Software Makes Kids’ Private Chats Public

A software sold under the FamilySafe and Sentry brands might actually be making your children’s Yahoo, MSN, AOL and other chat messages available to marketers. 

Apparently, businesses are looking at what kids are saying about a variety of things including movies, music and video games in order to come up with better marketing strategies.

This is especially scary since this software puts children’s personal information at risk.  Truly, the potential threat of software like this is huge. 

The company has defended themselves saying that they do not record the children’s names and addresses although they do know their ages. 

The software developer, EchoMetrix Inc. says that parent’s can opt out of having their children’s data shared by checking off a box, but it’s unclear how obvious this option is. 

For more information about this story and to learn more about the companies that do not share chat messages, click here.

image: Michal Zacharzewski, SXC