Proud mommy of 4 girls (ages 16, 12, 11 and 5), wife, destination portrait, wedding photographer and believer.
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My 16-year-old daughter brought Omegle to my attention a few months ago. She spent the night with a friend of hers and this friend had the app on her cell phone and started randomly having conversations with strangers. Omegle is used for talking to strangers with video chat. Is Omegle safe? Are you okay with your kids talking to strangers? I’m not, and I’m going to guess you probably aren’t either. After all, it’s the exact opposite of everything we were taught not to do when we were little and the very thing that we, as parents, prohibit our children to do today.
So, is Omegle safe? Immediately after my daughter mentioned the app, I did a lot of research on it. I was highly alarmed that you don’t have to register for the app, nor do you have to identify yourself. Chats are identified as “you” and “stranger”. Red flags should definitely be going up now. After more extensive research, I found YouTube videos of teens sharing their experiences of Omegle and talking about nude older men, girls taking their shirts off, being asked to meet up, expressing their thoughts and excitement on talking to strangers. Some girls were concerned about their video chats being recorded. I researched a little more and found that the video chats and text chats could be recorded and shared on YouTube via free software that can be downloaded online.
More alarming is if your child is using a computer to access Omegle, their privacy policy clearly states that the following information is saved on their servers for 120 days: “the time your chat began, your IP address, a randomly-generated ID tag assigned to your computer, your chat partner’s IP address, and your chat partner’s randomly-generated ID tag.” While this data is used for law enforcement and to try to track and prevent spammers, you are willingly providing this information when using Omegle. There are two video chat modes, monitored and unmonitored. When using video chat your IP address will be shared, as it’s required and it will be made available to the stranger your child is chatting with. Below is a warning that pops up before entering an unmonitored video chat:
Upon ending a chat, users have the option to save their chat log and share the link.
Is Omegle safe? Parents beware; get this Omegle blocked from your computer’s web browsers and off their phones. More importantly discuss with your children why talking to strangers can be trouble. Teaching them the right values is our top priority but filtering these bugs from our computers is a must to protect them.
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April 23rd, 2013 at 4:15 pm
Thank you for getting the word out about this. It’s a scary world that we live in.
June 21st, 2013 at 7:09 am
I don’t think it’s safe. People ask for “asl” age, sex, location. They ask for phone numbers and addresses, age, location, gender and usernames for other sites.
My friend had used it and she told me about it. I did some research, seeing things like this telling it wasn’t safe. I still checked it out, leaving quickly after being asked for more personal info. They ask for your “Kik” account usernames too. “KIk” is a app which allows you to text for free. Instead of numbers, you use usernames. People can be easily blocked on Kik, restricting them from talking to you. On an NBC-2 NBC-2report, they said Kik was a video chatting app, which is incorrect. I think Kik is an okay app, but if your kid has one, periodically check through it. Check block list (how many people blocked, are they teenagers, ex. My friend has a few people on her block list, all teenage males.). It’s too easy for people to act like younger people. I’ve heard other people’s experiences, Pedophiles saying they’re a teenager. My time on Omegle wasn’t good, who says your kid will have a safer time? Truth is, it won’t happen.
August 13th, 2013 at 1:41 pm
Get the website of the internet it is disgusting to here that my 12 year old sister was told to go on there by her 12 year old friend because it was funny, to then see men nude touching themselves asking them to show inappropriate parts of their bodies! The site doesn’t even recommended to put in forms of I.D so that it is not allowed use of anyone under 18, this site has never been permitted in our house and has only ever been on the history when the friend stayed, but then again how does the friend know of the site.. The website ‘omegle’ and similar sites should either be banned or changed to keep children safe from the disgusting men on the internet. Computers are banned in our house now until something is done or with adult supervision.
It is sickening to know that the site allows this to happen, my family and I are taking this very serious and are taking this further.