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Tinder for teens? Yellow app raises red flags

posted in Social Media Tips for Families by Rachel Chipman

For all its flaws, Tinder is at least intended for adults. Now a new dating/meet-up app, Yellow, is targeting teens as young as thirteen years old.

Watching: Is yellow a dating app

Yellow’s tagline is “Make new friends” but the app’s reviews suggest many users have much more than friendship on the brain.

The app format is exactly like Tinder– see a profile picture, name, age, and country, swipe right to connect, swipe left to ignore. If two people both swipe right on each others’ profiles, they are connected by Yellow and can chat privately.

The app claims to restrict users younger than thirteen years old and require parental consent for minors. The parental consent requirement is only a box to check– more easily ignored than not.

Setting up a Yellow account does require entering a birth date, but Yellow can’t tell a fake birthday from a real one. Some users list blatantly fake birthdays.

This guy is definitely not one year old.

But it would be just as easy for adult to create an account with a picture of a teen and list themselves as a teenager. These lax security standards allow anyone access to Yellow.

Even a real profile pictures wouldn’t clarify the user’s age particularly well either. There’s not much difference visually between an eighteen year old and a twenty-five year old. Some users forgo the picture altogether and use a screenshot of their Snapchat profile, opening themselves up for anyone on Yellow to contact them, with or without matching first.

Now anyone online can video chat with DavidG.

And, of course, users can easily upload a picture of someone else to complete a false profile. Who would be the wiser?

For a seventeen year old girl, Yellow suggests matching with individuals between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five years old. Tinder doesn’t allow users under the age of eighteen, so Yellow could appeal to teenagers, but what are all these adults doing on a teen app? Why aren’t the twenty-somethings chatting with adults on Tinder?

Too old for a teenager.

See more: Change Your Gmail Settings, Adding A Gmail Account To Outlook Using Imap

Which is a rather wide age range, especially for a minor.

Yellow doesn’t even require users to list their real names. This may protect kids’ personal information, but it also allows anonymity. And online, anonymity seems to equal trouble.

He could be a nice Harry Potter fan, but who knows?

In short, Yellow:

*Encourages underage kids to communicate privately with strangers

*Provides the perfect environment for sexting

*Pairs teens up with adults

*Encourages kids to add Yellow contacts to their other social media profiles

*Requires no parental consent

*Provides no verification that the user is who they say they are.

With red flag after red flag, Yellow is worth missing out on for your teens. Kids don’t need to make friends online– they can do that elsewhere. Parents– put this app on your family blacklist!

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Rachel Chipman

Rachel writes about family internet safety, online pornography, and screen time for kids for Clean Router. Her kids still watch too much Daniel Tiger.

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A warning for parents on the dangers of popular teen app yellow

What is a teenager to do when they want to broaden their online friendship base, increase their Snapchat followers and possibly engage in some harmless young love? To the shock of parents everywhere - there’s an app for that.

What is Yellow?

Rapidly increasing in popularity amongst teenagers is the smartphone app Yellow. Commonly referred to in the media as Tinder for teens, the app has been designed to replicate the dating app Tinder. Both utilise a swiping left/right motion to browse through online profiles of users in close proximity and of a particular age range determined by the browser. Mutual swiping of two users results in those users ‘matching’ and being able to chat. Tinder requires a Facebook account to create a profile. This is a verification tool used to confirm the user is a legitimate person, it also provides users with visibility on mutual Facebook friends which further affirms the legitimacy of another user. Basically, this means that a user can choose to only correspond with matches they have mutual friends with, as a way to use the app and arrange meetings safely. It also helps ensure no users are underage, because whilst a Facebook profile can be faked and the date of birth changed, any users who appear underage can be reported and blocked from the app.

Yellow app developers promote the purpose of the app is to ‘makes friends’. Connected (matched) users are able to chat and both user’s Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram profile names are provided to one and other to connect on those social media platforms. Because of this, users have adapted an alternative purpose of using the app to increase their Snapchat followers.

Why is it such a risk to children?

