Zepeto app: Is it safe for your youngsters?
Ever since the coronavirus pandemic came around, app developers ceased the opportunity to enhance pre-existing app structures in order to make them more fun, engaging and social. Looking at the vast array of apps released in the past couple of years, it is safe to say that they have succeeded in delivering highly interactive ones that did their job in increasing user engagement. The Zepeto app, which combined creativity and online social interactions, quickly gained a lot of popularity. Here is all that you need to know about this app, and if it is safe for your teen to use.
What is the Zepeto app?
Targeted towards users who are creative by nature, the Zepeto app is a platform which allows for creative and artistic translation digitally. It functions as an online creative studio, where users can also publish their work and earn money. Essentially, it is possible to create a 3D animated version of oneself to use within chatrooms available on the app. This avatar can then be used to navigate through the virtual world within the app to meet other people (through their own animated avatars), take pictures with them and play games.
Is the Zepeto app safe for young users?
All social media apps come with their own set of potential risks and dangers. However, several findings have concluded that Zepeto might be lagging in the security department more than most of its counterparts. Here are few reasons why this app can be potentially risky.
There is no proper age verification
Although the app specifies that users must be over the age of 13, there is no age verification put in place. This means that even younger kids can create their account by using a false birth date. Without adult supervision, this site can be a dangerous for school-goers to explore on their own.
Users’ personal images can be misused
In order to create one’s animated avatar on the app, the user is required to take his/her picture before customising it. This means that kids’ faces are revealed on this app, out in the open without any privacy guidelines. These images can then be misused to create fake identities, fake profiles, etc.
High risk of attracting online predators
Although one of the fundamental features of social media is to allow users to connect with one another on a global scale, it can also lead certain risks- especially for children. Since interactions on this app occur through the customised avatars, online predators can easily disguise themselves in a child-like avatar and interact with young, gullible users. Moreover, this anonymity can make it difficult to track them down.