WTHR, App, children, strangers, photos, movie, Yik Yak, Snapchat, Tinder, friends – The apps strangers use to reach children – thirteen WTHR Indianapolis – WTHR, App, children, strangers, photos, movie, Yik Yak, Snapchat, Tinder, friends

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In many ways, Skylar and McKenzie Ritchie are typical kids. They use a smartphone and tablet to stay connected socially.

"I take pictures with my friends. I have three hundred followers. And, I go after 353," said Skylar Ritchie.

Their mom has talked with the ladies so they know the risks that are stashing in the social media world.

"They know there’s pedophiles out there. We want not to scare them, but we want them to know that there’s dangers out there and they need to protect themselves, because we can’t always be around them," said Nicole Ritchie. "We’re very open and fair with our damsels."

The dangers may be the apps on your child’s phone. At very first glance, they are harmless looking icons that could permit your son or daughter’s content to be seen by strangers.

"We were in shock," said Ericka Pickell.

Ericka’s talking about "YouNow", a live movie streaming app her 12-year-old daughter used during a latest slumber party.

"I typed in one of the women’ names and up pops these three 12-year-old women – my daughter and her friends, and they’re talking to total strangers – live," said Pickell. "It’s a live slumber party for anybody to observe. I thought, ‘Anybody can be watching this. This is kind of scary’," said Pickell.

Pickell used the practice as a instructing moment.

"Maybe we needed to have a deeper talk about the potential dangers about what could be stashing out there and who could be talking to," said Pickell. "We kind of got graphic about predators and what could happen. People are not who they say they are and it’s pretty scary.

"One of her penalties was to read an article about hook-up trafficking and the real dangers that meeting someone online and going that far with what could happen. I know I can’t protect her from everything, but I did want to scare her a little bit to make her realize what consequences her deeds have. She doesn’t have any apps on her phone right now."

Pickell displayed Eyewitness News another live feed on the "YouNow" app and how effortless it is to peer into the lives of other people.

"Right now, we’re watching someone from Cincinnati, Ohio who looks to be sixteen years old, very likely ought to be in school. She has braces. She’s talking with at least two hundred people. She’s in her bedroom on her bed. So, you’re in her house with her. There’s no privacy," said Pickell.

A spokeswoman for "YouNow" says the app is sultry about protecting users by flagging users for offensive conduct or being underage. "YouNow" says users can block any other user for any reason. The company uses a talk filtration system to filter out inappropriate content and implements technologies to permanently liquidate bad actors.

"We regularly liquidate users under the age of thirteen from the service and their presence is stringently barred," said Candice Reeves.

Author J.J. Cannon wrote a book on social media rules and etiquette called "@Sophie Takes a Selfie." She does not mince words about social media.

"The Internet is a pedophile’s paradise, whether people want to acknowledge that or not," said Cannon. "This is a massive playground that we’re permitting children to play on, many of them unsupervised."

Cannon has created a list of the "Apps to delete from your child’s phone," including her private comments (see slideshow at top of this page).

Ask.fm Senior Vice President of Communications Valerie Combs says the company has undergone switches.

"Ask.fm was acquired by Ask.com in August two thousand fourteen with the number one purpose of making the site a materially safer and more positive practice," said Combs.

Ask.fm has provided a link that showcases the app’s safety instruments.

Gaggle is a Bloomington, Illinois-based company that provides educational products to school systems. The company also monitors what students are doing on social media.

"We have students who are sending inappropriate pictures, we see some bullying. We also see students who are talking about depression, cutting, suicide. It’s startling to see how much inappropriate stuff that kids do when you think you’re monitoring what they’re doing," said Gaggle’s Kathy Boehle.

Alex Beck is a Gaggle student safety representative for who keeps up to date with what is trending and what apps kids are using.

"Kik is most likely one of the worst ones just because of the known use by child predators using some of the apps. There’s apps inwards of Kik, things like ‘hit me up’ or ‘let’s smooch’ or something like that, kids can go in there and just meet strangers," said Beck. "They may be going in there to meet other kids for sexual activity, but predators are going in there seeking out people for that."

Beck also told Eyewitness News about the potential danger of using the app Snapchat.

"Snapchat is always in the news, but that’s one of the worst as well, because of how many people aren’t aware that the pictures can be saved. There’s tons of apps in Android and iPhone where you can hack into, some are called "Snaphack," where you log into that and instead of Snapchat, and when you receive a photo, it can just save everything you receive," said Beck.

"Tinder is used for sexual encounter basically and they don’t hide that. You get on there and you swipe left to right to choose somebody that you want to meet up with. We don’t know specific ages on a lot of that stuff. But any kind of sexual activity through apps, we’ll see junior high kids, middle school kids sometimes," Beck said. "Apps like Tinder, those dating apps, things like ‘Ok Cupid’ may be suitable for someone of age, but for students using it, it can never be a good thing. We don’t know specific ages on a lot of that stuff.