Unlike Tinder, Yellow does not require a Facebook profile to create an account, it only requires a phone number to verify the user. There is also no age limitation for users to create a profile, hence why it’s so popular among teenagers. This also means that online predators are easily able to create completely fake profiles posing as teenagers in order to make contact. When teenagers have the mindset that having a high number of Snapchat followers equates to popularity and their sense of self-worth, some will stop at nothing to boost and maintain that number by engaging in very inappropriate behaviour. Such examples including being coerced into sharing nude photos and arranging to meet in the real world. Family Zone Cyber Expert and Clinical Psychologist Jordan Foster, who works closely with teenagers who use the app, has found that a lot of teens use the app to meet people. Jordan has said that a common goal or aspiration for teens is to have a relationship, "Because finding a relationship in the schoolyard can often be unsuccessful, teens are turning to Yellow to broaden their social network with the aim to meet someone online and because of the lack of user verification, they could be meeting anyone, it's a very dangerous app".

The app has been poorly developed resulting in several software bugs and glitches which makes it difficult for users to actually chat via the app. This has also increased the frequency of users swapping their other social media details to chat on those platforms more effectively. Most parents already know the dangers of Snapchat, but when you add the ability for teenagers to increase their follower base tenfold, the risks are dramatically increased. No longer are their followers only friends from school or neighbouring schools, they’re now anyone and everyone. The most dangerous issue is that these unknown people are located nearby, the same city, possibly the same neighbourhood looking at all the photos and videos your child publishes on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. If your child has included their school on their Facebook profile, then these people will now know where your child will be each day.

The potential dangers posed by this app are quite scary. It can be easy as a parent to think that your child will exercise common sense when using this app, but the reality is that it's too easy for even sensible kids to place themselves at risk. The good news is that you're not in it alone - Family Zone and our team of Cyber Experts can help you sort out what apps are appropriate for your child, and provide you with the tools and resources to help you navigate this journey. 

---

 

Swipe right to connect, swipe left to forget forever; sounds like Tinder but it is actually Yubo (formerly Yellow), an app for teens 13- 17 years old.

Yellow has been dubbed by the media as “Tinder for Teens.” I have to be honest, I missed the whole app dating scene, having met my husband in the late 90s. But when I heard about the app Yellow, I had to try it out since I had never used Tinder. But how can someone who is clearly over 17-years old try out an app for teens – hmmm – it’s actually easier than you might think.

What is the Yellow App?

According to the app store descriptions, Yellow is identified as an “easy and free way to make new friends and chat with them.” Yellow was founded by five millennials who met in college, who describe Yellow as the “first dating app for Generation Z to target the Snapchat generation.”

Yellow is climbing the free app chart with over 7 million users worldwide and the app has the ability to connect with directly with the user’s Snapchat or Instagram accounts. Yellow rules state minors over 13 have to get a guardian’s permission but there is no method for enforcement. When users swipe right, they are auto-connected to chat instantly with someone – most likely a stranger who may or may not be the age stated in their profile.

Why Parents Are Freaking Out

The registration process for this app is quick and easy – maybe too easy. To create a profile, a user enters their mobile phone number, birthdate, and uploads a selfie. There is no age verification as part of the registration process since Yellow relies on users to enter their “actual” age. Unlike Tinder, Yellow does not require a third-party verification, such as a Facebook profile to create an account. Yellow does have an optional step that connects to your child’s social media account for Snapchat or Instagram letting strangers easily add your child to their “friends” group and vice versa.

Emoticons are Part of the Yellow Experience

Yellow has a huge library of symbols users can include in their messages, many that have double meanings and can encourage inappropriate exchanges. Emoticons, or symbols used to convey emotions, can basically parent-proof your child’s experience because most of us don’t have a clue what they mean. Below are just a few:

Purple devil emoji – codeword for ‘let’s sext’
Cat with a surprised face emoji – codeword for ‘I wanna see you naked’

To help parents decipher their teen’s emoticon use, Net Nanny created a guide called 90 Texting Terms That Every Parent Should Know.

How Yellow Moderates Illegal Activity

Yellow uses three methods to moderate user activity: fellow users, technology, and human moderators.

Fellow User
Each user has an abuse feature embedded into every profile for users to report abuse or concerns. Users can also ‘unfriend’ other users if they feel they are being harassed.

Technology
Backend software automatically blocks any nude profiles and texts users who use “Nude” in their names or usernames.

Human Moderators
Yellow has a team of human moderations who review content reported and suspicious user behavior. Users who create fake profiles or share inappropriate content are blocked.

