust issues for a while. - MatttK, on 10/12/2007, -24/+71@drinkGreen, if you don't trust your kids, how do you expect them to respect you? I've always respected my parents for trusting me.
- drinkGreen, on 10/12/2007, -35/+78I'm in favor of it. Your house is not a democracy and your children don't have a full right to privacy like an adult does.
As long as a parent is in control, and not the 3rd party who then I digg it. - Drahknon, on 10/12/2007, -9/+40@MatttK:
Well, because no matter how much you may trust your kids, the mere placing of trust in them does not mean they won't disobey. It's frankly a little naive to think otherwise.
So long as parents are liable (legally and morally) for the actions and upbringing of their children, they must necessarily have the ability to control their children. I love when stories like this come out and invariably a few argue that "spying" on children is unethical and violative of kids' rights. And then, equally invariably, when a story surfaces about kids breaking the law, being preyed upon, or otherwise getting into trouble... the parents are the first on the chopping block. - qwickone, on 10/12/2007, -6/+31I agree with zweben about parents telling their kids it's on there. Kids might not think about it, but their parents are paying the bills for the computer and internet, so their parents are completely justified in limiting and/or monitoring the use. It's good parenting to be checking up on your kids. And if they say "why are you spying on me?" an easy answer is "if I was spying, I wouldn't tell you." If the kids are behaving on the internet, then parents won't be checking in on them as often. And if theyre not, well better the parents find out sooner rather than later.
- thejokell, on 10/12/2007, -14/+37Spoken like someone who doesn't have kids.
- ksgant, on 10/12/2007, -16/+38Matttk, when I was growing up my parents sure as hell didn't trust me, and I sure as HELL respected them. They wanted to know who/what/where/how and why at all times, 24/7...no exceptions. I basically had zero privacy and zero rights. They weren't abusive or ***** about it, but they didn't let me get away with anything.
drinkGreen has it right, it's not a democracy inside a household. And yes, it was a total pain in the ass growing up, but looking back I can totally understand why. - fmaxwell, on 10/12/2007, -8/+30People need to recognize the difference between a legal right and a moral right. Children may not have a legal right to privacy, but they have a moral right to it. A parent may have a legal right to install a video camera in the bathroom to make sure that their child is not masturbating, but they don't have a moral right to do so.
Everyone want to pretend that all parents are good and, therefore, that all parents should be trusted 100%. What about the father who's sexually molesting his daughter? Should he have a "right" to watch her e-mail, instant messaging, and chat room activity so that he can lock the computer if she starts telling someone about what he does to her?
What about the rights of other parents? What makes you think that you have a "right" to read an IM from your daughter's friend about getting her first period? The parents of that girl didn't give you permission to read what she wrote and they may be violently opposed to the kind of parental spying that you're practicing.
There are a lot of people on here who need stop their macho chest-beating proclamations about their rights and to start thinking about what actually is right. - SpacemanSpiff, on 10/12/2007, -10/+32Trust goes out the window when those "mistakes" involve a 30 year old they met on myspace.
- IvanB, on 10/12/2007, -10/+32I dugg this even if I'm not in favour of it.
- spjmm0, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23Good, however most parents won't implement this until after a very large problem comes to a head.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+27@matttk, i agree..
i pretty much had full run of the computer and internet, and i reciprocated the respect - spidrw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18You forgot Scientology.
- caldroun, on 10/12/2007, -6/+24I have a 4 year old, and when it comes time, I will totally monitor his online activities. I have no qualms with that. As long as it is me and not a 3rd party.
I do agree though...first line of defense talk to your kids. - threemagic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19I trust my daughter but I do monitor the internet usage. Why? Because I don't trust the people out there I do not know and at 13 she can be easily mislead....
I intend on making sure that slim chance NEVER happens.
Yes, she is aware of it being monitored and no, she doesn't like it. I tell her to call her friends, she can have privacy then. - ravuya, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Uh, VNC? I bet this thing is even MORE insecure than VNC's encryption bugs would suggest.
Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they were just packaging VNC. - wired4u, on 10/12/2007, -14/+29I think kids should get this and put it on their parents computers.
- wvdavis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14This amount of control over my 15 y/o daughter computer would drive her ape sh*t! I think I'll do it just for the entertainment value.
- HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18No kid can be fully trusted. If I could fully trust my kid to make responsible decisions, I'd call her an adult and let her move out of the house. A kid's sense of responsiblity and a parent's inclination to trust their decisions is something that grows as the kid does.
Until she does grow up, I will decreasingly control what she is exposed to and what activities she can be involved in. It's my job as a father, and I do it because I love her.