"Whisper is another thing based on anonymity, where a lot of students will go on there and use it to spread rumors or something they heard about another classmate or something like that. Others don’t know where it comes from. So, people feel free to spread whatever they like on there," said Beck. "Talk Roulette and Omega they combine – people can meet up in the room, they just cycle through different movies, different movie feeds of people. So, it’s like talking over movie with just a stranger. Both of them are known to be used for inappropriate purposes."

"YikYak" is another app to delete, experts say, because of the bullying that takes place.

"It indeed is like a bathroom wall. You post whatever you want and there’s no way to trace it back to you and there’s no consequences for telling something indeed awful," said Boehle.

"Some of the more popular apps seem guiltless – Facebook and Twitter. They (kids) might be using those for adequate reasons. But there’s a lot of conversation going on there that’s undoubtedly not adequate," said Beck. "There’s a lot of Facebook groups that will have inappropriate content and some of them revolve around things like suicide. You’ll see something like suicide. It’s not uncommon to see other users post things, ‘Well, you should kill yourself.’ ‘We hate you.’ It’s a bad place for anyone of post how you feel because they’re not in person."

Some kids have discovered there are apps that permit them to hide inappropriate apps.

"There’s an app ‘Keepsafe’ where you can hide photos in there. So if you’re receiving photos from Snapchat and saving them, you hide them in Keepsafe and Keepsafe can look like a calculator. There’s a bunch of apps disguised as a calculator, there’s one disguised as an audio device and you use a special code to get in there and that’s where those photos will be hidden," said Beck. "There’s apps like ‘App Lock,’ where all of the apps that the student could be using are all hidden. They’re not viewable in latest app activity or in Android on the app drawer."

Beyond deleting apps, what else can parents do? One idea is to install parental control software like "Phone Sheriff."

"Parents can access and monitor their child’s accounts including text messaging, everything remotely," said Cannon. "You can monitor the child’s device. Whatever’s happening on that phone, you will get an email about it. You can set keywords that will notify you whenever one of those keywords has been used in a message. Some of them event permit you to monitor photographs."

Nicole Ritchie installed an app called "Secure Teenage."

"Not only does it prevent cyber bullying and websites that children shouldn’t be on, but I can set time boundaries on it, I can check her web history, where she’s been and what apps she’s been on. You can even block apps from ‘Secure Teenage’," said Ritchie. "We permit Instagram, but they’re both private accounts. So, they have to okay the person and not everybody can see their pictures."

Perhaps most importantly, talk with your child about apps.

"You need to know and you need to keep an eye on your kids. You need to be aware and communicate with them about what could happen," said Pickell.

Apps to delete from your child’s phone (list and comments provided by Gaggle)

Afterschool: Advertised as "Funny Anonymous School News for Confessions and Compliments" in the Apple Store, this anonymous app by Ambient is much like Yik Yak and Whisper. This app permits sexual and graphic pics.

Ask.fm: A Latvian-based social networking site where members interact by inviting others to ask anonymous questions

Bang with Friends: Criticized for not delivering what it promises for adults eighteen and older. The premise of the website is to discretely set up sexual encounters with Facebook friends. Those friends only know about somebody’s interest when they reciprocate through the app.

ChatRoulette.com: "This website permits people to anonymously movie talk online with anyone and without any security blocks or filters. Frequently people are unclothed in the talks.

Kik: An instant message service that also permits photo sharing. It is loaded with lovemaking and porn spammers.

Meet Me: A social networking site that lets users tailor their searches for potential social contacts by age and geography.

Omegle: An instant message service that promises talks with random strangers. Also has a website that can be used instead of downloading the app.

Reddit Forums: Good and bad. Users are mostly anonymous.

Secret: App that openly suggests and permits users to "share with your friends, secretly. Speak loosely." Secret connects people anonymously through their address books.

Snapchat: App that permits users to send photo and movies that the app promises vanish within seconds.

Tagged.com: A social network that teenagers use for meeting fresh people that permits members to browse the profiles of other members, play games, and share tags and virtual gifts. Recently in the news for "sextortion."

Tinder: A voting/photo-based location-sharing dating website often used for casual lovemaking.

Movie Kik: Send movies of any length on Kik Messenger. It is flooded with hookup spammers and has become super effortless for kids to access all kinds of porn.

The apps strangers use to reach children – Local News – thirteen WTHR Indianapolis

WTHR, App, children, strangers, photos, movie, Yik Yak, Snapchat, Tinder, friends – The apps strangers use to reach children – thirteen WTHR Indianapolis – WTHR, App, children, strangers, photos, movie, Yik Yak, Snapchat, Tinder, friends

School & Business Closures ( )

In many ways, Skylar and McKenzie Ritchie are typical kids. They use a smartphone and tablet to stay connected socially.