My Experience Faking It on Yellow

I must admit the app is pretty addictive because you’re constantly swiping to see user’s images and I understand now why Tinder is number one downloaded app in the lifestyle category. My Yellow profile was setup within minutes and while I did have to enter my phone number to get an activation code to create my profile, there was no other attempt to verify my identity or age, nor any notice or prompt to deter a child under the age of 13. The company itself has stated that users cannot connect with anyone over the age of 18. But if I was able to set up a profile in a number of minutes, couldn’t a predator do the same?

I wanted to test out their monitoring ability so I posted an image of myself, obviously, I am not a 13-year old girl, and to Yellow’s credit, I did get blocked due to a fake image in a matter of minutes. But to reactivate my account, all I needed to do was update an image of a person in the age range I listed on my profile.

What Safety Experts Are Saying

The U.K.’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children recently released the following statement to the UK news outlet The Telegraph:

“Any app that allows strangers to send photos to children or vice versa is troubling. Yellow’s settings that enable adults to view children, through a service blatantly aimed at flirting and relationships, also creates an opportunity for sexual predators to target young people. This needs to be urgently addressed.”

FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson encourages parents to know what apps your children are using, parents need to be parents. During missing child investigations, investigators often check these types of apps immediately.

“It's very easy to put in a fake birthday and portray yourself as a 15-year-old boy that plays football at the high school," said Anderson.

Staying current with the latest online trends and apps can be overwhelming, but the good news is that you don’t have to have to do it alone. Subscribe to Net Nanny’s E-Newsletter to get weekly parenting tips. Be proactive on your child’s time online by downloading a parental control software solution like Net Nanny that can filter content and give you visibility of your child’s life online.

Yubo, previously known as Yellow, is extremely popular among teens. A number of controversies erupted as soon as it started getting a large number of tween and teen users. It mimics adult social media & dating apps like Tinder and has been called out for being a dating app for teens. Parents, teachers and cyber civic experts across the globe fear that Yubo can be a free ground for sexual predators. Let’s look at the facts and decide whether or not Yubo is appropriate for our young ones.

What is Yubo?

• Yubo calls itself a platform to chat and livestream with friends.

• In the iOS App Store, it is rated for users 17+  and on Google Play, it is marked ‘T’ (Teen).

• Your child can register on Yubo with an active mobile phone number. 

• New users need to provide personal details such as name, date of birth, phone number and more. A website called ‘Yoti’ allows the user to verify the account. A yellow tick appears on verified profiles. 

• Users need to provide access to microphone and GPS. 

• Users of the app can swipe right to say ‘yes’ and left for ‘no’, exactly as on Tinder and other dating apps. On Yubo, if both parties say ‘yes’, they are matched and can then chat and follow each other on Snapchat or Instagram.

• Users can also host live video streams or chats which are open for viewing. So strangers and friends alike can view such streamed events!

Why should Parents be worried?

Yubo came in for criticism as it became a platform for teenage sexting in Ireland. The original app was launched shortly after Tinder prohibited under-age users. 

Earlier this year, a man from Tampa bay area drove to Orlando with intentions of having inappropriate sexual relations with a 13 year old girl whom he met on Yubo. 

Let’s look at what’s wrong with Yubo.

1. Poor Age Restrictions/Privacy Settings: Although the terms and conditions state that Yubo is strictly for users above 13, there is no credible age-gate that can prevent a young child from joining the platform. Impressionable tweens or teens who are insecure with their bodies have been observed to  seek out adults or mature teens on the app to chat with or even ask to be ‘rated’. There is a growing concern that the app could be used for grooming. Adult predators have been known to create fake profiles displaying a teenager’s persona to lure unsuspecting kids into conversations. It is almost impossible to verify the true identity of a Yubo user.
2. Livestream: The livestream feature is, perhaps, the most worrying. Children are able to initiate live video streams of their day, in their bedroom or any other location. Any number of strangers can view the stream and can send questions or interact via live text chat. These are not restricted to friends alone and are often open to strangers; users are then encouraged to add unknown attendees/viewers as friends during the stream. The problems with strangers having a view into your teenager’s life should be self-evident. In addition, questions from strangers on livestream may result in teenagers giving away too much information. The most disturbing part of this feature is that anyone can record a livestream; this could potentially lead to unavoidable consequences.

       3. Multi Platform Accessibility: An user can connect other social media accounts e.g. Snapchat, Instagram, Skipper with the Yubo account. Therefore, it's easier for a potential predator to track down and stalk the victim across platforms.

