Kolkata: In the era of smart phones, it is very difficult to find a person who does not use WhatsApp. It has its good side as well as its bad side. But the impact is more bad than good on children and teenagers. Because, for education or other reasons, parents are giving mobile phones to their children at a very young age. Various problems are increasing due to this. So WhatsApp has taken a groundbreaking decision by looking into the security aspect. The company has introduced new parent-controlled accounts for users under the age of 13.
WhatsApp said in a blog post, “After taking feedback from families and experts, we are introducing this new parent-managed account. Only parents or guardians can set-up WhatsApp for teenagers. Control messages and calling as well.”
What can parents control in the ‘hidden’ feature?
WhatsApp’s ‘secret’ feature allows parents to keep an eye on users under 13 at all times. Kids will not be able to ‘hidden chat’ in any way. Can only private message and group chat. According to Meta, this ‘kid account’ does not have facilities like channels, status or AI. There are no options like disappearing chat or view once. Because of that, parents can see everything.
How to launch?
1. First install WhatsApp from Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
2. Open account with phone number and age of child.
3. A QR code will be generated on the device once the account is opened.
4. Link two accounts by scanning the QR on your phone.
Once the two accounts are linked, parents can see and control everything. Parents can change their child’s WhatsApp PIN, change privacy settings, etc. You will see how much time is being used in a day, who is chatting with, everything.
Many people are wondering what will happen to this account when they reach the age of 13? WhatsApp has also made it clear that when the child reaches a certain age as per the security rules, a notification will be sent to convert from a kid account to a normal standard account. You can change immediately if you want, or you can do it within 12 months.