ISSUES
: The Internet of Things
Chapter 1: Digital issues
16
Parents, is it OK to spy on your child’s
online search history?
Microsoft’s Windows 10 and other parental control software face criticism for harming
teens’ exploration of sensitive topics such as sexuality.
C
an giving parents detailed
activity reports of their
child’s online search terms
be harmful to young people looking
for information on sensitive topics
such as religion, sexuality, gender
or domestic abuse?
When Microsoft this summer
launched its newWindows 10 feature
that lets parents see what their
children get up to online, this was
one of the criticisms it encountered.
Microsoft has since welcomed
feedback and promised an update,
with more appropriate default
settings for teenagers. However,
it is not the only service provider
offering this level of parental control.
Most security software companies
today sell ‘family’ products, many
including reports, notifications and
video supervision. But is it right to
spy on your child?
The UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child stipulates that children
have a right to privacy and a right
to information. They also have a
right to protection from all types
of violence and exploitation – and
there lies the rub.
With a young generation more
Internet-savvy than their parents,
ensuring online safety for minors
surfing an ever-expanding web
becomes a hard task. Today’s
parents don’t have an older
generation to turn to for tech advice,
so many turn to parental control
software instead.
Recent research commissioned for
Norton by Symantec, a provider
of antivirus and security software,
shows that 46% of British parents
worry that they don’t know what
their children are doing online.
Nick Shaw, Norton’s general
manager of Europe, the Middle East
and Africa, is one of those worrying
parents. Perhaps predictably, he
uses parental control software,
including reports.
“I’m not looking at what they’re
doing day to day, I’m just checking
to make sure that they’re safe,” he
says. He emphasises that he uses
Norton’s family feature alongside
face-to-face discussions with his
children, and encourages other
parents to do the same.
Raj Samani, chief technology officer
at Intel Security, previously McAfee,
applies a family protection pack
with informed consent and says his
children approve of his monitoring
because he is transparent about
the reasons for it.
“My daughter tried to communicate
with somebody and I got the
notification. And actually what she
was doing was unsafe so I ended
up having a conversation with her,
explaining the concept of anonymity.”
ShawandSamani both have children
aged 11–16, the age that 61% of
British parents believe is when
their children are most vulnerable
online. Shaw says parents’ product
demands depend on their child’s
age: parents of young children
often want to monitor screen time,
whereas those with teenagers raise
concerns about social media.
“We build a tool that allows parents
flexibility to do what they want,”
says Shaw.
Samani says parents and children
do need to have a discussion about
when monitoring should stop: “To
me I think it comes down to a point
where you have got that level of
understanding and maturity.”
Cyber security consultant Dr
Jessica Barker questions whether
parental monitoring is fair on
children, and says it can intrude into
their privacy. Referencing research
by Professor Sonia Livingstone on
Internet governance and children’s
rights, she goes so far as to say it
can be harmful.
“If [children] feel they are being
monitored that undermines any
kind of relationship of trust. They
might be using the Internet in a
healthy way to get information and
support, and feel that they are not
able to do that because they are
being monitored.”
She brings up the issue of teenagers
wanting to explore their gender or
sexuality in private. If parents have
a problem with that, or even use
filters blocking LGBT sites, that
could cut off access to something
hugely helpful, a service previous
generations didn’t have.