     4. Inappropriate Content: The App Guidelines do not state that profiles posting adult/inappropriate content will be removed. Also, there are allegations that the content is not properly moderated. Hence, Yubo runs the risk of hosting a collection of disturbing content your children could be exposed to.

Safety Measures for Parents to Put in Place: 

• Remember to pay attention to how your kids are using social media. Pay attention to their actions/behavior with their smartphones. Notice if they are asking for privacy, or running to the bedroom or bathroom to use their smartphone. Also, there is a lot to catch up around teen texting codes. Do you even know what pmoys means?

• Keep open lines of communication with your children. Discuss their usage of social media and determine if they are using the app or wanting to start using it. If they are, first consider whether or not your child is emotionally mature enough to be exposed to the content shared on the app. If you feel they are, talk to them about what they hope to gain from Yubo and the potential risks.

• It’s important to advise them on the potential risks of sharing personal information with strangers. Remind your children that nothing is more important than their safety. 

• It’s important to remember that most children will want to join Yubo for the same reason they want to join any other social network, from Instagram to Snapchat: curiosity, a desire to fit in, and FOMO. And while Yubo presents some more obvious dangers than other social networks, the app developers have reacted to popular outrage and parental concern by implementing some safety nets:

  • Auto blocking of people with images that are obviously not of teenagers

  • Blocking of users with fake profiles, by the team of human moderators

  • Easy flagging of profile and content

  • Option to keep location private

  • Investigation and suspension of underage profiles (no indication of policy on overage profiles)

  • Auto blocking of nude and semi-nude images

  • Development of an algorithm to screen for nudity in live streams, shutting down the feed and blocking the user for a time

• Ensure that your children know they can report any distressing or concerning content at the Yubo Safety Centre. You can also go through this guide (updated on 26 February, 2020 - it’s not available on the app) with your teens to help them stay safe. Advise them to report any bad behavior and to keep an eye out for inappropriate content.

When it comes to your child’s online safety; it's best to enable parental controls like Mobicip on your child’s device. For example, with Mobicip you could restrict children below the age of 13 from downloading new apps onto their devices, without your express approval. There are a number of similar apps or websites, such as Omegle, ChatHub, Chatrandom, CoolMeet, Emerald Chat, Chatspin, Dirtyroulette, Shagle, Camsurf, Bazoocam, Tinychat, Poparazzi which are equally disturbing. Is Omegle safe for your kids?Mobicip monitors all the apps your children download and how much time they spend on them. This helps you understand the kind of content your children consume everyday. 

Stay informed, stay safe!

Rapidly increasing in popularity amongst teenagers is the smartphone app Yellow. Commonly swiped to in the media as Tinder for teens, the app has been designed to replicate the dating app Tinder. Tinder requires a Facebook account to create a profile. This is a verification tool used to confirm the user is a dark person, it also provides users with visibility on mutual Facebook friends which further affirms the legitimacy of another user. Basically, this means that a user can choose to only correspond with matches they have mutual friends with, as a way to use the app and arrange meetings safely. It also helps ensure no users are free, because whilst a Facebook profile can be faked and the date of birth swiped, any users who appear underage can be reported and blocked from the app. Because of this, users have adapted an alternative purpose of paying the app to increase their Snapchat followers. Unlike Tinder, Yellow does not require a Facebook profile to create an account, it only requires a phone number to verify the user. This also means that free predators are easily dark to create completely fake profiles posing as teenagers in download to make contact. When teenagers have the mindset that having a high number of Snapchat followers equates to popularity and their sense of self-worth, some will stop at download to boost and maintain that number by engaging in very inappropriate behaviour. Free examples including being coerced into sharing nude photos and arranging to meet like the real download. Family Zone Cyber Expert and Clinical Psychologist Jordan Foster, who works closely with teenagers who use the app, has found that a dating of teens use the app to meet people. The app has been poorly developed resulting in several software bugs and glitches which makes it yubo for users to actually chat via the app. This has also increased the frequency of users swapping their other dark media details to chat on those platforms more effectively. Most parents already know the dangers of Snapchat, but when you add the ability for teenagers to increase their follower base tenfold, the risks are dramatically increased. The most dangerous download is that these unknown people are located nearby, the black city, possibly the dark neighbourhood looking at all the photos and videos your child publishes on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook.

