digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

Company helps parents spy on kids and control their computer remotely

techweb.com — SearchHelp Inc. on Wednesday launched a Sentry Remote upgrade that allows parents to connect to their child's computer from another location to monitor its use and prevent inappropriate behavior or conversations. In addition, the new capability allows parents to lock the computer or shut down an application, even from a mobile phone.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • IvanB, on 10/12/2007, -10/+32I dugg this even if I'm not in favour of it.
    • drinkGreen, on 10/12/2007, -33/+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.
    • MatttK, on 10/12/2007, -24/+69@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.
    • 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.
    • goat4, on 10/12/2007, -8/+26@matttk, i agree..


      i pretty much had full run of the computer and internet, and i reciprocated the respect
    • qwickone, on 10/12/2007, -5/+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.
    • Drahknon, on 10/12/2007, -8/+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.
    • ksgant, on 10/12/2007, -14/+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 assholes 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.
    • 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.
    • protocolor, on 10/12/2007, -8/+13@Drahknon:
      "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."

      How is that a necessity? You don't have to take a totalitarian approach (same to all the 'a household is not a democracy' power-trippers) to the issue by trying to 'control' their every action. You can instill in them what you consider to be the right morals and values from an early age so that they can make the right decisions on their own without your control.

      "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."

      Well no matter how much you control your kids, 'invariably' you wont be able to control everything and who's to say they still won't be able to 'disobey?'
    • sansbury, on 10/12/2007, -4/+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.
    • kevintest, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Trust, but verify.
    • borninda818, on 10/12/2007, -8/+12control alt delete

      if that don't work, live Ubuntu CD
    • vetipc, on 10/12/2007, -8/+7I want to spy on my parents....
    • fmaxwell, on 10/12/2007, -8/+28People 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.
    • Cerberus047, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Sounds like it could be a funny practcal joke on a friend.......
    • stevenbao, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1@drinkgreen: "As long as a parent is in control, and not the 3rd party who then I digg it." But it's not... the idiots at SearchHelp are in control, essentially.
    • returnofmalv, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11I 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.
    • stevenbao, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Also, @drinkgreen's s prove how many parents surf Digg, I guess. How could anyone let this happen?
    • bocaJWho, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2To add my two cents, using a program like this really should be a last resort, and only used when you think your children have some kind of serious porn addiction/internet behavior problem. Absent issues like that, forming a strong loving relationship based on trust so that you can discuss with your kid value issue and what your kids are doing online is a better solution, and software like this might undermine that trust.

      Beyond that, this is one of the most mature discussions that I've seen on digg. Kudos everyone.
    • josegutz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I tell you one thing... If this was available when I was a young boy, I would not be where I am today... I learned most of my skills as a youngster in desperation of getting into porn sites. I learned the ins and outs of the whole bizz of hacking... I would've went to college to be a doctor and would probably be filthy stinkin rich right now...

      DAMN....I just realized I'm ***** :(
    • Ryosen, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2My house, my rules.
  • CorpT, on 10/12/2007, -17/+11Sounds pretty cool. Any tools to help parents these days....
  • spjmm0, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23Good, however most parents won't implement this until after a very large problem comes to a head.
    • UnixSkunk, on 10/12/2007, -10/+6Oddly enough, that IS sort of the point. Kids tend to learn, "I messed up, and did something wrong. These are the repercussions that occur for doing something wrong." Parents SHOULD install this ahead, of time, but better late, than never.
  • Kamino, on 10/12/2007, -13/+5I wonder what "taskkill" variation will squash this bug.
  • 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.
    • Meatshield, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Well that's the fun part boys and girls: likely this can be put on any computer by ANYONE! So if you are a nosy person just install it on someone's computer and you can find out what they are doing on it. That's the exploitation. Soon your boss can be installing this on your home computer so he can "make sure you aren't giving out company secrets" when really he wants to look for illegal downloads or whatever.

      personally, I would hate to be monitored. it would kill my Internet experience, as well as the use of the computer in general to know that every little thing I do will be monitored remotely.

      I would hate to see this used on me and I refuse to use it to spy on anyone. I respect my kids enough to know that I raised them right and that they won't do anythign stupid. My parents tried to control my life when I was younger and you know what? I haven't seen nor spoken to them in years. I hate them. That's what's in store for kids of parents who use this crap.
    • borninda818, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11i had a keylogger on my parents computer, my dad used to look at porn until he found out that I had it. He doesn't anymore. I kinda feel bad for taking the simple pleasures of pornography away from my dad. He didn't get mad at me for the keylogger because if he ever said anything, I'd turn it around and blame him somehow. I'm very manipulative. I get it from my mom.

