South Korea pulls plug on government-mandated child surveillance app
(AP):
http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/11/01/apnewsbreak-south-korea-pulls-plug-on-child-monitoring-app
Moon Hyun-seok, a senior official at the Korea Communications
Commission, told The Associated Press that "Smart Sheriff" has
been removed from the Play store, Google's software marketplace,
and that existing users are being asked to switch to other
programs. The government plans to shut down the service to
existing users "as soon as possible," he said. Smart Sheriff's
maker, an association of South Korean mobile operators called
MOIBA, declined comment. Smart Sheriff's disappearance is a
blow to South Korea's contentious effort to keep closer tabs on
the online lives of its youngest citizens. Less than a year ago,
the government and schools sent letters to students and parents
to encourage them to download Smart Sheriff. A law passed in
April requires all new smartphones sold to those 18 and under to
be equipped with software which parents can use to snoop on
their kids' social media activity. Smart Sheriff, the most
popular of more than a dozen state-approved apps, was meant to
keep children safe from pornography, bullying and other threats,
but experts say its abysmal security left the door wide open to
hackers and put the personal information of some 380,000 users
at risk.
- - -
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein ([email protected]): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Founder:
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- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
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I have consulted to Google, but I am not currently doing so.
My opinions expressed here are mine alone.
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