"I take pictures with my friends. I have three hundred followers. And, I go after 353," said Skylar Ritchie.

Their mom has talked with the women so they know the risks that are stashing in the social media world.

The dangers may be the apps on your child’s phone. At very first glance, they are harmless looking icons that could permit your son or daughter’s content to be seen by strangers.

"We were in shock," said Ericka Pickell.

Ericka’s talking about "YouNow", a live movie streaming app her 12-year-old daughter used during a latest slumber party.

"I typed in one of the women’ names and up pops these three 12-year-old damsels – my daughter and her friends, and they’re talking to total strangers – live," said Pickell. "It’s a live slumber party for anybody to witness. I thought, ‘Anybody can be watching this. This is kind of scary’," said Pickell.

Pickell used the practice as a instructing moment.

Pickell showcased Eyewitness News another live feed on the "YouNow" app and how effortless it is to peer into the lives of other people.

"Right now, we’re watching someone from Cincinnati, Ohio who looks to be sixteen years old, most likely ought to be in school. She has braces. She’s talking with at least two hundred people. She’s in her bedroom on her bed. So, you’re in her house with her. There’s no privacy," said Pickell.

"We regularly liquidate users under the age of thirteen from the service and their presence is rigorously prohibited," said Candice Reeves.

Author J.J. Cannon wrote a book on social media rules and etiquette called "@Sophie Takes a Selfie." She does not mince words about social media.

"The Internet is a pedophile’s paradise, whether people want to acknowledge that or not," said Cannon. "This is a thick playground that we’re permitting children to play on, many of them unsupervised."

Cannon has created a list of the "Apps to delete from your child’s phone," including her individual comments (see slideshow at top of this page).

Ask.fm Senior Vice President of Communications Valerie Combs says the company has undergone switches.

"Ask.fm was acquired by Ask.com in August two thousand fourteen with the number one purpose of making the site a materially safer and more positive practice," said Combs.

Ask.fm has provided a link that showcases the app’s safety implements.

Gaggle is a Bloomington, Illinois-based company that provides educational products to school systems. The company also monitors what students are doing on social media.

Alex Beck is a Gaggle student safety representative for who keeps up to date with what is trending and what apps kids are using.

"Kik is very likely one of the worst ones just because of the known use by child predators using some of the apps. There’s apps inwards of Kik, things like ‘hit me up’ or ‘let’s smooch’ or something like that, kids can go in there and just meet strangers," said Beck. "They may be going in there to meet other kids for sexual activity, but predators are going in there seeking out people for that."

Beck also told Eyewitness News about the potential danger of using the app Snapchat.

"Tinder is used for sexual encounter basically and they don’t hide that. You get on there and you swipe left to right to choose somebody that you want to meet up with. We don’t know specific ages on a lot of that stuff. But any kind of sexual activity through apps, we’ll see junior high kids, middle school kids sometimes," Beck said. "Apps like Tinder, those dating apps, things like ‘Ok Cupid’ may be adequate for someone of age, but for students using it, it can never be a good thing. We don’t know specific ages on a lot of that stuff.

"YikYak" is another app to delete, experts say, because of the bullying that takes place.

"It truly is like a bathroom wall. You post whatever you want and there’s no way to trace it back to you and there’s no consequences for telling something truly awful," said Boehle.

"Some of the more popular apps seem virginal – Facebook and Twitter. They (kids) might be using those for adequate reasons. But there’s a lot of conversation going on there that’s certainly not adequate," said Beck. "There’s a lot of Facebook groups that will have inappropriate content and some of them revolve around things like suicide. You’ll see something like suicide. It’s not infrequent to see other users post things, ‘Well, you should kill yourself.’ ‘We hate you.’ It’s a bad place for anyone of post how you feel because they’re not in person."

Some kids have discovered there are apps that permit them to hide inappropriate apps.

"There’s an app ‘Keepsafe’ where you can hide photos in there. So if you’re receiving photos from Snapchat and saving them, you hide them in Keepsafe and Keepsafe can look like a calculator. There’s a bunch of apps disguised as a calculator, there’s one disguised as an audio instrument and you use a special code to get in there and that’s where those photos will be hidden," said Beck. "There’s apps like ‘App Lock,’ where all of the apps that the student could be using are all hidden. They’re not viewable in latest app activity or in Android on the app drawer."

Beyond deleting apps, what else can parents do? One idea is to install parental control software like "Phone Sheriff."

Nicole Ritchie installed an app called "Secure Teenage."

"Not only does it prevent cyber bullying and websites that children shouldn’t be on, but I can set time thresholds on it, I can check her web history, where she’s been and what apps she’s been on. You can even block apps from ‘Secure Teenage’," said Ritchie. "We permit Instagram, but they’re both private accounts. So, they have to okay the person and not everybody can see their pictures."