      I learned that all spying is wrong.
    • XSforMe, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Totally, as long as the kid buys the computer for the parents. Whoever owns the computer and pays for the connection should decide what goes on it. This fortunately disqualifies most kids from doing what you propose.

      wired4u does not seem to understand that there are dark places on the Internet, parents are not placing this to bug their kids. Its not only pornography: web whoring and child exploitation are very real problems and any kid with an IM and a webcam can be pray to it. Would you let a 12 year old talk to a pimp? Do you think he is wise enough to understand who he is dealing with and the implications this has?


    • saifatlast, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Should they really, though? Do you really want to know what kind of porn your parents look at?
  • quakeIII, on 10/12/2007, -9/+14Nothing wrong with preventing inappropriate behavior, and the parents get to decide what is. Sounds fine.
    • yangj08, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5The problem comes when a third party manages to take control through hacking or some other underhanded means. Then you have to worry about your children's chat records and personal info being accessible to others. Worse, if they can remotely lock your computer- you'll most likely have to go through some complicated, easily botched, procedure to remove it.
    • josegutz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think this kind of thing would alleviate the majority of the senseless bells and whistles on most of MySpace pages and free up like 99% of the bandwidth...
  • veggiemoore, on 10/12/2007, -40/+22It think this just shows parents are getting lazier. Here's an idea: why not just raise kids you can trust?
    • thejokell, on 10/12/2007, -14/+37Spoken like someone who doesn't have kids.
    • qwickone, on 10/12/2007, -8/+13You never did any stupid ***** when you were younger? EVERYONE has. Luckily for most of us, it was nothing too terrible. I think this is being proactive, which is what we need to see more of in parenting these days. Not to be cheesy, but kids will be kids, they'll do stuff that they look back on and say "what the hell was i thinking?" At least parents can now hopefully stop them from doing anything too damaging.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8It is a child's job to figure out what's acceptable and what's not. The way they do that is by doing different things and seeing what the consequences are. You don't know that something has negative consequences until you've tried it yourself (or are able to reason out the same by observation of others - a skill that does not come until adulthood, if at all).

      This starts when the kid is about a year and a half old, and continues forever.
    • aliengoods, on 10/12/2007, -11/+10@thejokell

      "Spoken like someone who doesn't have kids."

      Are you implying if he doesn't have kids his opinion is invalid? How do you come to this conclusion? I don't have kids either. Can I have an opinion?
    • HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14@aliengoods.
      You can't have an experienced opinion. That makes the opinion you do have less valuable.
  • 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.
    • SpacemanSpiff, on 10/12/2007, -10/+32Trust goes out the window when those "mistakes" involve a 30 year old they met on myspace.
    • 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.
    • stuckinafridge, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Isn't that what Dateline is for?
    • 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.
    • dubwai, on 10/12/2007, -8/+6Yeah, totally. Like I have a like 9 month old kid and I don't like put up anything to keep here from falling down the stairs or watch what she like totally puts in here mouth because I totally trust her.

      The judgment of a child is totally trustworthy. You must have like totally raised so many kids.
  • stuckinafridge, on 10/12/2007, -7/+9Seems like a funny method "Sentry Remote can be configured to automatically close instant messaging or chat sessions when either party in a conversation uses certain words, phrases or slang. The application can also send email alerts or cell phone text messages to parents when inappropriate conversations occur."

    It doesn't prevent little Tommy from saying "*****." but when he does, well his AIM window closes. I don't that that's gonna work. What about legit parenting skills?
    • HP844182, on 10/12/2007, -11/+5I can little Tommy getting in trouble over some bad typos...
    • 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.
  • packetman, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6Don't agree with the premise, but it is interesting. Don't worry about little Tommy. If he is the next generation, he will figure out a way around anything. Childern are our future.
    • dubwai, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Yeah he'll firgure out how to forget being kidnapped, and raped by that man he met in a chat room.
  • caldroun, on 10/12/2007, -5/+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.
    • fmaxwell, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3And other parents monitoring their kids become the third parties. They monitor every word your kid writes to their kid. Your daughter might be innocently telling her best friend that she got her first period and her friend's dad is reading every word of it. And doing God-knows-what while he reads it.

