Free App Helps Parents Keep Kids Safe Online

In the wake of a , Marty Schultz reached out to the Montville Patch to draw attention to McGruff SafeGuard.

As a licensing partner with the National Crime Prevention Council, Schultz has developed a free app that puts a lot of control of mobile devices into parents’ hands.

While the McGruff SafeGuard monitor for your computer is not free, the mobile-device app is.

It blocks inappropriate websites and content accessed via Apple-based mobile devices.

Schultz said he developed the app when his fifth-grade daughter began using an iPad and iPhone.

The app can tell parents how long their child is on line, the history of his browsing and the sites he attempted to visit.

The blocks can be general or specific. A parent can use blocks set up by the company, or can specify sites he wants to make off-limits, including social networks, and sites that deal with alcohol, sites about drugs, gambling, hacking or weapons, and the list goes on.

Schultz said the company will is working on an app for Android-based devices, as well, and is looking to enter the schools market.

“There are a lot of iPhones out there,” Schultz said. Offering a free app “is the right thing to do.”