If you really want to know how to manipulate the full power of a cell phone, consult with a teenager. Teens know more about apps than most adults ever will.

 A computing app, or application, is a self-contained program or piece of software designed to fulfill a particular purpose, especially as downloaded by the user of a mobile device. Today there are literally hundreds of thousands of apps, maybe more than a million.

A handful of these apps have a special utility for teenagers; special in a way that can be dangerous. While they are generally clueless about the dangers of attracting anonymous attention to themselves via these apps, teenagers are experts at utilizing technology to hide the existence of such apps

Here is a smattering of what is out there that teenagers are utilizing these days.

Yik Yak
This app has already caught our attention here at the Law Blogger. Yakkers post anonymous 200-character messages that are picked up by nearby fellow Yakkers. "Nearby" is determined by GPS. Because it is anonymous, the messages are often sexually explicit and abusive.

Down
Originally known as "Bang with Friends" due to its Facebook connection, this app allows users to anonymously send love notes to the objects of their desire among their FB friends; they indicate whether they want a physical "hook-up" -what used to be known as a "one-night-stand"- or whether a more serious dating relationship is sought. The mechanics are explained through a series of FAQs posted on the app's home page.

Omegle
On its home page, this app promises a great way to meet new friends, and states that they will select someone with whom the user can communicate, via video, texting, or instant messaging. Omegle's selection of the other person is based on the user's interests, as expressed through your FB likes or through selections available on the app. The theory is, rather than hook-up with a random stranger, at least you will be mingling with someone the same interests.

Whisper
Touted as the best place to express yourself online due to a user's anonymity, this app invites its users to share anonymous secrets while displaying the general geographic vicinity of the user. Whisper was described in Forbes as a "mashup between Twitter and Snapchat". Among it millions of users, a significant portion of whom are teens, a common theme among the disclosed secrets are relationship troubles and eating disorders. The app displays confessions posted by people located with a mile or two radius of the user, just to get that local feel.

Secret
This app encourages you to "be yourself" by allowing users to speak freely to one another without names or profiles attached. Friends can like or love each others posts, anonymously, of course, and if the user allows, they can be shared nationwide. The mode of posting is through a "thought of the day" to which photos or backdrops can be added.

Then there are the apps designed to hide the apps that users do not want others, like parents, to know reside on their cell phones.

Poof
This iphone app is no longer available from the Apple store, but your teenager may have downloaded it when it was viable and may still be using it. Poof allows a user to identify target apps that become hidden on their cell phone.

Vaulty
This app allows the user to password protect certain apps that they do not want others to access on their cell phones. This Android app proclaims on its home page: hide pictures and videos; control what can be seen on your cell phone or tablet.

Hide it Pro
Similar to Vaulty, but this app is available for both Android and iPhones. The app is disguised as an audio manager made to look like it simply controls the audio for the phone. If a user presses and holds the app, it reveals a password-protected lock screen behind which photos and messages can be stored.

A survey conducted by McAfee software reveals that 70% of U.S. teenagers have hidden Internet content. 53% of teen users hide content by clearing their browsers while another 34% hide or delete the content.

The best way for you to monitor your teenager's cell phone use is to have open discussions of the dangers of certain apps. As you are the parent, and most often the one paying the cell phone bill, take an active role in examining the teenager's cell phone.

When all else fails, there are apps like phonesheriff to assist. Check them out and deploy if needed.

Good luck; it's a jungle out there.

www.clarkstonlegal.com
info@clarkstonlegal.com

Post #504

YikYak, like most other social media start-ups, emerged as the brain-child of two recent college grads that borrowed money from their parents as their first mode of venture capital. Fast forward just 24-quick months, and we have a company valued at $200 to $300 million, receiving venture capital from the big boys of Silicon Valley.

The YikYak app allows localized user groups within a mile and a half radius to post anonymous instant messages to other users on any subject they want. The user agreement is designed to keep the user's identity private, short of a court-issued subpoena or court order.

You see the potential, for harm, embarrassment, harassment and abuse, we're quite sure. Think: Twitter without the profile.  If you have the inclination to being a cyberbully, this is your app.

Due to its short microcell radius, YikYak is ideal for the college campus. In one recent episode highlighted by family law blogger Jeanne Hannah, a philosophy professor at Eastern Michigan University was horrified when a teaching assistant with a YikYak account showed the professor what her students thought about her and the subject matter she presented that day.

The professor was so distraught over what she characterized as defamation, verbal abuse, even sexual harassment, she is pondering hiring legal counsel. Forevermore, this professor will be thinking about what her students are up to on their phones as they sit, presumably listening, to her lectures.

The NYT describes YikYak as the "go to" social media feed among college students. Taking the bad with the good, however, the Times also claims the app has been used to issue threats of mass violence on more than a dozen college campuses, including at Michigan State University.

Reaction to the app's basic function of anonymous hyper-local communication has been mixed; among the several petitions floating around on the Internet, Change.org's petition has garnered over 70,000 signatures. This number pales in comparison to the millions of satisfied users claimed by YikYak's board of directors in response to criticism of the company mission.

For our part, we here at the Law Blogger have to wonder about the utility of an app designed to deliver anonymous communication within a hyper-local community. We are all for free speech, but if you decide to communicate threats, real or imagined, should you be able to hide behind the software-engineered walls of privacy?

The real chilling aspect to this is the high value put on such a company by Silicon Valley, knowing that the hyper-texting youth of today cannot wait to spew venom from behind  such walls.

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info@clarkstonlegal.com