Snap launched Snapchat’s Family Hub, introducing parental controls and account linking features to the social media app.
As of August 9, 2022, the company has started rolling out the update to users and plans to make more changes in the coming weeks. While the company has previously released a parental guide, this update brings the first parental control feature to this popular app.
What Are Snapchat’s New Parental Controls?
The new family center is aimed at the parents or guardians of adolescents. While Snapchat is open to people over the age of 13, no user under the age of 18 can have a public profile. However, parents may be worried about the time spent on the app and who their teens will add to their contacts.
Therefore, the Family Center aims to provide a way for parents to link their Snapchat accounts to their children’s accounts. However, these new tools do not allow unrestricted control and access to teens’ activities on the app. Instead, through the linked account, parents will be able to view the list of friends of their teens, see who they are communicating with on the app, and report abuse.
The app emphasizes that parents will not be able to view their children’s messages or chat history.
The Family Center also requires parents and teens to connect with each other on the app. In addition, parents or guardians can only connect their accounts with users between the ages of 13 and 18.
In an article on Snap’s website about the new feature, Snapchat said it wanted the home center to mimic real-life parents, rather than letting parents fully in.
So while they can report any accounts worth watching, parents won’t be able to view the conversations.
However, the company also added that more features will be introduced in the home center in the future. These features include teens being able to notify parents of their reports, as well as parental content control.
The app also has a few other security features that are available to all users. This includes features like real-time location sharing on Snapchat if you want someone to track a journey or see where you are.
Snapchat has taken a sensible approach to parental controls
Time will tell how Snapchat’s parental controls will evolve over time. However, based on the recommendations of experts, the company seems to plan to maintain the privacy of teens who use the app.
Rather than giving parents full access to their teen’s accounts, Snapchat wants to encourage discussion about digital security and privacy. This seems like a wise approach.
