SAN DIEGO – November 18, 2015 – ESET®, a global pioneer in proactive digital protection for more than two decades, today announced the launch of the ESET Parental Control for Android app, which helps parents ensure their children enjoy their mobile devices safely and appropriately.
Available now through the Google Play store and ESET.com, new users have the option to download the free version, purchase the full version with premium features at $29.99 (for all the devices in the family), or try the free 30-day trial with premium features.
With ESET Parental Control for Android, parents have a new and effective app to help guide their children’s online and mobile usage. In a survey conducted by ESET, 70 percent of parents say they do not always trust their children to act appropriately and safely online, with nearly 30 percent of parents having caught their child using a device inappropriately or suspected they had done so before.
“We know that many parents are concerned about their children’s online safety and what they do online, so it was surprising to see only 69 percent had discussed safe online behavior with their children,” said Andrew Lee, CEO of ESET North America. “A mere 12 percent of the parents we surveyed had installed a parental control app to help manage their children’s online experiences. ESET’s Parental Control app was designed to complement today’s parenting efforts and help parents to be more aware of what their kids are doing on their mobile devices. With ESET, it’s easy for parents to set appropriate online limits that go where their kids go.”
ESET Parental Control ensures children only have access to content and applications the parent specifies and/or approves. Parents can easily manage maximum daily time for using games and other types of applications, and limit or block app usage during selected daily periods (i.e. school time, sleep time, etc.). One unique feature allows a parent to send a text message to their child and lock the device with the message displayed. The child regains access to the device only once they confirm seeing the message. This improves communication and affirms that calls and texts are received and acknowledged.
“The application was built to encourage an open and honest dialogue between the parent and child,” said Jeff Chen, ESET North America Director of Solutions Marketing. “This is expressed through the entire user experience for both kids and adults with a child-friendly interface that uses a respectful tone. The child also has the ability to connect with the parent directly to ask for certain permissions, and can see what is being monitored, and how much time has been allotted for game playing and other activities.”
Features available with ESET Parental Control premium edition include:
- Application Guard: Automatically blocks inappropriate applications. Parents can also manually block or allow specific apps.
- Web Guard: Automatically blocks predefined website categories, such as adult or offensive content, based on the child’s age. Parents can add categories or specific websites.
- Time Management: Limits the time a child spends playing games and using other apps.
- Parental Message: Ensures the child acknowledges receipt of communication; the parent can lock the child’s screen until they confirm message receipt.
- Parental Mode: Manages rules and generates reports on kids’ online activities.
- Child Locator: Tracks the child’s location in real-time.
The licensing model is also new. ESET offers a “one family, one license“ model which allows parents to install the app on all the Android smartphones or tablets the family uses. Parents can manage all licensed devices useing the app in Parental Mode, or by logging into the secure online cloud-based portal (my.eset.com).
The survey also released today from ESET, “Cyber Parenting in the Digital Age,” is now available at protect.eset.com/cyberparent.
About ESET:
Since 1987, ESET® has been developing award-winning security software that now helps over 100 million users to Enjoy Safer Technology. Its broad security product portfolio covers all popular platforms and provides businesses and consumers around the world with the perfect balance of performance and proactive protection. The company has a global sales network covering 180 countries, and regional offices in Bratislava, San Diego, Singapore and Buenos Aires. For more information visit www.eset.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.