Help Your Kids Manage And Block Tracking And Targeted Ads On Their iOS Devices With Disconnect Kids

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DIsconnect Kids

I have to admit, I’m less than wary of all the tracking that goes on with the iOS devices my kids have access to. Now that they both have at least an iPod touch and access to my iPads, I’m feeling a bit on the worried side about them sharing any of their web or app activity.

Luckily, there’s an app called Disconnect Kids that installs on any iOS device and then helps kids (and their parents) understand what this tracking stuff is, and how to block it. It then helps those very same kids and parents do just that.

Most of the time, any info on browsing or app activity is collected only to serve ads more targeted to the individuals using the apps or websites on an iOS or other mobile device. The idea here, says co-founder Brian Kennish, is to help block this kind of information gathering that may not actually be taken care of by more traditional parental controls built into iOS.

“Disconnect Kids aims to close this loophole by letting you actively block major mobile tracking companies and the network connections they try to make to your family’s devices,” notes co-founder and ex-Googler Brian Kennish in a statement. “Until now, nobody had figured out how to stop personal data from leaving an iOS device.”

Even the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, enacted in 1998, can only protect kids’ privacy so far. For example, points out Ingrid Lunden at TechCrunch, the section regarding video site YouTube only prohibits viewing activity if it knows that a child is using the service. Since that’s impossible on a mobile device, and easy to circumvent (just don’t sign in) on any device, a system like Disconnect Kids is a better way to go about things, keeping the activity information from ever leaving the device in the first place.

The iOS app is available for free, as are the versions for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Opera, due to Disconnects charitable status. You can donate to the cause, though, with a “Pay what you want” system, which helps support Disconnect’s work and, they say, “help support nonprofits that make the web better, too.”

Thanks for the tip, Leah V!

Source: Disconnect
Via: TechCrunch

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