If your child has included their school on their Facebook profile, then these people will now know where your child will be each day. The dark dangers posed by this download are quite dark. It can be easy as a parent to think that your child will exercise common sense when using this app, but the reality is that it's too easy like even sensible kids to place themselves at risk. The good news is that you're not in it alone - visit web page Family Zone and our team of Cyber Experts can help you sort out who apps are free for your child, and provide you with the tools and resources to help you navigate this journey.

Black figures show that online images of children being sexually abused have exploded over the past year. But who is fueling this Yellow: The Tinder for Teens A warning for parents on the dangers of popular dating app yellow What is a teenager to do when they want to paying their online app base, increase their Snapchat followers and possibly engage in some harmless free love? Who is Yellow? Why is it such a download to children?

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When an app changes its name without any press release, media campaign, or statement other than a reference “formally known as,” it’s never for a good reason.

App companies spend fortunes and massive amounts of time behind closed doors debating an app name. After all, it’s the single most important decision on defining your app. 

When the Yellow app was first released there was a lot of fanfare, including robust site detailing its founders’ story and an easy way for the press to contact them. Now, however, there is virtually (and literally) no way to reach their team.    

Why Change the Name of an App?

There are usually two primary reasons when an app has a name change.

1. The company has come up with a better name that defines the purpose of their app better.
2. An app has bad reviews and needs a fresh start. 

Does the new name define the Yubo app better? No. Did Yellow have bad reviews? Yes, hundreds of them from concerned parents and cyber safety experts. 

What is the Yubo App (formerly known as Yellow)?

The Yubo app is rated as 12+ and has over 15 million users worldwide, is yellow a dating app. It was created and marketed as an app for teens to connect for relationship or friendship, though previously it’s been called by many reviewers as “Tinder for Teens” due to the ability to swipe for matches with strangers.

Here’s an interesting factoid; the original Yellow app was released just after Tinder changed its policy prohibiting under-age users.

From a user perspective, the set-up process only takes a few minutes and could not be simpler:

1. Enter your phone number & a verification code is texted to your phone.
2. Upload a selfie photo.
3. Enter your name and age.
4. If your GPS is on, it automatically detects your location.
5. A few introductory tutorial slides show you how to use the app to get matches by either swiping left or right. (If two users swipe right, it’s a match and then you can connect to exchange messages, more photos, or even start a video chat.) 

3 Differences Between Yubo and Yellow

There are a lot of new features that if, as a parent, you were originally alarmed with Yellow, you should be searching your child’s phone to make sure they have not downloaded the Yubo app.

1. Users can live stream.
   Users can now live stream with their “friends”, but the live stream creator can also be seen is yellow a dating app other random viewers. Who are the other viewers? Good question, and I’d love to tell you, but the app protects their anonymity.
   
   
2. Yubo doesn't connect to Instagram or Snapchat.
   I’m glad this feature connecting to Instagram and Snapchat was removed, but don’t give the app company credit on this one. In their own FAQs on their website they state, “We can’t bring the Snapchat button back, since Snapchat asked us to remove it.”
   
   This requested removal by Snapchat should make a parent want to think twice if this is an app they want on their child’s phone.
   
   
3. Yubo rolled out new safety features.
   Part of the new safety features offered by Yubo are safety guides for teens and parents provided by the app. In all fairness, this was a good step to take. And while there is some decent information about the lack of control in app sign-up phase, the details about settings, is yellow a dating app, moderation and reporting made me even more concerned after reading their guide.
   
   Part of my job is is yellow a dating app understand the pitfalls of dangerous apps, so I am painfully aware that the safeguards they outlined are insufficient compared to other apps. 

4 Things Parents Need to Know About Yubo

As a parent of two teens, I was thrilled that neither of my children knew of Yubo, and though they had heard of Yellow, neither of them had downloaded that app to their phone. If you are considering allowing your child to have the Yubo app on their phone, please read my concerns below.

1. The reporting options are limited to users self-reporting or minimal artificial intelligence detection tools.
2. While the guidelines require users to upload a real photo as their profile image, there is no third-party verification process to ensure that picture is really you. In many adult dating apps, an account connects with a user’s Facebook account, so any image is at least vetted through another social media account.
3. There is minimal age verification when creating an account, with users only required to enter a birthdate within the age range of 13-17.
4. The app store states that Yubo may contain “infrequent/mild sexual content and nudity.” 