You sound like you're a kid yourself, so I don't expect you to be able to understand my argument. Just remember it when you grow up. - JavaMac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12As a parent, I don't necessarily think I would use this product, but I do agree with the comments here that you must watch your kids. That doesn't mean monitor their every action, but be a part of their lives and know what they are into. I feel a good parent helps their children to avoid (painful) mistakes and most importantly supports them when they do make mistakes. A parent shouldn't just say "oh, well--that will learn you".
And most importantly, you need to lead by example. If you don't want your kid to drink to excess, don't drink to excess. If you don't want them to download porn, don't do it and don't condone it.
Oops! Gotta run, my daughter is sticking knives into the toaster.... - sansbury, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16@mattk: It's not about trusting or not trusting kids. It's about the fact that at the age of [8-18] you haven't fully developed a sense of judgment. Actually, recent neuroscience suggests that the brain has a "sweet tooth" for high-risk thrills until about age 25 on average, which strangely enough is when the rate of car accidents starts to drop off significantly. 50 years ago, parents didn't need spyware, they just called the neighbors and asked what was up. This is simply the evolution of technology to keep up with the age-old challenge of kids' inherent stupidity.
- syberghost, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18When you WERE a child? You mean an adult wrote that mess?
- Haroldx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11if the kids have permissions to install things, they _most likely_ should be able to just turn on the firewall and block all those incoming ports, right?
(5901 & 5900) - andrew522, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19I've seen keyloggers, Remote desktops and the like, but not all-in-one features that can be controlled w/ as much as a mobile phone.
whatever happened to trusting your kids and letting them make thier own mistakes?
ah well, it is inevitable. - ArmandoM, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12The problem is that trusting your kids and "letting them make mistakes" can go too far. A family member just about died last weekend because she snuck out and went joyriding with a 15 year old who stole his parents' car. He told her and the other kids who were in the car that they were going, and when/where to meet over MSN messenger. They all walked away with bumps, bruises, and stitches from an accident bad enough that should have killed then all.
I'm betting the parents of those kids are wishing they had some way to monitor their kids installed on the computers instead of just trusting them to make that mistake and nearly kill themselves. - AhmedF, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Exploited in 3 .... 2 .... 1 ....
- robweber, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12"What about legit parenting skills?"
I agree. My parents never had to spy on me when I was a child to make sure I wasn't making mistakes when they weren't around (and I'm only 21 so the option for internet predators was there), however their parenting skills were sufficient enough that I knew myself not to go into a chatroom and agree to meet someone I'd met over the internet. I think parents should concentrate more on parenting than spying to make up for not doing it.
that being said, I think this could be useful, not as a device to spy on your children, but to monitor what they are doing. The line is a tricky one to walk on the difference, but at least if you have an idea of what your kids are doing you can discuss with them why they shouldn't do it, and not control their access to the internet via scare tactics. if people should learn anything these days, it is that trying to stop someone from doign something is only going to ensure that they find a way to do it. - concertina, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Okay. As a girl who managed to survive childhood intact, WHAT IS WITH YOUR OBSESSION WITH PEDOPHILES????
You do know that x random daughter is *far* more likely to be raped by her uncle, or her father, or her brother, or her grandfather, or her soccer coach, than a random stranger, right?
How do you feel safe at night without locking your children into bed each night, setting the hunter-killer robot sentries into guard mode, and arming the mission-impossible-style thermal sensor alarms in your house that will probably be tripped by your killer guard dog?
You want to know how to keep pedophiles away from your daughter? Work on her self-esteem. Encourage her. Tell her you love her. For girls, seeking out dangerous men is an attention-getting mechanism, a symptom of low-self-worth, and a desperate cry for help. - Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Hopefully my kids will be savvy and geeky enough to beat me at my own game.
- taylorhayward, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Kids are going to find porn. Log s&*t on there pages you don't like. And talk with sketchy people. If not on your home computer, at a friends house, at a Internet cafe, etc.
I can't tell you how many kids I see at the Internet cafe I frequent that surf up this stuff. But, like with most things, their attention span is very short. They could surf up porn all day long, but mostly I see them playing video games and read funny news articles out loud to each other.
Kids are good. They are going to make mistakes. They are going to be curious. The important thing is to make sure they understand that life is worth living, and that some mistakes can cost them their life. You also want to let them know it's not OK to bring themselves down with the lowlifes of the world. Not everything they do may not be handled with the utmost grace by we parents, but make sure they know that we love them and that we're here to raise them so they can lead good lives.
This isn't about snooping on your kids. Dam*, if I could count all the Playboys I snuck a peek at, or the druggie friends I use to hang out with... In the end it wasn't snooping on me that made me the man I am today, it was my parents' belief that I was a good person. - CrazyPsychoPeon, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14Trust is good, AFTER a problem occurs though, what are you gonna do? sit around and hope they've learned their lesson? The best option is to prevent it.
