7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthfull adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how swift things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing utter well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at palm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthful adult who thinks I am being condescending, raunchy. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used riskily. The switch sides is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and individual attacks so severe that schools are embarking to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids begin exposing individual information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a ideal channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hooligans, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless contraption for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old damsel was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk playmates with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the ideal channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthfull children, by kicking off inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a heinous, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old lady he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-chested photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and come in a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The fattest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue flows. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the arms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his commence in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a diversity of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthfull adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how prompt things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing utter well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at palm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthfull adult who thinks I am being condescending, harsh. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be harmless, can be used riskily. The switch sides is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are embarking to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids embark exposing private information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can response these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hellions, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless device for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old dame was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk fucking partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthfull children, by embarking inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a heinous, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old damsel he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-chested photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and inject a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The largest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that shove the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the forearms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his embark in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a diversity of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthful adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how prompt things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing total well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at forearm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthful adult who thinks I am being condescending, harsh. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used unsafely. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are embarking to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids embark exposing individual information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Trio. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hellions, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless instrument for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old damsel was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk fucking partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by kicking off inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a repugnant, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old lady he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included stripped to the waist photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and come in a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The thickest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the forearms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his commence in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a diversity of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthfull adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how swift things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing utter well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at arm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthfull adult who thinks I am being condescending, raunchy. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used unsafely. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are embarking to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids embark exposing individual information as they get more comfy with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a ideal channel for the kinds of hellions who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their individual page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hooligans, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless instrument for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old damsel was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk fucking partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by commencing inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a abhorrent, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old female he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-chested photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and inject a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The largest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that shove the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue flows. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the palms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his commence in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multitude of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthfull adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how prompt things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing total well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at arm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthfull adult who thinks I am being condescending, raunchy. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used unsafely. The switch sides is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are commencing to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids commence exposing private information as they get more comfy with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a ideal channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Trio. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hooligans, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless contraption for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old doll was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk fucking partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the ideal channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by beginning inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a abominable, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old damsel he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included stripped to the waist photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and inject a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The fattest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue flows. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the arms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his begin in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multitude of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthfull adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how quick things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing total well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at palm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthfull person or youthful adult who thinks I am being condescending, raunchy. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used riskily. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are commencing to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids commence exposing private information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a ideal channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their individual page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hooligans, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless instrument for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old damsel was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk playmates with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the ideal channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by beginning inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a abhorrent, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old chick he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-breasted photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and inject a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The fattest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that shove the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the mitts of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his embark in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a diversity of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthful adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how rapid things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing total well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at arm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthful adult who thinks I am being condescending, rough. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used unsafely. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are embarking to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids embark exposing individual information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Trio. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can response these questions and posts them to their individual page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hellions, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless device for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old woman was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk fucking partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the ideal channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by beginning inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a heinous, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old dame he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-chested photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and come in a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The largest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the palms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his begin in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a diversity of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthful adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how swift things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing utter well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at arm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthfull person or youthfull adult who thinks I am being condescending, raunchy. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used riskily. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are kicking off to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids embark exposing private information as they get more comfy with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a ideal channel for the kinds of hellions who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can response these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hooligans, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless device for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old chick was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk playmates with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by embarking inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a repugnant, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old chick he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-chested photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and inject a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The fattest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the arms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his commence in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multitude of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthful adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how quick things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing utter well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at mitt.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthful adult who thinks I am being condescending, harsh. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used riskily. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are embarking to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids commence exposing private information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Trio. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hooligans, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless instrument for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old dame was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk playmates with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by kicking off inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a repugnant, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old damsel he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included stripped to the waist photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and come in a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The fattest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that shove the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue flows. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the forearms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his begin in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multitude of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthful adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how prompt things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing total well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at mitt.