Mid 2019 Houseparty was acquired by Epic Games (yes, the developers of Fortnite).

It is a group video chat app that has some good and some nasty sides to consider.

Over the last few years, its popularity waned, but recently on Twitter, there have been tweets like this: "Everyone is back on Houseparty" "Make Houseparty great again!" "Who's down to get Houseparty again and get this social distancing lit?"

This morning I had a virtual coffee with some friends on Houseparty. It did seem to ease the isolation I have been feeling during this time of COVID19. That connection made me feel much better when it was shared, even if just on a screen.

So here are some of the things that immediately caught my attention that need to be carefully considered by parents before they allow their child to use Houseparty.

1. The age recommendation is 13yrs. This is, so the app complies with the US Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA). It is in place to prohibit the collection and use of information of children under the age of 13yrs for the purposes of sales and marketing. There is no age verification at all.

2. It is free to use so your child's image, recordings, any other information used to interact with the app can be data harvested for the purposes of sales and marketing. Remember, if something is free to use, you are the product.

3. During the signup process, the app asks you to enable location….. don't. Like on most apps it will track your movements 24/7 down to within 5m in most cases. We don't want people knowing our exact address now, do we?

4. The app offers up "friend suggestions" based on showing you friends of friends that you may want to connect to. Huge red flag! It also allows people to send friend requests and, for this reason, has been referred to as a "pedophile party." You must drum into your child not to connect with people that they don't know and check who they are connected too regularly if they are younger.

5. Teens who are not invited to a group chat (maximum eight people) may feel left out, and exclusion bullying is rife.

So is gossip.

So is sending notes.

So is sending explicit (sexting) images.

So is the assumption that the video chats are private.

So is the potential for overuse.

So is the risk of connecting with complete strangers.Need I go on?

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