A new Snapchat safety tool will help parents to get more insights on how their teenagers use the app without compromising their children’s privacy.
Family Centre will show parents their children’s friend list and who has contacted them, but it will not show the content of conversations.
How does the Snapchat safety feature work?
Family Centre requires a parent and child’s Snapchat accounts to be friends in order to set up the feature. When connected, parents will be able to see who is communicating with their child. If they spot something suspicious, they can report the accounts involved confidentially.
A Snapchat blog said Family Centre would “reflect the way that parents engage with their teens in the real world.” By that, the company means that “parents usually know who their teens are friends with and when they are hanging out – but don’t eavesdrop on their private conversations.”
“To help develop Family Centre, we worked with families to understand the needs of both parents and teens, knowing that everyone’s approach to parenting and privacy is different.”
The company consulted online safety and wellbeing experts to create the Snapchat safety feature.
What have other platforms done?
A number of other social media platforms have introduced tools that enable parents to see more of what their children do on their sites. There has been a marked increase in scrutiny on the subject and a number of countries are developing internet safety laws.
Snapchat also confirmed that it was publishing a new range of resources to help parents and children have open conservations about online safety. It also said it would continue to add more features to Family Centre over the coming months, including new content control tools for parents.
“Our goal is to help empower parents and teens in a way that still protects a teenager’s autonomy and privacy. We look forward to continuing to work closely with families and online safety experts to keep improving Family Centre over time,” Snapchat’s blog post said.