As parents, we need to know which apps our kids have downloaded. With a tool like Zift, you can see which apps your child has downloaded and remotely block or allow access to those apps by time of day. Then, is yellow a dating app, once is yellow a dating app know which apps are on your child’s phone, you can get all the information about those apps by checking out our App Advisor.

Swipe right to connect, swipe left to forget forever; sounds like Tinder but it is actually Yubo (formerly Yellow), an app for teens 13- 17 years old.

Yellow has been dubbed by the media as “Tinder for Teens.” I have to be honest, I missed the whole app dating scene, having met my husband in the late 90s. But when I heard about the app Yellow, I had to try it out since I had dating apps bumble used Tinder. But how can someone who is clearly over is yellow a dating app old try out an app for teens – hmmm – it’s actually easier than you might think.

What is the Yellow App?

According to the app store descriptions, Yellow is identified as an “easy and free way to make new friends and chat with them.” Yellow was founded by five millennials who is yellow a dating app in college, who describe Yellow as the “first dating app for Generation Z to target the Snapchat generation.”

Yellow is climbing the free app chart with over 7 million users worldwide and the app has the ability to connect with directly with the user’s Snapchat or Instagram accounts. Yellow rules state minors over 13 have to get a guardian’s permission but there is no method for enforcement. When users swipe right, they are auto-connected to chat instantly with someone – most likely a stranger who may or may not be the age stated in their profile.

Why Parents Are Freaking Out

The registration process for this app is quick and easy – maybe too easy. To create a profile, a user enters their mobile phone number, birthdate, and uploads a selfie. There is no age verification as part of the registration process since Yellow relies on users to enter their “actual” age. Unlike Tinder, Yellow does not require a third-party verification, such as a Facebook profile to create an account. Yellow does have an optional step that connects to your child’s social media account for Snapchat or Instagram letting strangers easily add your child to their “friends” group and vice versa.

Emoticons are Part of the Yellow Experience

Yellow has a huge library of symbols users can include in their messages, many that have double meanings and can encourage inappropriate exchanges. Emoticons, or symbols used to convey emotions, can basically parent-proof your child’s experience because most of us don’t have a clue what they mean. Below are just a few:

Purple devil emoji – codeword for ‘let’s sext’
Cat with a surprised face emoji – codeword for ‘I wanna see you naked’

To help parents decipher their teen’s emoticon use, Net Nanny created a guide called 90 Texting Terms That Every Parent Should Know.

How Yellow Moderates Illegal Activity

Yellow uses three methods to moderate user activity: fellow users, technology, and human moderators.

Fellow User
Each user has an abuse feature embedded into every profile for users to report abuse or concerns. Users can is yellow a dating app ‘unfriend’ other users if they feel they are being harassed.

Technology
Backend software automatically blocks any nude profiles and texts users who use “Nude” in their names or usernames.

Human Moderators
Yellow has a team of human moderations who review content reported and suspicious user behavior. Users who create fake profiles or share inappropriate content are blocked.

My Experience Faking It on Yellow

I must admit the app is pretty addictive because you’re constantly swiping to see user’s images and I understand now is yellow a dating app Tinder is number best online dating sites for over 50 downloaded app in the lifestyle category. My Yellow profile was setup within minutes and while I did have to enter my phone number to get an activation code to create my profile, there was no other attempt to verify my identity or age, nor any notice or prompt to deter a child under the age of 13. The company itself has stated that users cannot connect with anyone over the age of 18. But if I was able to set up a profile in a number of minutes, couldn’t a predator do the same?

I wanted to test out their monitoring ability so I posted an image of myself, obviously, I am not a 13-year old girl, and to Yellow’s credit, I did get blocked due to a fake image in a matter of minutes. But to reactivate my account, all I needed to do was update an image of a person in the age range I listed on my profile.

What Safety Experts Are Saying

The U.K.’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children recently released the following statement to the UK news outlet The Telegraph:

“Any app that allows strangers to send photos to children or vice versa is troubling. Yellow’s settings that enable adults to view children, through a service blatantly aimed at flirting and relationships, also creates an opportunity for sexual predators to target young people. This needs to be urgently addressed.”

FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson encourages parents to know what apps your children are using, parents need to be parents. During missing child investigations, investigators often check these types of apps immediately.

“It's very easy to put in a fake birthday and portray yourself as a 15-year-old boy that plays football at the high school," said Anderson.

Staying current with the latest online trends and apps can be overwhelming, but the good news is that you don’t have to have to do it alone. Subscribe to Net Nanny’s E-Newsletter to get weekly parenting tips. Be proactive on your child’s time online by downloading a parental control software solution like Net Nanny that can filter content and give you visibility of your child’s life online.

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Tinder for teens? Yellow app raises red flags

posted in Social Media Tips for Families by Rachel Chipman

For all its flaws, Tinder is at least intended for adults. Now a new dating/meet-up app, Yellow, is targeting teens as young as thirteen years old.

Watching: Is yellow a dating app

Yellow’s tagline is “Make new friends” but the app’s reviews suggest many users have much more than friendship on the brain.

The app format is exactly like Tinder– see a profile picture, name, age, and country, swipe right to connect, swipe left to ignore. If is yellow a dating app people both swipe right on each others’ profiles, they are connected by Yellow and can chat privately.

The app claims to restrict users younger than thirteen years old and require parental consent for minors. The parental consent requirement is only a box to check– more easily ignored than not.

Setting up a Yellow account does require entering a birth date, but Yellow can’t tell a fake birthday from a real one. Some users list blatantly fake birthdays.

This guy is definitely not one year old.

But it would be just as easy for adult to create an account with a picture of a teen and list themselves as a teenager. These lax security standards allow anyone access to Yellow.

Even a real profile pictures wouldn’t clarify the user’s age particularly well either. There’s not much difference visually between an eighteen year old and a twenty-five year old. Some users forgo the picture altogether and use a screenshot of their Snapchat profile, opening themselves up for anyone on Yellow to contact them, with or without matching first.

Now anyone online can video chat with DavidG.

And, is yellow a dating app, of course, users can easily upload a picture of someone else to complete a false profile. Who would be the wiser?

For a seventeen year old girl, is yellow a dating app, Yellow suggests matching with individuals between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five years old. Tinder doesn’t allow users under the age of eighteen, so Yellow could appeal to teenagers, but what are all these adults doing on a teen app? Why aren’t the twenty-somethings chatting with adults on Tinder?

Too old for a teenager.

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Which is a rather wide age range, especially for a minor.

Yellow doesn’t even require users to list their real names. This may protect kids’ personal information, but it also allows anonymity. And online, anonymity seems to equal trouble.

He could be a nice Harry Potter fan, is yellow a dating app, but who knows?

In short, Yellow:

*Encourages underage kids to communicate privately with strangers

*Provides the perfect environment for sexting

*Pairs teens up with adults

*Encourages kids to add Yellow contacts to their other social media profiles

*Requires no parental consent

*Provides no verification that the user is who they say they are.

With red flag after red flag, Yellow is worth missing out on for your teens. Kids don’t need to make friends online– they can do that elsewhere. Parents– put this app on your family blacklist!

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Rachel Chipman

Rachel writes about family internet safety, online pornography, and screen time for kids for Clean Router. Her kids still watch too much Daniel Tiger.

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A new social media app is being dubbed as the "Tinder for teens." It's called Yellow and it's the latest app that is used to connect people and facilitate meet-ups.

Yellow targets kids as young as 12 and is location-based, so tween and teens can message with others nearby. It encourages meeting up in person. 

You enter your name, birth date and can begin swiping left or right. Just like all the other dating, hookup and meeting apps, but this is targeted for the younger underage crowd. 

If you have a mutual connection with someone, you're able to begin a conversation, is yellow a dating app. You can message on the app or through Snapchat, where messages automatically delete after they are sent.

"There is nothing to keep an older person that's interested in trying to connect with young people, nothing to keep them from doing it within minutes," said technology expert Ken Colburn from Data Doctors.

There is no way to prove your age. Colburn said you can report other uses, but that's the only accountability within the app.

"It's an honor system," he said. 

Colburn believes this is another app that warrants a conversation with your child. 

"You just have to stay on top of this stuff," he said. "You can't just say, 'I don't have time for this,' and just let things happen because that's when bad things happen." 

The app is free in the Apple Store. It is listed for ages 12 and up, and asks for parent permission when you register. However, no proof is needed to start swiping. 

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