SINGAPORE, April 19 — The co-founder of smartphone app Zenly has assured parents in Singapore that there are mechanisms in place to deter “stranger danger” after some of them raised concerns last month about the app, which is popular among young children.

These concerns centre around strangers having access to private details and being able to track users’ real-time location on the app. Parents said these put teenagers at risk of kidnapping and sexual abuse.

To that, co-founder and chief executive Antoine Martin said that the app uses a “variety of signals and mechanisms” to deter users from adding people they do not know.

Among these mechanisms:

Advertisement

• A “stranger danger” alert shows when users receive a friend request from someone not in their contact list

• The friend request screen shows how someone requested to be friends with the user, such as through phone contacts or by username

• An option to block a friend request from someone Zenly thinks the user does not know

Advertisement

• The app recommends friends only after it determines a high likelihood that the user knows that person, based on existing contacts and location data

“Zenly is an app meant for close friends and we aim to connect users with those they spend the most time with in real life,” added Martin.

Despite the assurances, parents whom TODAY spoke to said they are still not convinced that their children will be safe when using the app.

Wang Ai Ling, 42, said her initial stance against the app remains unchanged, and that she still will not allow her 14-year-old son to use it, citing privacy concerns.

Emily Ong, 34, a mother of two young children, insists that she does not see the need for her children’s location to be known to others.

What parents can do

Communications and new media experts told TODAY that safeguards installed in the app can only do so much.

Lee Kwan Min, a communications and information professor at the Nanyang Technological University, said that consumers should be keenly aware of the consequences of revealing their private data such as GPS information and contacts.

“This is especially true for apps targeting minors and children,” he said.

According to information from Zenly, users aged 13 to 18 make up 28 per cent of its user base in Singapore. The majority (60 per cent) of users are aged 18 to 25.

Zenly’s privacy policy states that the app is not intended for anyone under 13, and the Apple App Store only allows registered users above the age of 12 to download the app.

However, on Android’s Google Play Store, the app is rated for users three years old and above. When TODAY used the app last month, some users who accepted TODAY’s friend requests were in primary school and below the age of 13.

For minors, Lee recommends that parents make use of the parent-monitoring functions that are available on Android and iOS devices.

However, Wang said it might not be appropriate to use these parental control features for her son as he is already 14 years old.

Brian Lee, head of the communication programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said that it might be challenging to restrict youths from using the app, hence having an up-to-date media literacy education in schools is important.

“No matter what the industry players promise and what kind of guidelines are in place, there is no guarantee that all will be okay along the way,” he said. — TODAY