University assignment reviewing kik Messenger from the perspective of parents to children of 13-18 years old and not wanting them to use FaceBook and broad social networks. The Policy Primer gives a brief overview of the kik legals from the parent's perspective.
Policy Primer - kik Messenger (NET303 - Curtin Uinversity)
1. kik messenger:
“smartphone-only message app”
kik appears to be a good solution for children
over 13 years of age to communicate via their
Smartphones, but is it ‘smart’ if you (or they)
have not read the ‘Legals’?
NET303 – Internet Politics and Power, Curtin University
Assignment 2: Policy Primer
kik website frontpage screenshot - copyright and courtesy: http://kik.com/
2. A brief introduction to ‘kik messenger’
• kik is freely downloadable from app stores and operates on
major smartphones such as:
•
•
•
•
•
Apple
Android
Windows Phone
Nokia, and
BlackBerry
NET303: POLICY PRIMER
• Over 200,000 people join kik messenger everyday and there are over
85 million people using kik already (Kik Boiler Plate, 2013, para. 1).
kik is popular with children aged 13-18 years as it is similar to texting
but free if accessed using WiFi (Redux, 2013, para. 5).
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• kik messenger (kik) is a smartphone-only messaging application (app)
developed in 2009 by a group of students from the University of
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (Kik Boiler Plate, 2013, para. 1).
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kik smartphone screenshots - copyright and courtesy: http://kik.com/Press-Kit-October-2013.zip
3. kik ‘legals’ – are they easy to find?
NET303: POLICY PRIMER
21/10/2013
• The link to kik ‘legal’ is in
grey text at the bottom of
the web site front page,
and whilst it is not hard to
find it is not offered as a
prominent blue text link
at the top right alongside:
‘About’, ‘Help’ and
‘Download’.
• Perhaps kik would seem
more transparent,
particularly with parents
of the 13-18 year old
market, if that link was at
the top of the page and
more prominently
coloured.
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kik website frontpage screenshot - copyright and courtesy: http://kik.com/
4. • Kik privacy allows groups of two or more users who know each
other’s ‘username’ to form a ‘conversation’ and only those in the
group can see that conversation.
• However, if a kik username is shared or used in other more visible
platforms such as Facebook and Instagram it is possible for unknown
persons, with possible ill-intent, to make contact with the kik user by
chat request and connect to children (Hoal, 2013, para. 6).
• At this point, kik does not have advertising or commercial messages
within the kik messenger environment and even notes that
advertising or promoting to users is not ‘acceptable use’.
NET303: POLICY PRIMER
• kik offers a range of privacy settings on installation including the
choice to not give kik access to mobile contacts in order to find
“suggested friends”. So from this perspective the user can stay private
in kik and only connect with those people they want to know by
directly sharing their username off the service.
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How do kik legals keep children ‘relatively safe’?
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5. What legal aspects are not as safe for children?
• Identity requires only a verifiable email address for the user to
receive a confirmation email with a link to complete the registration
process.
• This may be set up for free through any number of online services such as
Gmail; if false names and contacts are to be used.
• Messages sent using WiFi do not show up on telephone invoices as
they are ‘free’ data and this means that parents are unable to verify
who they children are messaging (Caetano, 2013, para. 2).
NET303: POLICY PRIMER
• This doesn’t seem to be very reliable but is similar to other social network
acceptance procedures.
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• Age verification is very simplistic with a simple click required to
answer ‘yes’ on the app store that the user is older than the
minimum age.
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6. kik ‘legals’–overall, are they easy to understand?
• The Privacy Policy primarily focuses on the user:
• It details how kik deal with the user registration information,
identity and details, and how third party applications deal with the
same information on their application.
• The Terms of Service (TOS) primarily focus on what the user can and
cannot do, on kik or with kik software:
• For example: the TOS contains ‘user content’ policy, termination of
the agreement and how Third Parties and government laws affect
the TOS agreement.
• Each of these sections is linked from a content menu at the top of the page
and the content is logically numbered and headed (or bolded) making it a
simple process to refer back to, or find any particular legal information.
• A browser page keyword search will also yield information quickly.
NET303: POLICY PRIMER
• The legal document has two major sub-sections: Privacy Policy and Terms
of Service.
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• The kik ‘legal’ document is published on a web site page in Plain
English making it relatively easy to understand even without legal
experience.
