Although we appreciated the information shared by the Monkey app’s creators and the efforts they’re taking to protect kids, we can’t condone random conversations among teens.Īre you interested in having greater insight into the social media platforms that your kids are using? Bark is one of the best platforms we’ve tested. Parents, we just don’t think teens need these types of apps. The bottom line: are the Monkey/Yee/Monkey Monkoy Apps safe? The app’s creators want Monkey to be a place where kids who might benefit from finding a listening, non-judgmental ear is there for them (they shared a few comments from users who struggle with bullying who found solace in the app), but we just don’t believe that most teens have the wisdom to know how to navigate anonymous environments. There’s only so much that can be controlled.Īnonymity = good thing/bad thing. This is both a benefit and a detriment. Another dad said, “Within 10 minutes of logging into this app my child was inundated with sexual requests, mostly by men of age 19 to 29. One mom told us her daughter was contacted by a man who sent her a video of him masturbating to her videos. This is a great step.īut, we’ve received emails from very concerned parents about what their children are being exposed to. They currently engage two image recognition companies to scan user content for anything inappropriate. The Monkey app’s owner explained in great detail the steps the app is taking to analyze and moderate potentially sexualized content in the app. The app’s ecosystem (look and feel) resembles Snapchat, which makes it comfortable for kids to use. This statement from their privacy statement summarizes this thinking:ĭue to the inherent nature of the internet and related technology, we do not guarantee the protection of information under our control against loss, misuse, or alteration. Teens need to remember that nothing is private and there’s always a risk that what is done is secret could be made public. In summary, Monkey does collect a lot of data about its users and shares all three types of information with third parties as needed. Each of these is covered in the App’s Privacy Statement and has different levels of protection. Teens who use the app will be sharing three types of information, including personal information (name, profile picture, date of birth), user contributed content (the photos, texts, videos, and screen shots shared with other users), and automatic information (browser, I.P. They claim to have 24/7 content moderation (). In fact, the Monkey app’s owners called us at Protect Young Eyes (which we appreciated) in order to make sure we clearly understood the extent of their efforts to keep their community safe. The app is trying to do the right things. What do parents need to know about Monkey/Yee/Monkey Monkoy?įor an app that caters to teens, there’s no age verification.We are more and more of the opinion that apps who cater to kids must have some sort of age verification in place in order to provide a safer environment for young users, but Monkey/Yee/Monkey Monkoy doesn’t have any of this.īullying and user safety are monitored. Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes.Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor.Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity.When matched with a new person, you can add more time or add the person on Snapchat to continue the connection.Īccording to the owners of the Monkey App, “We want to create the new hangout spot for Gen Z where genuine face-to-face conversations are being fostered, instead of chasing brief and shallow social exchanges like collecting likes on Instagram.”Ĭorporate website: no website available for Monkey MonkoyĬategory: social networking (useful for OpenDNS)ĪPP Store rating: 17+ on Google Play for Monkey and Yee 12+ (but this is WAY too young – it should be 17+ or “adult only”) for Monkey Monkoy and the generic words used to describe the app in the App Store below aren’t accurate: Users are randomly matched with other users for a brief, introductory video call. Bottom line: there are lots of risks in these types of apps (read below)! Monkey/Yee/Monkey Monkoy App Reviewĭescription: These types of apps allow kids to have fun chats with new people from all over the world. As far as we know, these apps are not affiliated with one another. To confuse things even more, an app called Monkey Monkoy (with an icon almost identical to Monkey) that is the same sort of video chat with strangers app is available on the Apple App Store. However in Google Play, both the Monkey app and the Yee app are available. In December 2020 we noticed that Yee is not available on the Apple App Store.
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