If you’re a parent, you’ll want to check your kids phones to see if they have a new app called, “Mappen.”
Mappen stands for “make something happen” and it’s an app that touts itself on helping kids become more social.
Creators describe it as an app that “helps you plan your social life by showing you where friends are and what they’re doing so you can get together.” For example, it will show if you’re at Starbucks, then if other kids want to meet up they’ll be able to do so by looking at the app to see where you are.
That’s the dangerous part. It means your child’s location services are always turned on. In fact, when they first sign up for it, they are asked to enable location services. Anyone can add you on the device although you do have to accept the invitation, law enforcement warn it’s just another way for predators to know where your child is.
If you choose to set the app’s location services to only track when the app is in use, you are not able to post updates to your status, which is why a kid would want this app in the first place.
Mappen does let you toggle off GPS tracking but only for a limited time, up to 8 hours, and then it will reactivate.
Cyber security experts are warning parents to check their kid’s phones, know what apps they have and how they are using them and of course go through their privacy settings including their location settings, frequently.