      This monitoring ***** is simply sick. It's no different than listening to your child's phone calls or planting a bug in their backpack before they go to school. It's wrong. Period.
  • jsusanka, on 10/12/2007, -15/+10this is wrong on so many fronts - this kind of thinking has to stop in our country

    corporations do this now on peoples pc's and now we are going to raise a bunch of kids that are use to be being spied on.

    everyone should have a problem with this -

    here is a suggestion how about spending time with kids and teaching them your values -
    • 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.
  • snipes, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5It's like secret Damewaring...for your kids. Wouldn't it be better to just create a restricted profile?
  • cobr@, on 10/12/2007, -14/+9to bad most children know more about the pc then their parents do, plus if that was me i would look for any wierd services and try to disable them and removing remote services and certain network services. if we could compare cable tv to the internet when i was a child i was trusted that i would not watch porn and i didnt even though they where right at my finger tips (we had the black box when i was younger, those are so cool!). i think its subjective to the child and how they where raised. sometimes children are raising children.
    • syberghost, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18When you WERE a child? You mean an adult wrote that mess?
  • Phatlip012, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3This is really nothing new...
  • JamieThompson90, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6I respect my parents for respecting my privacy and letting me make my own decisions. You gotta learn.
    Good idea though not in favour of it.
    http://www.realvnc.com/
    VNC is a reliable-ish opensource project. I recomend it for remote administration if not terminal services in NT pretty good for full access.
  • royalgeorge, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4Hi, this will not work much, because whatever we say our kids will be smarter than us, just as we were smarter than our parents at least at covering up things we would not want them to know.
    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".
    As some one had already written in this forum the best thing would be is to spend time with the children and teach them values.
    • 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.
    • 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...).
    • planksconstant, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3as to your comment that kids are good at hiding stuff from their parents, parents know way more about what you did as a kid than they let on, mostly because they were once a kid too and they remember doing the same things you did to keep the porn hidden.
  • snipes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Use GPO's! :P
  • Lionhart, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7"@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."

    Yes but if you don't watch what your children do you're considered an iressponsible parent. Like the parents that don't pay attention to what games their children play. Where do you draw the line?
  • 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)
  • michaelothomas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7What are parents so afraid of that they feel the need to monitor their childrens online activity? I can understand if you're trying to protect a young daughter from online predators...but other than that, what do you hope to prevent by spying on them?
    • Lionhart, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Porn? Violent video games? Software piracy?

      Consider the ages of kids using the internet these days.
    • HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Sexual predators
      Porn
      Adult issues
      Social Propaganda
      Misinformation
    • michaelothomas, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6There are other methods to prevent children from *stumbling* upon 'adult' content. This is for stopping your kid from *seeking out* such content. In my opinion, if the kid is old enough and smart enough to go looking for things, then by all means let them. If they think they're ready to learn about sex, violence, and other 'adult issues'...I see no reason to stop them...they'll learn about the world soon enough anyways.
    • spidrw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17You forgot Scientology.
    • 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?"
  • onemillion, on 10/12/2007, -11/+7This is stupid. Spying should be illegal -- knowingly or not.
  • 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?
    • onemillion, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5i'm sure kids will figure out a way to get around this thing, kinda like with the proxies at school.
    • 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.
  • AhmedF, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Exploited in 3 .... 2 .... 1 ....
  • speel, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7And ya wonder why some of your kids don't listen to you.
  • bigfkncee, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5lets see if you call it spying when its your teen-age daughter meeting a 30 year old freakazoid off of myspace
  • Mykal73, on 10/12/2007, -1/+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.
  • CausticNoise, on 10/12/2007, -9/+7Man... ...

    There are going to be some truly horrible moments waiting for kids out there when their parents reveal the extent of their conniving. Those kids'll never live it down and they're never going to trust their parents again. While responsible parenting is a must, this ***** will end up worsening a lot of relationships.

    Remember what it was to be kid? How would you feel towards your parents if you realized that they were going to such lengths to control and monitor you? I know I would resent the ***** out of mine, and besides that, they're good parents. But I would hate them if they invaded my privacy like that so shamelessly.

    I feel sorry for both the parents who think this is a good idea. Their kids will never forgive them.
    • nepawoods, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6There doesn't have to be any conniving. Parents can be up front and say: Look, it's my house, I'm installing this thing on the computer so I can know what it's being used for and control it.

      It doesn't have to be an invasion of privacy. When I'm on my computer at work, I don't have any illusions of privacy, so nobody could possibly invade it. Same here.
    • CausticNoise, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5I'm talking about the scenario of a parent installing the stuff without the kid's knowledge just so they can build up a dossier of sorts. I imagine most parents who buy this will do just that. The temptation to gain information as to what your kid is looking at will be too great, and that's what makes it creepy.

