Anti-Sexting Application Enables Parents to Monitor Sexting & Other Inappropriate Behavior by Their Children

CHICAGO, Nov. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Wyd Eye Software, a family-owned business in northern Illinois, has launched a new anti-sexting application that allows parents to monitor the texts and photos their children transmit on their mobile phones.

For more information about PicsChecker, please visit www.picschecker.com.

PicsChecker delivers parents a daily report on their children's mobile phone transmissions, giving parents a tool to monitor objectionable content and, if necessary, to intervene to deter inappropriate use of a child's mobile phone.

"PicsChecker is based on the simple premise that if a child knows that mom or dad will get a copy, too, the child will be a lot less likely to send something inappropriate," said Wyd Eye Software President Jeremy Witkins of Algonquin, Illinois. "It also gives the child a tool to combat peer pressure to engage in inappropriate behavior."

Sexting is becoming an increasingly common occurrence, Witkins said.

• Surveys show that 39 percent of teens are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages and that one in five teens admit to having sent nude or semi-nude photos.
• A recent University of Michigan poll showed that parents now consider sexting one of their top ten concerns about the health and well-being of their children.

PicsChecker, developed for Android phones, is the first application to deliver content in a daily email to parents, eliminating the need for parents to go to a server and sift though pages of reports. It has a market potential of 27 million underage users, a number that is only growing, as smart phones are being marketed to underage users.

"We know that today's parents don't have 20 minutes a night to look through reports and logs, to see if their child sent an inappropriate photo or message," continues Witkins. "So we designed PicsChecker to deliver the content the parent wants in a simple, easy-to-read email."

How PicsChecker Works :

• Once installed, PicsChecker records all outbound SMS and MMS, as well as all photos taken on a phone. The recorded events are then periodically sent to the Wyd Eye server and logged.
• Once a day, the events the parents have chosen to monitor are emailed to the parents. PicsChecker also reports the phone numbers or emails messages were sent to, with a time stamp.
• Parents then have the information they need to evaluate transmissions and decide if it is necessary to intervene to stop the sending of inappropriate content.

PicsChecker does not view or use received content in any way other than to transmit to parents, and content received by the server is regularly purged after 10 days. Parents have the legal right to monitor use of their children's phones because the parents own the phones used by their children. 

The phone's user is reminded that PicsChecker is installed on the phone by an icon on the phone's display.

Wyd Eye Software

Wyd Eye Software was founded by Jeremy Witkins in the fall of 2009.  Jeremy and his wife, Cary, had recently become licensed foster parents.  They began to ask family members, several of whom are teachers, about issues that cause parents concern. Sexting by young people was often mentioned by the teachers, who had noticed the harmful effects it could have on their students.

Looking for solutions, Witkins found none. So he decided to develop a smart phone application that allowed parents and children to work together to make sure the child did not get caught up in the sexting epidemic.  

In 2010, Witkins partnered with his parents, Joseph and  Janie Witkins. Together, Jeremy and Joe Witkins have more than 30 years of experience in the telecommunications business.

After months of development work, PicsChecker was launched. It is now available on the Wyd Eye and PicsChecker websites and through the Android application store for $3.99 per month, without a contract.

PicsChecker will soon be available through other telephone carriers' application websites.

SOURCE Wyd Eye Software