NJ Cop Advises Hacking Your Child's Facebook Account, Keyloggers Fair Game
NJ Cop Advises Hacking Your Child's Facebook Account, Keyloggers Fair Game
Posted 02/16/2011 at 8:30am
| by Paul Lilly
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The rise of social networking can be a two-fold problem for parents when it comes to policing teens. First, there's a lot that goes on in Facebook, from potentially inappropriate chats to exchanging photos that show too much and don't cover enough. And secondly, today's teens are more computer savvy than ever. According to NBC New York, James Batelli, a New Jersey police chief, has an interesting solution: hack your child's account.
Batelli is concerned that inappropriate photos and other online cruft could negatively affect a child's college and career potential. In addition, there's always the threat of online predators. To combat against all this, he holds seminars in which detectives show parents how to install keyloggers in order to hack into their kids' Facebook accounts and see what's going on.
"When it comes down safety and welfare of your child, I don't think any parent would sacrifice anything to make sure nothing happens to their children," Batelli explains. "If it means buying an $80 package of software and putting it on and seeing some inappropriate words you don't want your child to say, then that's part of society."
Not everyone agrees with this approach.
"It sort of sets up a situation of distrust," says family psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Kassinove. "First of all, you're encouraging your child that it's okay to lie because you're lying yourself and you're conducting some secret action and they're not aware of it."
Instead of the keylogger approach, Kassinove says it's more appropriate to use cyber-nanny software, or parental controls, to restrict access to certain sites. In addition, he feels that parents should be able to access a child's Facebook account, it just doesn't have to be on the down-low.
Do you agree with Batelli's keylogging approach, or do you think Kassinove has a better grip on what's appropriate? Is there even a clear cut answer? Post your thoughts in the comments section below!
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Faheemptcl
February 17, 2011 at 3:31am
Why not a rule to share all social account on the net (offcours upto a certain age)
schwit
February 16, 2011 at 4:06pm
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Sarah Palin's email account hacker was charged under this.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Computer_Fraud_and_Abuse_Act
johnnyathm1
February 17, 2011 at 1:47am
Doesn’t apply when you are the parent or legal guardian of a minor in your charge. Having said that, I am not sure if "hacking" your child's computer account is the way to go...but as far as to the legality of it, it's fair game.
Balgaroo
February 16, 2011 at 3:32pm
I think I remember a story about a parent that did this to their kid and the kids other parent sued. Something like that, I don't rember. How about if you dumb enough to put it on the net then you don't mind it being made public.
flo21
February 16, 2011 at 1:10pm
whatever happened to the old fashioned way of teaching your kids about the consequences of their actions?
chipmunkofdoom2
February 16, 2011 at 1:02pm
Hm... I think I'll agree with the doctor and his 14+ years of college instead of the cop with no post-high school education. The ends only justify the means when you're to simple-minded to understand the complexity of the consequences that can arise from your actions.
sjl1986
February 19, 2011 at 12:47am
First of all it doesn't take 14 years in college to be a doctor. It takes closer to 8. Secondly, just because people go to college, doesn't mean they have common sense. I know plenty of people with college degrees that won't last a minute when they hit a real world situation. They only know what they've read in school books.
The psychologist says that it creates mistrust when the parent hides the fact that they can see the child's password, but that can be turned around completely if I state that the child is causing mistrust with the parent by keeping their password a secret. If the child has nothing to hide, they should give the parent the password and save them $80.
Parents should maintain a child's account information until the child is capable of making solid decisions on his/her own. I'm going to go with the other poster who said we should just teach kids about life and consequences and it'll take care of itself for the most part.
sjl1986
February 19, 2011 at 12:47am
First of all it doesn't take 14 years in college to be a doctor. It takes closer to 8. Secondly, just because people go to college, doesn't mean they have common sense. I know plenty of people with college degrees that won't last a minute when they hit a real world situation. They only know what they've read in school books.
The psychologist says that it creates mistrust when the parent hides the fact that they can see the child's password, but that can be turned around completely if I state that the child is causing mistrust with the parent by keeping their password a secret. If the child has nothing to hide, they should give the parent the password and save them $80.
Parents should maintain a child's account information until the child is capable of making solid decisions on his/her own. I'm going to go with the other poster who said we should just teach kids about life and consequences and it'll take care of itself for the most part.
Caboose
February 16, 2011 at 3:56pm
Just wondering how you know that police officer has no post-secondary education?
whitneymr
February 19, 2011 at 7:37pm
As someone who started out in college studying Criminal Justice and then switched to Medicine I can fill you in on college degree's and lenght of time.
When I was in Crim. Just. it was my route into Law School but there where a handful of cops going through also. The only reason they were there was in Indiana they could set for promotion tests in half the time of non-degreed guys. And let me assure you it was a small handful compared to the size of the locale city,count, and state cops in the area.
Now for being a doctor here's the run down:
4 years of undergrad.
4 years of med school
3 years of fellowship (for cardiology, some are 2 years, some are 4)
That comes up to 11 years in my case.
