I’m looking for something like Snikket or Prosody, but kids-oriented. I DON’T want my <10 daughter using Meta Messenger Kids! I’ll tell my friends to setup for their kids, too. I’d have no access to anything, so it’s secure (mom and dad not snooping per se), but the downside is minimal parental controls. Though, no one to really add either.
I’ll host or pay for it, IDC. It doesn’t seem like there is much out there either.
JusTalk seemed nice when I found out but apparently China owned and so no more secure. I/we need better options!
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JusTalk seemed nice when I found out but apparently China owned and so no more secure.
I don’t understand this sentence. Did you accidentally a word? Are you saying you won’t use it because it’s owned by a Chinese company?
Sorry, when I found it*. Correct, I don’t use it if it’s Chinese owned.
Is there a reason a Chinese made product would entail more risk than a US or European made product?
Products are generally fine, it’s software that wants to phone home or have a backdoor I’m concerned about.
What is the specific danger from that within Chinese software that software with backdoors from other countries wouldn’t have? From which country would you find software less likely to include such backdoors?
What’s it matter?
I have a preference and don’t feel comfortable using something with a known backdoor geared towards kids. I don’t specifically know if it scans other apps or for other devices, does it snoop on open ports, does it report back traffic patterns or found vulnerabilities? Who knows what closed software does?
I don’t know, and I don’t care to find out. It’s not with eating my time digging only to find another reason to not use it. I’ll trust something open sourced and that’s what I’m looking for.
I agree with your concern in general especially because you’re looking for something for kids, and I would want something free and open source, I just find it odd when people single out China in such a way.
I’m not specifically meaning to knock China, but they’re known for spying and eavesdropping. So why take (or accept) the risk?
Why would you do that
I struggled with this too. Never found anything really “kid-oriented” but I ended up getting my kids and their friends to use Delta chat.
Why does it need to be a kid’s messenger? Why not a regular secure messenger?
Anything marketed as a kids messenger is probably going to be crawling with pedophiles.
More so cuz the camera filters and stickers that appeal to kids. My wife let’s my daughter use her Snapchat just to take selfies with the filters. Meta has that bullshit too
Afaik none of the foss messengers have those features, apart from stickers, which Signal has, and I imagine there might be some way to configure Matrix to. But the issue you’ll run into is getting your daughter’s friends onto there.
Yeah, Signal might just be the most secure and simple to setup since it’s based on phone number too. No server configs.
I guess signal has stickers too
I’d love to read a whole solution for all this type of shit. My guy is getting a smart phone next year because of his school commute getting drastically longer and he needs navigation tools.
I want to be able to give him and his friends the social aspects of the web without the… everything else and so I’ve thought about something like this as well, but couldn’t find anything.
Amen, sir!
What about signal? It has stickers.
Yeah i just found that out, I’ll have to check it out for sure!
What’s your threat model for security here?
I want my kid and others kids to be actually safe, not thinking they’re safe using a big tech brand.
No data being captured, no ties to big tech, bc I don’t use them so I prefer not to sign up just to manage the child acct.
Lower risk of mental health issues using addictive platforms that push kids to stay engaged.
Those are the biggest.
Okay, is consumer profiling for Alibaba or Temu, or possible identity theft from overseas agents (at a rate that is uncertain but too small to have made the news) part of your threat model? Or maybe insertion of messaging (idk how that would work) from a foreign agent amidst the content of the app?
