Teenagers using ‘secret’ mobile apps to hide things from parents

Secret apps could look like ordinary functions but when users enter a secret password they get access to hidden files

The use of secret mobile apps by teenagers to hide texts, images and videos is becoming an increasing cause for concern for parents as well as officials, according to ABC News.

Louisiana resident Kristin Pinsonat, who caught her sixteen-year-old son using the app said, “I was shocked to find that Anthony had installed an app to hide files. They can do anything they want, and it's all locked with a passcode.”

Read: WhatsApp, Snapchat a rage among teenagers: Report

Her son admitted that it was unwise of him to use the app. “Basically, I was hiding from my parents. And it was stupid, yeah.”

A county district attorney in Alabama, Pamela Casey, posted a video on Facebook to warn parents about such apps. “I encourage you to look at your child’s phone,” she said. “If one child knows about it, many children know about it.”

Describing such apps, Dan Tynan, editor-in-chief of Yahoo Tech Magazine, said the apps could look like ordinary functions such as a calculator, but when users entered a secret password they had access to hidden files.

Read: Technology: Mobile app launched to trace out-of-school kids

“Adults can keep their children from using such apps by turning off their ability to install apps without parental approval. The problem with these apps is they allow kids to hide their cyber-lives from their parents, and sometimes the things they are hiding can harm them, ” he added.

This article originally appeared on ABC News