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthfull person or youthfull adult who thinks I am being condescending, rough. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used riskily. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are commencing to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids embark exposing private information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hellions who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hellions, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless device for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old female was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk playmates with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthfull children, by beginning inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a hideous, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old lady he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included braless photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and inject a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The fattest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that shove the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue flows. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the mitts of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his begin in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multitude of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthful adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how swift things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing utter well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at mitt.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthfull adult who thinks I am being condescending, harsh. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be virginal, can be used unsafely. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and individual attacks so severe that schools are beginning to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids begin exposing private information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their individual page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hooligans, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless instrument for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old woman was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk playmates with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by beginning inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a heinous, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old damsel he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-chested photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and come in a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The thickest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the mitts of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his begin in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a diversity of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthful adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how rapid things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing utter well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at arm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthfull person or youthfull adult who thinks I am being condescending, rough. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be virginal, can be used unsafely. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are beginning to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids embark exposing private information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a ideal channel for the kinds of hellions who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can response these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hellions, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless device for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old dame was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk playmates with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthfull children, by kicking off inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a abominable, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old doll he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included braless photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and inject a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The fattest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the forearms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his embark in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multiplicity of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthfull adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how swift things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing total well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at forearm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthfull person or youthful adult who thinks I am being condescending, raunchy. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be harmless, can be used riskily. The switch sides is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are embarking to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids embark exposing private information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hellions, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless device for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old doll was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk playmates with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by embarking inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a hideous, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old dame he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-chested photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and come in a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The thickest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that shove the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue flows. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the mitts of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his embark in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multitude of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthfull adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how quick things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing utter well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at palm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthfull person or youthful adult who thinks I am being condescending, rough. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used unsafely. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are beginning to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids commence exposing private information as they get more comfy with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hellions who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can response these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hooligans, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless device for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old dame was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk playmates with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthfull children, by kicking off inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a heinous, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old woman he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included stripped to the waist photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and come in a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The thickest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue flows. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the forearms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his commence in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multiplicity of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthfull adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how quick things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing total well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at palm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthfull adult who thinks I am being condescending, raunchy. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be harmless, can be used riskily. The switch sides is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are kicking off to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids commence exposing individual information as they get more convenient with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hellions who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Trio. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can response these questions and posts them to their private page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hellions, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless implement for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old female was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk fucking partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthfull children, by embarking inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a hideous, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old woman he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included braless photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and inject a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The thickest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the palms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his embark in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a diversity of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthful adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how swift things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing total well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at arm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthful adult who thinks I am being condescending, raunchy. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be guiltless, can be used unsafely. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are kicking off to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids begin exposing individual information as they get more comfy with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Trio. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can response these questions and posts them to their individual page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hooligans, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless contraption for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old female was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk fucking partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthfull children, by beginning inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a repugnant, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old chick he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-chested photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and inject a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The largest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the forearms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his begin in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multitude of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthfull adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how rapid things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing utter well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at palm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthfull person or youthfull adult who thinks I am being condescending, raunchy. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be virginal, can be used unsafely. The switch roles is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are kicking off to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids commence exposing individual information as they get more comfy with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their individual page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hooligans, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless contraption for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old chick was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk fucking partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by commencing inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a abhorrent, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old damsel he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included stripped to the waist photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and inject a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The fattest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that shove the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the palms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his begin in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multitude of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthfull adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how quick things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing utter well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at arm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthful person or youthfull adult who thinks I am being condescending, rough. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be virginal, can be used unsafely. The switch sides is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and individual attacks so severe that schools are beginning to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids commence exposing individual information as they get more comfy with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hellions who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Trio. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can reaction these questions and posts them to their individual page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hellions, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless contraption for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old damsel was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk fucking partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the ideal channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthfull children, by embarking inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a hideous, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old damsel he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-chested photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and come in a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The largest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that thrust the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue flows. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the forearms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his commence in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multitude of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know

