ROANOKE, Va. – An app meant to help manage classroom schedules is raising some eyebrows.
The app, Saturn was created back in 2018 as a way to help students keep high school students organized and connected with classmates. You create an account, find your school, link your schedule, and it helps you stay on track with your classes, assignments, group projects, and more.
However, some groups are calling the app a “Privacy Nightmare”.
Chris McKenna is the Founder and CEO of Protect Young Eyes. The group released a review of the Saturn app.
“This app wasn’t designed with children and some of their behaviors in mind. You can upload your schedule. You can upload all kinds of other content from your camera roll of events that can be posted to the entire school,” McKenna said.
In some testing, the group found some serious concerns regarding privacy.
“These are all things that feel completely unnecessary in the life of a young person. If I want to share my schedule, it should only be with close tight-knit people who I know. I should tell them this. I should write it down. Heck, I can text it…there are other ways that I can share this information,” McKenna said.
Roanoke and surrounding school systems have some schools with accounts.
McKenna suggests parents should download any app their kids download.
“If you can engage them and help them see some of the ways that it can be misused and help them see some of the reasons why maybe it isn’t awesome for them? Trust me, it’s always easier when it’s their idea,” McKenna said.
Here is a list of apps that can help monitor your kid’s devices and keep them safe online.