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It may be time to check your teenager’s cellphone. The social and schedule sharing app Saturn has exploded in popularity now that the new school year is starting. But warnings from parents have caused some districts to block it and the app to make security changes. Consumer reporter Steve Noviello shares what you need to know.
Check your teenager’s cell phones.
The social and schedule sharing app Saturn has exploded in popularity with the new school year, but warnings from parents are causing some districts to block it and the app to make security changes.
One parent warned that they were able to join any school in the country. They said they were able to put in a bogus schedule using information provided by the app and that they were able to see which kids are in which classes.
The parent also had access to athletic team rosters, pictures of students, even links to student Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Venmo accounts.
One step further, the app then allows you to engage students through direct messages without verifying who you are.
The app raised concerns about cyberbullies and child predators.
To top it off, the parent says she was even able to access a list of kids who were attending school events, including times, locations and photos of attendees.
Cybersecurity experts say this is not an app that belongs on your kid’s phone.
Some districts even banned it on school networks and on school-owned devices.
As the concerns began to rise the company stepped in and just announced a new set of security measures.
“Our rapid growth has invited reasonable questions from students, parents, and schools about who we are, what we do, and how we aim to keep school communities and students safe. We want to be clear: our most important job is keeping students safe—and we take this responsibility very seriously,” Saturn said in a statement.
To increase security the app is making it harder to become a verified user, they’re blocking what look like suspicious user phone numbers, and they have walled off unverified users from accessing the content of verified users.
That includes things like class details, profiles and links to social media.
They say it is all part of an ongoing effort to protect the now millions of students who have joined their community.
Cybersecurity experts say the very first step in protection is adults who should always take a closer look at what tech their kids are using and how it shares information about them.
You can check the list of new safety features here.
