Safety vs. Surveillance: What Children Have to Say about Mobile Apps for Parental Control
summary
Analysis of 736 child reviews from 37 apps (scraped from 29,272 reviews) finds kids overwhelmingly dislike parental control apps, with 76% one-star ratings; 35% call them overly restrictive (blocking basic homework and phone use), 23% call them invasive of privacy and trust, many report battery drain, glitches, and workarounds, while 21% value SOS, addiction control, or negotiation features. Design recommendations are concrete: provide metadata instead of full disclosure, enable teen self-regulation, and build negotiation and reward mechanics rather than unilateral surveillance.
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chapters (5)
- 0:00Introduction and research background
- 5:29Research questions and methodology
- 8:23Children's views on parental control apps
- 13:52Design implications and future directions
- 15:18Q&A session
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