      I think it will push kids away from their parents, regardless of the parents' intentions. The parents who install without telling would be foolish to not be upfront.
  • 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.
  • goffy59, on 10/12/2007, -12/+7I think any parent who violates there childrens privacy are bad parents. If you raise your kids right well you dont need to spy on them. My parents never spied on me, i got to enjoy my life as a child. I could have my room any way I wanted without any ***** from my parents. I get along with my parents too. I have no curfew but I dont get in trouble. When i was younger, yes, but ive learned alot. So companys like this dont give a ***** about kids, they just want to make money off of all the horrible parents who spy on there kids. If a child turns out as a ***** up and you have to spy on him or her, chances are that you sorta failed in raising your kid. Maybe im critical... but whats the point in living if your being spied on your whole life or dont have freedom to make your own choices? The way the government wants you to grow up or live is not great at all. Basically it works for the government but you miss out on alot of great things. Id rather be dead, then work for 30 years of my life trying to get money, then when i turn 50, im too ***** old to do the ***** i wanted to do, then I spend my money on some ***** golf field or whatever old people like to do. My goal in life is to get a big house and back yard. Get a spa, with a weed bar, hooka bar, and alchy bar and invite all my friends over to just relax and enjoy life. If I cant do this, well life is pointless and why the ***** are we here?
    • goffy59, on 10/12/2007, -8/+5Might I add, there are ALOT of exceptions in what im saying. I understand its hard to raise a kid that wont do stupid ***** like meet some old ***** in myspace who rapes kids... but Ive had tons of freedom as a kid and still am a kid (18), and i never flirted with people on myspace or did ***** because some dumbass told me to. (just trying to be clear)
    • threemagic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9@goffy59: apparently your parents didn't pay attention to the grades you received in school either
    • goffy59, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6How so? Im real good with computers.... I completed all my work in 3d animation, i have the skills i need to model or texture. Its not a matter if im good at it or not, but I have the knowledge. You seem like a prick. I suppose your talking about my grammer.. Well you can take that and shove it up your ass. The problem with people like you, is that you dont pay attention to the topic and since you dont have any response to what I said you bring up some other off topic crap.
    • threemagic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3I have a response to what you've said but since you did not say it in a coherent way, I don't know where to begin. You make it sound like you lead the perfect childhood because your parents trusted you, well apparently that trust has turned you into a babbling, incoherent, pothead, with no real life goals except to party day in and day out.

      I applaud you on your 3d modeling success, being able to 3d model does NOT make you good with computers, however, it just gives you the ability to utilize the computer as a tool.
    • HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5"I suppose your talking about my grammer.. Well you can take that and shove it up your ass."

      Try that line at your first job interview.
  • bs0l, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4i dont think this really matters, its gonna end up that kids use it more than their parents
  • opticwind, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Anything that will help keep kids away from being sexually solicited by pedophiles. Trusting your kids is not the same as trusting who they talk to.
    • concertina, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Okay. 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.
  • 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...
  • SpencerMc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4A great product in itself, though I can see parents using it in the wrong fashion. It's arguably necessary to monitor your child's interaction with strangers over the Internet to prevent disaster. Likewise, seeing that your child is looking at porn should be a signal to you that they are becoming sexually mature and that it is time to speak to them about such. However, reading your children's private conversations with friends does amount to disrespect and an invasion of privacy.
    I think that this tool should be used on younger children but done away with once a child reaches a certain age, though I baulk at throwing out an arbitrary number of when a child becomes responsible.
  • Elohir, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3This kind of software has been around for years, nothing new.

    Dubious parenting imo, but each to their own I suppose.
  • michaelfitz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5if the kid has any tech smarts they'll know to just pop in a live Linux cd and reboot the system. Works every time, even on systems like WebSense. :-)
    • JimXugle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Nah... I'll just reboot into my full linux install. Although I have passed Ubuntu CDs out at school for the kids who have things like this. Their Parents probably hate me XD

      Oh. And I bet there's some way to modify the registry and remove the key that starts this program at boot from linux.
    • DoubtingThomas, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1@JimXugle:
      So are you setting a dummy server that simulates their desktop? As soon as they (the parents) can't connect to the remote host they will know something is up. So please stop stroking your e-peen about how much of hard-ass h@xx0r you are now.
  • 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
  • bs0l, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1oops, should have looked at it more first. sorry

    i doubt many people will use it at all. they charge 80 bucks for that piece of crap. the majority of users will probably be pirates
  • sjsoko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Being able to monitor computer activities remotely give parents the ability to decide how much latitude to extend their children - letting them learn from some mistakes on their own, while stepping in and providing protection/instruction in extreme cases. I've seen the pr0n accessed on our kids' computer, most is blocked, but I'm not so naive to think that they won't be finding this "information" elsewhere. If it gets out of hand over a period of time, they'll lose the computer privs for a while and they get the message.

