Security News > 2020 > February > Facebook will let parents see kids’ chat history, peer into inbox
Seven months after a crack formed in the keep-the-kids-safe bubble of Facebook's Messenger Kids chat app, it's beefing up the app's Parent Dashboard with new tools and letting parents read their kids' chat histories, see the most recent videos and photos they sent or received, and delete any content they find objectionable.
Facebook is pulling kids into that "What are you doing with my data?" conversation: it's developed an in-app activity that educates them on what other people can see about them, such as that people they know may see their name and photo and that parents can see and download their messaging content.
Remote Device Logout: Parents can see all devices where their child is logged in to Messenger Kids and log out of the app on any device.
Facebook hatched Messenger Kids just a month - December 2017 - prior to the ditch-it campaign, having decided to bring messaging to the age 6-12 clutch of Facebook users-to-be.
It won't have ads, Facebook promised, nor in-app purchases, and kids' data isn't collected for marketing: a good way to sidestep pesky legal entanglements like the class action that looked to sue Facebook after people's kids spent hundreds of dollars on in-game purchases for Ninja Saga.