The Times reports on the new technology that allows parents to monitor and even block a child’s online and mobile activity is coming to Britain soon…

American parents have already began using the new technology, which is designed to help mums and dads keep an eye on what their children are getting up to online. The technology is different to parental control software that blocks inappropriate sites, as it enables adults to become ‘virtual parents,’ investigating and even controlling their children’s online and digital lives.

This new software works on PCs and smartphones, enabling parent sot eavesdrop on phone calls, read text messages and emails and track where their child is at any minute of the day. This sort of technology, not unlike what we associate with detective fiction, is available to anyone prepared to pay a monthly fee. The US companies behind it hope to launch it in Britain soon – no doubt it will be incredibly popular with worried parents who are familiar with the Ashleigh Hall case.

The Times states that nearly three-quarters of American teens on social networks such as Facebook or MySpace have received messages from people they did not know, and around a fifth report being harassed or sexually solicited. Some of the solution being used to combat these problems include:

YouDiligence – a $10-a-month (£6.65) service that, once installed on a child’s computer, scans their Facebook, MySpace and Twitter accounts for references to drugs, alcohol, bullying, depression, sex, violence or racist insults. If it picks up any danger words, an email is immediately sent off to the parent.

ImView – a similar service that also takes time-lapse screen shots while a child is online, allowing parents to log on to a secure website and see exactly which YouTube videos their kids are watching. A keystroke logger captures search terms and can intercept every chat message sent or received. It also translates chat-speak acronyms into adult English, for those of use who may not know what BTW, BRB and ASL? means.

Although this new technology is designed to protect teenagers, it also poses questions about how much parents should interfere. Children have a right to privacy just as adults do – but when their safety is possibly at risk, it is important that they remain protected from potential threats. Many US kids are also enjoying the new challenge of how to hack the software, which undoubtedly cause problems and require constant improvements to the technology.

Access the original article online at: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article7059287.ece