family safety

This week's Washington Post article about the teenage boy sextortion scam by Chris Moody is all I've been thinking about. In part because I know a kid who was targeted in this way, and it was a terrible situation. But to learn that this …

My parents were in the market for a portable car jump starter, (also known as a portable car battery charger), because as city folk, they keep an older model car in the city but don't drive it much. That means they need to have some kind…

We recently got a question in our Out Tech Your Kids group asking about apps that read texts out loud while you drive, which got me started thinking about some tips and apps to help minimize distracted driving for teens. As parents, we n…

Each time there's a live streaming Apple Event to announce the new products and updates, we watch diligently to see what's new for parents and families, or which advances and improvements will actually make our lives a little easier, mor…

This week in our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook group , we were asked how to prevent a Facebook hack, and specifically, if were any security measures to take that might help. And yes, yes there are! Here, a few really simple tips to help pr…

While there has been a lot of gaming going on in our house since the start of the pandemic, no game has quite gripped my family like Among Us . This easy and free-to-download game, which launched in 2018, has became HUGE during this pand…

This is a sponsored message for T-Mobile If you're feeling like you've been inundated with more scams and unwanted robocalls these days, you're not alone. Coronavirus scams actually increased 70% from just May to June, and Americans have…

Let's talk HEPA air purifiers and the coronavirus. I've started to hear some noise about how these appliances might help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, so I've been reading up to see if buying one is worth the money. The TL;DR ve…

If you've got a kid on an iPhone or an iPad, this week's iOS 13.3 update (as well as iPad OS 13.3 )has some serious parental controls that we think you'll be happy to know about. Introducing Communication Limits Starting his week, there'…

Our team watched this CNN Business video with our jaw dropped when we saw how easily hacker Rachel Tobac was able to get information about journalist Donie O' Sullivan . Just from looking at his social media, she was able to do everythin…

Whether your kids have had a smartphone for awhile now, or you're considering getting them started with one, it's important that they understand how to use it. And as we all know, when it comes to a smartphone, it's not as simple as dial…

My son just texted me: "Mom, Say 18 to Siri , but then watch your screen." Sure enough, a countdown for calling 911 pops up. Thankfully, I was watching my screen like he told me to and I was able to stop it. Related: The first thing your…

If you've traveled by plane, you know how much patience you need to have to make it through check-in, security, and finally onto the plane. And that's not even counting travel with kids. So is the convenience of facial recognition why it…

This is a sponsored message from Relay So many parents want their kids to have the safety and security of a phone, especially over the summer when kids have a little more freedom, and a little more run-around-outside time. And yet, those…

With lots of tweens and teens using Facebook's WhatsApp as a way to communicate, not to mention parents, especially those of us who travel a fair amount, we were very concerned about the cybersecurity breach on Monday. Users were left vu…

As someone who uses ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft pretty frequently (and is often distracted by what's happening on my phone), I know how easy it can be to just hop in a car that pulls up in front of me without checking everything…

We couldn't create an Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting without including tips about how to keep your kids safe on social media. After all, for our tweens and teens, the Internet is social media, and they could sooner give up the games…

As part of our Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting , answering parents' top questions about family technology, we're sharing the best services and tools to help you monitor your kids on their gadgets. While most routers, phones, tablets …

We can't tell you how much debate we've seen over the simple question, "when is my kid ready for a smartphone?" It brings out nearly as much stress, passion and well, sanctimony, as questions about breastfeeding or sleep training. Well, …

It's been a rough couple of weeks for YouTube, first with the news about their growing pedophile problem . And now, YouTube Kids is under fire. We know lots of parents, including us, have found a little sigh of relief letting kids watch …

Over the years, we've written about many issues that parents need to be aware of when it comes to the content on YouTube . But this recent report from Wired should really throw the huge red flag of caution up for parents, particularly if…

This beautiful necklace and bracelet just looks like... a beautiful necklace and bracelet, but when you double press the back, it can actually send a message to pre-selected emergency contacts, along with your location. It can even call …

If we're all perfectly honest with ourselves, then we know that Facebook has presented many privacy issues for a long time now. We've been writing about Facebook privacy issues since we started Cool Mom Tech in 2010. That's nine years. N…

If your kids are anything like ours, they've got a phone up high on their holiday wish list. And as much as you want Santa to make them squeal, you also know that a smartphone is a huge responsibility that they might not be ready for jus…