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7. If kik updates the ‘legals’ will the user know?
• Kik notes that any changes to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
will be advised 30 calendar days in advance to registered users via
their chosen email address or a through a notice on the kik website.
• If the email address is invalid through user error or lack of updating of
current contacts kik is not obligated or liable to the user if there are
changes to the legal terms.
NET303: POLICY PRIMER
• The legals would seem relatively overdue for update in comparison to the
frequent updates produced by other online networks such as Google or
Facebook.
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• Interestingly, the current version of the Privacy Policy is dated 2011,
and the Terms of Service are dated in 2010.
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8. These major concerns are:
1. Privacy and Terms of Service of the App Store from where kik is downloaded
2. The possible use of Third Parties to host the servers of the ‘kik messenger
service’, and
3. Connecting from kik to other social network platforms such as YouTube and
Instagram and children not reading their terms of service or privacy policies.
• Accepting the Terms of any one of these third parties may open up
access to the user’s mobile data logs, the mobile unique identifier
number, contact lists and other information.
• In Google’s case – they may attempt to match any mobile data and
information to Google Accounts (Google Privacy Policy, 2013, para.7)
enabling them to identify a user, effectively negating the kik identity
privacy control.
NET303: POLICY PRIMER
Whilst kik is considered to be a relatively private communication platform
for children—because it does not publicly display a telephone number, only
the chosen ‘username’ (Hoal, 2013, para.2)—there is a major concern with
‘third party’ involvement at a number of levels.
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The “Third Party” in kik’s legals is nothing to celebrate.
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9. • kik does comprehensively state in their ‘Acceptable Use Policy’ (Privacy
Policy 4.4) that kik messenger users agree to not distribute, use or upload
any third party material that is offensive, copyrighted, or to inflict malice
or viruses.
• Like other social network and messaging services if you agree to the
Terms of Service of kik you grant them:
NET303: POLICY PRIMER
• kik is very clear in its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service as to what their
users should be aware of and what is not acceptable; however, they also
state that kik are not liable or responsible for User Content, nor do they
track or monitor it.
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Is user content controlled? Who has copyright?
“an irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free and fully paid, worldwide license, with the
right to grant sublicenses, (a) to reproduce, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform,
prepare derivative works of, incorporate into other works, and otherwise use your Public
Profile, solely to display your Public Profile on the Site and Kik Messenger”.
(Kik, 2011, p.10)
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10. American Professor of Law, Jonathon Zittrain, warns of trusting others with
your data as “they can let you down or betray you outright” (Zittrain, 2009,
para. 4).
This would seem very prudent advice for all parents believing their children
are safe anywhere on the Internet–let alone on kik messenger.
Final word:
Whilst kik messenger does give children 13-18 years old the ability to
network on their mobile service in an environment that appears to be more
privacy-controlled than popular social networks, it is important that parents
and their children understand any legal requirements of kik and agree on
safe usage of public space; whilst understanding the likely consequences of
not doing so.
NET303: POLICY PRIMER
Perhaps the common term “stranger danger” continues to apply when
children are involved in new interactions, regardless of a physical or cyber
interaction.
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Can we guard our privacy in an unknown public space?
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11. REFERENCES
Hoal, M.K. (2013). What It Is and What Parents Need to Know.
Retrieved from http://internet-safety.yoursphere.com/2013/02/kik-what-it-is-and-what-parentsneed-to-know/
Kik. (2011). Legal: Privacy Policy & Terms of Service. Retrieved from
http://kik.com/legal/
Kik Boiler Plate. (2013). Kik Press Kit October 2013:Kik Boiler Plate.
Retrieved from http://kik.com/Press-Kit-October-2013.zip
Redux, J. (2013). What is Kik and why should you use it?
Retrieved from http://www.jazminredux.com/mobile/what-is-kik-65
NET303: POLICY PRIMER
Google Privacy Policy. (2013). Google Policies & Principles: Privacy Policy.
Retrieved from https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/
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Caetano, L. (2013). Does Kik Messenger Pose a Danger to Your Kids? Retrieved from
http://blogs.mcafee.com/consumer/mobile-security/does-kik-messenger-pose-a-danger-to-yourkids
Zittrain, J. (2009, July 20). Lost in the Cloud. The New York Times.
Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/opinion/20zittrain.html?tntemail1=y&_r=3&emc=tnt&pag
ewanted=all&
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