User data for the popular teen-monitoring app TeenSafe was recently compromised, according to a new report from tech website ZDNet.
The report said one of the company’s servers, which is hosted on Amazon’s cloud service, leaked people’s Apple IDs, as well as their passwords and user IDs for the service in a plain-text file that could be accessed by anyone, ZDNet reported.
The server could be accessed by anyone, the report said.
U.K.-based security researcher Robert Wiggins told ZDNet he noticed two servers that exposed data.
Both servers were pulled offline.
“We have taken action to close one of our servers to the public and begun alerting customers that could potentially be impacted,” a TeenSafe spokesman told ZDNet.
The TeenSafe app requires that two-factor authentication be turned off for the app, which means there’s no other security beside a user’s password.
TeenSafe is a secure monitoring app that helps parents keep track of their child’s texts, location and internet use. The app also keeps track of people’s web browsing history and app installation habits.
The app also boasts a YouTube channel that shows parents how to block specific apps on their child’s phone and how to keep teens safe with their internet habits.
The Verge reported about 10,200 accounts from the last three months were affected in the data compromise, which does not include photos, messages or location information.
“The server stores parents’ email address used for their TeenSafe account and their child’s email address, the child’s device name and the device’s identifier,” according to The Verge.
The company suggests parents tell their children about the app or find a way to get their child to switch their Apple ID password.
As Mashable reported, teen monitoring apps have received plenty of criticism for “potentially undermining the trust between parents and children, and inhibiting the ability for kids to learn how to handle risks.”
But the company’s website said teens don’t need to know parents are monitoring them.
“Every parent’s situation is unique and only a parent can decide whether to inform their teen of their intent to use the (service),” the company says on its website.
