I.T. Vibe - Parents Snooping On Their Kids Online Activities

As social networking sites such as Bebo, MySpace and Facebook continue to enjoy their elevated place in the online society there are concerns that children as young as eight are active on these sites, even though many have minimum age limits of thirteen and fourteen. However, there is also strong evidence that parents are becoming more aware of the potential problems with increased snooping on their children's social networking pages and other online communications.

Anti-fraud outfit Garlik has found that one in four parents admit to logging onto their children's social networking sites when they are alone and checking to see what they are up to. The same number has also admitted to setting up their own fake social networking webpage to spy on their kids. But is it enough?

Despite the increased awareness of parents and attempts by the government to reel in the power of these social networking sites, more and more children admit to having strangers as ‘friends' with many confirming that they have met people off the internet. There is concern that it has taken action by the government to address the issue of online safety (plans will be confirmed by the end of 2008) with some concerns about a perceived lack of action by the social networking sites themselves.

Comment # 1 on 07 August 2008 at 20:27 by Anonymous

Umm... How is that spying? Is't that just good parenting in this day and age?