Ghost Apps

This is a re-post of the "Tech" It Out email I sent on December 2, 2015 about ghost apps. This is a great example of why it is so important for parents and teachers to stay current on the technology our children and students use. If we don't stay current, we put kids at risk because we don;t know what the trends or popular apps are.

I did a blurb on photo vault apps for a Thursday note earlier this year, but I thought I'd share the information with you, too, especially when there are times where kids can be observed using their phones (sometimes in a class, after a practice, at a school sporting or social event, etc).

Photo vault apps (sometimes called ghost apps) have the appearance of being a "nice" app, very often it can look like a calculator app. When you tap on the app to open it, it looks like what it is supposed to be, but when a series of numbers is entered (AKA password), it reveals itself as a place to store photos. And the photos there are ones that kids usually don't want anyone (like mom or dad or school personnel) to see. Photo vault apps have made sexting much easier, sadly. If you remember the sexting scandal at a Colorado high school not long ago, a ghost app was at the center of that controversy.

Please continue to be as up-to-date as possible with the technology our students are using so we can watch for potential red flags. Please also know that the technology safety topic of sexting is addressed in CSD 17 in 6th and 8th grade (lessons on dangers of sexting are co-taught by Officer Lazzari from the Channahon Police department and me).

If you want to learn more about the sexting scandal in Colorado and the role that photo vault apps play in that unsafe behavior, check out this article:

http://www.newsweek.com/teenagers-are-sexting-more-secure-more-discreet-mobile-vault-apps-392276