    It's a tool, use common sense.
  • 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....
    • 955701, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4@JavaMac

      How ironic that you just cited an example where you shouldn't intervene. If your daughter sticks knives in the toaster the toaster & knife get damaged and she gets a scare. Then if she's young you just got her cheap lessons in electricity. If she's old, you make her buy new ones from her allowance. Stopping her aborts the lesson. Please raise a child who knows why electricity doesn't spill from the outlets and why water does. Don't protect them from the environment they will spend their childhood in.

      Every respectable adult I know has a nickel or quarter they melted after sticking it in an outlet.
    • JavaMac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Interesting point (and obviously we both know I was joking). In a situation such as that, I can't honestly say I would take the time to rationalize whether or not my daughter would be hurt or just scared. I would intervene and explain.
      I absolutely do protect my kids from their environment, but I feel in a nurturing way. I wouldn't give my daughter a dirt bike without explaining the safe way to operate it.
      I agree with you about teaching how things work, but I would add that it can be done in very safe, positive ways. Thanks for your comment.
    • dubwai, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3"If your daughter sticks knives in the toaster the toaster & knife get damaged and she gets a scare. Then if she's young you just got her cheap lessons in electricity."

      Yeah don't stop kids from doing dangerous things. If they die, well, they won't make that mistake again.
  • Slugo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Famous words......Trust but verify
  • knylok, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2I think that, as previously stated, this package can be a good thing, provided the parent(s) tell their child that they will be using it before hand. If the kid discovers it's presence accidentally or via investigation ("Why did my MSN window close itself down?"), this package will breed trust issues.

    That said, there's a big ol' gapping flaw here. How many parents are PC-Savvy enough to propery install and run this package? I know tonnes of parental-types who have their kids install most of the software on their PCs for them. Hmmm... "Timmy, can you install this package to limit yourself? Thanks". Better yet, if my parents had installed this on my PC when I was growing up, I would've sabotaged the program. Deleted a few random DLLs. Moved or renamed executables. Whatever it let me do to "break" the program. Nine times of out Ten, the Parental Unit will think the software itself (or possibly the OS it's on) was written poorly and just failed naturally.

    I think the parents who need this the most are the least likely to get this package off the ground.

    Note: My idea of the parents who need this the most are the type who let their kids run administrator accounts because they don't know any better. They don't do GPOs, have access lists or firewalls worth writing home about. Parents who can do these other things probably already have other, free methods of protecting their kids' online safety.
  • 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.
  • bigfkncee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6exactly..just because i trust my kids doesnt mean i should be naive. certain things children should not have "free run" of. trust is earned..not just blindly given.
  • pixelfox, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4My parents don't spy on me, and they don't watch my habits online. But I knew not to talk to that weird guy on Myspace (actually, I never had a Myspace, its the principal of it tho) or not to put too much personal info online. How? My parents *talked* to me. If you don't tell you kids what they need to know, nothing good will happen by you just spying on them.
  • scootinger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3There's also software like this from SpectorSoft: http://www.spectorsoft.com/

    And this is very easy to bypass. Just pop in a Knoppix disc (or another Live CD Linux distro) and have fun! Unless the parents screw with the BIOS settings, that is.
    • thenativeraver, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That's exactly what I was going to post.

      Linux FTW!!!
  • GehnArtillus, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1Isn't spying another word for parenting?
  • Buelldozer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Oh I'm getting a real life watching kids / young adults v Parents battle in here. It's almost stupidly easy to see who the parents are and who the kids / young adults are.

    Here's a tip kiddies: Good parenting requires monitoring what you're children are doing...even online.

    I can only imagine how much nicer most of the CounterStrike servers would have been if Dad had stepped in the room and realized just what an ass their son was being.
    • concertina, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Why do you assume everyone coming down against this technology is a child or young adult? Do you live in a world of stereotypes? (FYI, I'm female, 30 years old, almost all of my friends are parents. Where do I fit in your cute little world?)

      How old is a child, Buelldozer? 8? 12? 14? 17?

      If my parents had dictated that I had to use Windows as a teenager because they didn't trust me, that would have been it. I would have walked out the door, and run away from home. If your parents can't trust you enough to make the right decisions as a teenager and to make your own mistakes, the relationship is broken beyond repair.

      What's with all the love on digg for gestapo totalitarian behavior, anyways? Where DID you people learn your parenting skills, military school? Do you people ever TALK to your kids?

      Then again, this IS digg. For every ten people pretending to be parents, I'd be shocked if one actually was.
  • Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Hopefully my kids will be savvy and geeky enough to beat me at my own game.
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 91 of 91 discussions
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.