- ArmandoM, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11So if I'm a parent, and I try to connect to monitor what my kid is doing, and I get the connection denied, I think the first thing I'd do is walk to whever the PC is, and see why it wasn't connecting.
Shutting down the process will buy you about as much time as it takes me to walk down the hall. And then probably a ban on internet usage for a couple days to think about it. - Superthug, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Thank you. Communication is key.
- Lionhart, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Yes but if it is anything like VNC the parent will know if the kid has "turned it off". You can just go to your kid and say that if they turn it off they can't use the computer. It's pretty simple really.
- Mykal73, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9As a parent of a 12 year old girl I think this is a good idea. We already use RealVNC so I can admin over the home network ,make sure everyone is updating their virus protection and software, and occasionally check the browser history to see what my daughter has been getting into.
It's not a trust issue because she fully well knows that I can do this anytime I want. Hell, it's nice when she's having a problem and I don't have to drop what I'm doing to go upstairs and help her with a Sims 2 install.
BTW, when I was a kid I was also told not to watch porn, however; I still have a few scenes memorized from my dad's collection. - Slugo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Famous words......Trust but verify
- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -10/+17I'm totally against spying on kids' computer habits in ways that go beyond simply checking obvious traces. If you're concerned about your kids habits on the comptuer, there are several options, IMO:
1.) Place the computer in a public room, like the family room.
2.) If you're really still -that- concerned, just check the history and temp files. If you can catch your kid doing something he's not supposed to do, s/he'll have to research how you figured it out, which in turn helps them develop computer understanding skills as well as gain more computer knowledge.
When I was younger, I always had complete freedom of the computer, and looking back, if I hadn't, I wouldn't be nearly as functional with technology as I am today. - zane411, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7If you want to know where they are going on the web, create a proxy.
If you want to know what programs they run, make sure you have an administrator account on their computer and look, with their permission.
If your still freaked out by them talking to people on the web:
A) Do not buy them a webcam for any reason
B) Do not give them access to a digital camera or scanner
C) Keep the computer in a public area, like the living room where you can keep an eye on them, but don't perch on their shoulder watching their every move.
With these sort of precautions its unlikely they will try anything. - HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14@aliengoods.
You can't have an experienced opinion. That makes the opinion you do have less valuable. - returnofmalv, on 10/12/2007, -6/+13I guess children will just have to learn about anal sex, bukakke and creampies from their fellow classmates at school.
Seriously, spying on your children is bad parenting, plain and simple. Trust and a balance of power is important in any type of relationship. If your kids find out you're spying, they will simply become more subversive and contemptful of your presence. - dfunct, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I thought the exact same thing, right now I have VNC on all the computers in my house and its a god send for managing things. Most useful is being able to hide the VNC icon from the tray with tightVNC and a little registry hack
- Buelldozer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I'm also concerned with file sharing that could have me paying tens of thousands of dollars to the **AA.
Me: "Sorry Nic, I just sent your college fund to the RIAA because of those 1500 songs you were hosting on Limewire."
Nic: "Crap Dad, how am I gonna pay for college now?" - jjesusfreak01, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Yeah right...back when I was a kid (im only 19 now), we started out in DOS, and I could open programs and navigate DOS fairly well. By the time I was 15, there is no way my parents would be able to keep that software on the computer and working. I would have disabled it, and likely told them it broke (not that thats okay to do...).
- Lionhart, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"I am sure they will find out from friends on how to shut it down, which i am sure you can do with simple tools available on the net like "PRC view"."
Well, yes I'm sure it would be easy to shut it down, but wouldn't the parent on the other end just know when it's shut down, in turn getting the child in trouble? - ArmandoM, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10Corporations don't do it on people's PC's... they do it on *their own* PC's.. Same as the parents will do it on *their own* PC's...
Don't like it in your corporation? Start your own business and buy your own computers.
Don't like it as a kid? Buy your own house, internet connection, and computer. - kevintest, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Trust, but verify.
- Vektuz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Sounds good to me.
Parents need to monitor their kids - not whine that the government should be doing it for them by passing crazy laws. - MikeKnoop, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I attempt to post this comment in every "child privacy" post:
What defines a child? I’m 17 years old – in the eyes of the law I’m not a child, in the eyes of the voting system I am a child.
I certainly would not like my parents using this to monitor me (of course, that’s dependent on the fact I wouldn’t know how to bypass it).
-Mike - princessM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Too much control doesn't quite solve the issue. You might raise a kid who is over-protective who doesn't know the bad guys/things out there, which is just as dangerous.
Communication is the key. - iamskew, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I remember the days when sub7, netbus, CODC's program let folks do this stuff for free ;)
and p.s. if my parents did this, they'd be watching a lot of porn... -
Show 51 - 100 of 199 discussions
The Digg Toolbar for Firefox lets you Digg, submit content, and keep track of Digg even when you're not on the Digg site. Download the official 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is