This is not a typical tech tip that we have become accustomed to, but this information is worth sharing. This is not a post about an app you can use in the classroom, but rather informing you on helping kids stay safe in the online world. If you feel you have control over the content on your child's phone or iPod, think again! Since the emergence of SnapChat, a plethora of other camera apps has emerged. The popularity of photo hiding apps has skyrocketed. Unlike SnapChat, these photo hiding apps allow for students to either password protect their pictures, tell photos to not show up in the camera roll or native photo app, and/or disguise the app as something else. For example, one of the apps listed on this list from Mashable looks and acts like a calculator. To get this app to display the pictures it has hidden beneath it, the user needs to punch in a certain "code" on the calculator to open the "secret" folders of pictures.
What is scary: You don't know what pictures could be in those compartments. You also don't know where those pictures are being saved to. Are they saved to the actual phone, or are they saved on a server somewhere and a company has control of them?
What can you do. If your son or daughters account is linked to yours, check under the purchased apps section. You can also take their device and look under the settings, privacy, camera or photos, and see which apps have requested permission to either the photos or camera (Apple devices). I'm sure there is a way to check on Android too, but I am an Apple junkie :-) You can also have a conversation with your child about having hidden things on their phone.
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