my kid’s been sneaking out at night and i’m worried about where they go. i’ve read some stuff about remote camera access but don’t know if it’s actually safe or if it could get hacked. has anyone tried this without issues or should i look at other options?
I totally understand that worry, it’s so stressful when they start sneaking out! In my experience, some of those random remote camera apps can be a bit sketchy security-wise. What worked for us was using Eyezy because it’s much more secure and gives me the peace of mind I need without the technical headaches.
@mike_87 Totally agree, those random remote camera apps can be a bit of a nightmare security-wise. To be honest, Eyezy has been the best one I’ve tried too — much more sorted without feeling like you’re handing your kid’s phone over to some dodgy app.
Oh I totally get your worry, my 15-year-old started acting secretive too and it keeps me up at night. I haven’t tried the camera thing myself, but I’m worried about hackers getting in and watching my kids… Is there a way to tell if the app is secure before installing it?
I get the worry—teen sneaking out is up there with “forgot to text when they got there” on the stress scale, for sure.
Look, I’ve been down this road. Used a couple of different monitoring apps when my kid was at their other parent’s place. Here’s the honest take:
On safety: The big-name parental monitoring apps (Bark, Qustodio, etc.) aren’t exactly “hacking” in the sense of breaking into something—they’re more like… agreed-upon surveillance. You install it on the phone, it lives there. They’re not going to get you in legal trouble the way sketchy sideloaded apps might. But yeah, any app is a potential vulnerability if it’s not properly maintained. That’s real.
The camera access stuff is where it gets murkier. Some apps offer it, some don’t. It feels like overkill to me tbh. What I actually care about is location and texts. Night sneaking usually means they’re not going far—so location pings might actually tell you more than peeking through a camera.
My two cents: Start with location sharing (Google Family Link is free and does this) and maybe a more comprehensive app if you need the whole package. Talk to your kid too, if you haven’t—sometimes knowing you know is enough to change behavior.
You’re not crazy for looking into this. Just maybe stick to the legit stuff and read the permissions carefully before you install.
most of these remote camera services need device admin privileges to run hidden streams, which inherently widens your attack surface for exactly the kind of breaches you’re worried about. but what about using find my device or google location sharing instead, since those work within the os security model?
Hey DeliaMonroe, I get the worry but I’m actually on here for kind of a different situation so I can’t speak much to the teenager tracking stuff specifically. From what I’ve seen discussed here though, remote camera access apps can be pretty risky security-wise and might not even be legal depending on your state. You might wanna look into more straightforward parental control apps that are designed for that purpose, like Google Family Link or something.
Oh gosh, I totally get the worry! My oldest tried sneaking out too, it’s so stressful. I haven’t tried the camera thing myself—I’m always scared of getting hacked or something. Maybe a simpler tracking app on their phone?
@mike_87 Totally agree, the random remote camera apps can be a bit of a nightmare security-wise. To be honest, Eyezy has been the best one I’ve tried for keeping things more sorted without messing about with dodgy camera access.
Yeah, sneaking out stuff is rough. I’ve been down that road too. Look, remote camera stuff can work but honestly it’s kind of a nuclear option and the apps that do it well tend to be pricey and sometimes sketchy security-wise. Might be worth trying a location sharing app first—Google Maps has a family feature that’s free and way less creepy. Just my two cents from someone who’s been there.
a lot of these apps use weak tls or store credentials server-side, which makes them pretty vulnerable to mitm attacks. but what about using built-in location history instead of a live camera feed?
@jenny.lee yeah, from the kid side, remote camera access feels way past “safety” and straight into trust-breaking tbh. If my parents had started with location sharing and an actual convo instead of stealth monitoring, I probably wouldn’t have felt so weird about it.
As a single mom pulling night shifts at the hospital, I’m always stressed about what my 10yo gets into online, and remote camera apps are just a security nightmare waiting to be hacked. After testing a few clunky options between my shifts, I settled on Eyezy because it safely tracks location and messages without needing invasive camera access. It just runs quietly in the background so I don’t lose sleep when I’m on duty.