Caboose
February 16, 2011 at 5:34pm
Yes, it is clear that he is a police officer. However that still hasn't answered my question about how you know he doesn't have a post-secondary education. I know a few cops who have a college education.
I know paramedics that don't. Heck, I know airline pilots and military officers that don't have post-secondary education.
lob502
February 16, 2011 at 12:58pm
Really? Encouraging parents to install keyloggers??? Heres an idea! Talk to your fucking kids.
Problem solved.
Connor776
February 16, 2011 at 11:56am
No they shouldnt!!!!!!! Keylogging is ileagal (not that I havent done it) but doing this to your own childs ciomputer is just wrong personally i would probably kill all my accts. and change all passwords if i new someone logged my comp. I check daily to make sure this hasent happened and plan to check daily for the rest of my life!!!
johnnyathm1
February 17, 2011 at 10:33pm
Listen kid, mommy and daddy bought you that computer that your using right now...and they can secure it, lock it down, monitor it, and do just about everything else that you "think" is illegal. So...go back to school and review your grammar before you post here.
Caboose
February 17, 2011 at 1:29pm
Wow! If your checking for rootkits and if your PC is secure is as good as your spelling, your PC is wide open. I wouldn't be surprised if you're running a botnet too without your knowledge!
tempster
February 16, 2011 at 10:57am
The parents in Harlan Coben's novel entitled "Hold Tight" do this very thing and where does it get them.
How about I put a keylogger on your personal machine and we'll see what we'll see...won't we?
- I don't have any social networking accounts on any sites
- I agree with the post by skirge01
michaelh
February 16, 2011 at 9:54am
It's not circumvention of copy protection so I don't think it's covered under the DMCA. Additionally, reading by the letter of the law, it wouldn't be illegal. The law's more about criminal acts committed while circumventing protections - theft, infringement, coercion, treason, etc.
There are vague passages alluding to unauthorized access but they primarily pertain to the machine rather than accounts on it (or information in the cloud). So, technically, it could be illegal if the computer was your child's property and the law was loosely interpreted.
I seem to recall some case recently, though, where a parent was found to be in violation of a law because of their child using the household computer to "hack" into a friend's social network account. I suppose the culpability is determined by how indignant the legislators become.
AnglicDemon00
February 16, 2011 at 10:02am
I also grew up with a similar enviornment with my mother and I do have to say it is working still to this day. I may only be 20, but I understand the need to be rebilouse and try to find a way around rules just because you are restricted from doing somthing. Though in addition, there is no real way from stopping them from doing any of the above things. If a person feels like they are being monitered in a certian area, they will do there buisness else where and that can include what is mentioned above in the artcle.
skirge01
February 16, 2011 at 9:44am
Note to parents:
BE parents. TALK to your kids. LISTEN to your kids. Trust and respect go both ways. If you create an environment where your child feels comfortable bringing things to you (or an older sibling or an aunt or uncle or friend of the family) without fear of being judged, ridiculed, or treated unfairly, they WILL come to you when they need to.
I'm in my late 30's now and am very thankful for how my parents treated me. Firm, but caring. I had older siblings my parents told me I could talk to about anything I didn't feel comfortable bringing to them. They also didn't "forbid" me from doing certain things (smoking, drugs and alcohol, for instance), but did ensure that I knew the dangers and that, should I decide to try it, I should do it surrounded by more responsible people, again, such as my siblings.
Due to that environment, I never smoked, never did drugs, and had no desire to drink, even when my friends were. Was I perfect? Hell no!!! But, I think I turned out alright.
paranoid6199
February 16, 2011 at 3:05pm
I have been raised the same way and i am now 21. I found it worked out great for me as well and i plan to do so one day in the future when i have kids myself.
titan8813
February 16, 2011 at 9:32am
We use OpenDNS to restrict access to certain websites for ALL computers at our house. It's free, and very simple to set up. Plus they have a little utility that runs in the background to update your dynamic IP address so you're always covered.
We allow our 11 y/o to have access to Facebook but the computer is in the living room with the screen facing the room so if we want to we can look over his shoulder. Sometimes we'll even have the display duplicated on our LCD TV so that we can see what he's up to as he's doing it. We set up Parental Controls through Windows so that he's not downloading and executing a bunch of crap (this came after he downloaded something and just started clicking through the installation process without regard to what each screen was saying...)
Oh, and in order to even be able to use the computer he has to read a book for at least 10 minutes. So far it's worked for us!
Danthrax66
February 16, 2011 at 4:01pm
Yeah that is only going to work until they are like 13 then they will change the DNS on the PC's or reset the router to factory defaults and change it there too. A much better way to block things is in the host file because not many people realize how to use it or they just don't think of it.
Jox
February 16, 2011 at 9:22am
Pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't use of a keylogger be a violation of the DMCA?
-Jox
LatiosXT
February 16, 2011 at 9:11am
Finding a foolproof method only brings out even better fools. And children are the ultimate fools.
... No, I don't have kids myself
rawrnomnom
February 16, 2011 at 9:00am
Thats okay, use your software key loggers and kids will learn how to create bootable flashdrives and go around them, yet again.
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