checkup newsroom

Information Security Officer lists some of the scariest technology for your kids

By: Jody S. Hawkins, Information Security Officer

Over the past several years, I have been actively speaking to parents, children, tweens, teenagers, and youthful adults regarding the dangers of the Internet and social media. I discovered rather quickly that I could not prepare a single set of presentations to use over and over again. Rather, I need to conduct fresh and fresh research for every single presentation I do, regardless of how much time has passed from one to the next.

Why? Because that is how rapid things switch in the world of technology and online interactions.

I am not going to go on a long rant about immorality or express my true feelings about the class of a person it takes to create certain apps for monetary build up, all the while knowing total well that children can and will fall victim while using those apps; instead, I am going to stick with the matter at arm.

Parents, you need to be aware that truly dangerous apps exist and are readily available to your children. And, if you are reading this as a youthfull person or youthful adult who thinks I am being condescending, harsh. In order to write an article such as this that is intended to reach the parents of potential victims, I have to be general in my assumptions and sweeping in my aim. I would rather offend you than not get the message out to someone that could prevent a devastating, life altering event for a child.

In my presentations to parents, I list a handful of apps; however, you have to understand that there are literally millions of apps available and, even those apps where the intended purpose by the app’s creator may be harmless, can be used riskily. The switch sides is also applicable; however, with the apps I am about to showcase, it is unlikely that they would be used in a benign way. With that, let’s talk about them:

1. SeekingArrangement.com – Brandon Wade is the founder of this site and supporting apps are available on GooglePlay for Android devices as well as iTunes for all iOS devices. SeekingArrangement identifies itself as a “sugar daddy dating app”. While discussing SeekingArrangement, it is also significant to note that Brandon Wade also created an app called CarrotDating. CarrotDating (no longer available at the time this article was written) was an app that was borderline prostitution in the same way backpage.com ads are also “borderline” prostitution. The “borderline” is fairly evident. Albeit CarrotDating has been nixed, the philosophy behind the trend is still evident… bribes for dates. Of course, “dates” can be defined in ways other than going out to dinner and a movie.

Two. Yik Yak – This App is one of the most dangerous. It permits users to post text-only “Yaks,” or messages, of up to two hundred characters. The messages have no filter and can be viewed by the five hundred Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing to – sexually explicit content, abusive language, and private attacks so severe that schools are beginning to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Albeit the posts are anonymous, kids embark exposing individual information as they get more comfy with other users. This app is a rumor machine and a flawless channel for the kinds of hooligans who hide behind a screen, hurting other people behind a shield of anonymity.

Three. Ask.fm – This app permits users to ask a specific person anonymous questions. Users can response these questions and posts them to their individual page, truly leaving nothing to the imagination. This is especially dangerous because it permits any user to target a specific person anonymously. Hellions, predators, and more can send anonymous messages to a specific person, asking them inappropriate things or even simply making hurtful statements.

Four. Kik Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under eighteen for a number of reasons. The App permits kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. This app also permits users to identify themselves by a made up username, posing the dangers of anonymity. To make matters even scarier, third party websites permit users to search for people based on things like age and gender. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators talking with your child. And again, this is an effortless device for sexting. Just last month, a thirteen year old female was murdered by a man she presumably met on Kik Messenger.

Five. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with movie talk added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – talk participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger;” the app’s slogan is “Talk to Strangers!” You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find talk playmates with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and attempt to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. This app is the flawless channel for sexual predators. Experts say these predators blackmail youthful children, by beginning inappropriate conversations with them, then menacing to send the messages, photos, or movies to their parents if they tell anybody, therefore trapping the child in a heinous, dangerous situation.

6. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. You are also able to communicate with users who post secrets. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming permanently on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old dame he met on this App just last year.

7. After School – This app is a message board that students can join by scanning their school I.D. or Facebook profile. While the scanning feature provides some security from outside users, once in the app, the user is anonymous. However, this app effortlessly creates drama and conflict among users because they all attend the same school. Students are able to loosely post about anything. This year, a single school had problems with posts that included bare-breasted photos, alarmingly vulgar posts from masculines talking about fellow female students, and more. There is even a section where students can scan their driver’s license and come in a discussion only for students ages seventeen and up, openly creating an environment for the discussion of more explicit material.

As with my presentations, articles such as this are a moving target as things get more troublesome by the minute. The fattest problem is that these apps make money. Because of this, more apps get developed that shove the envelope of morality and safety. Look, if the developers could ensure the apps would only be used inbetween consenting adults, I wouldn’t have a problem with all of this; however, the only way to ensure that to any reasonable level is to pretty much kill the app’s revenue rivulets. Because of this, we must remain diligent and be ever on the lookout for the next worst thing that could fall into the forearms of our children. These apps make criminals out of cowards.

Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.

Jody S. Hawkins, Information Systems Security Officer, has been in technology for medical facilities since early two thousand and has been practising for more than twenty years with his begin in the United States Air Force. He is a part of Cook Children's Experts on Call Speakers Bureau. Hawkins specializes in privacy and technology safety and is a regular speaker at the National HIT/HIPAA Conference. He has been quoted and published in several national publications, including Health Information Management Magazine.

Hawkins' can speak on a multitude of security topics facing our children & parents today, including:

  • Social media
  • Cyber bullying
  • Sexting
  • Safety online (Parents & Child)
  • General home networking security
  • Virtual Child (Parents)
  • Internet Safety (Parents & Child)

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