The pace of life has changed drastically over the past few years. People no longer have time to meet up as frequently as they did before. Many adults have no time for leisure, while kids are often overloaded with studies.
Both young people and adults need a way to stay connected without giving up their daily tasks. That is where digital technologies come in handy.
Due to the Internet, social media apps, and instant messengers, people can do what they need on the go. Need to accomplish your home task asap? No problem, do it right on your tablet. Want to arrange a live meeting with colleagues? No worries, use a messenger.
Although WhatsApp, Facebook, and Snapchat are the most popular messaging apps in the U.S., many people use Google Hangouts, too. In addition to being handy, it can impose a severe danger for irresponsible users, such as kids.
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What Is Google Hangouts and What Are the Dangers Behind It?
Google Hangouts is a messaging app that allows users to communicate via text messages, audio, and video chat. It’s a free app that comes baked into most Android-operated phones.
Using Google Hangouts may seem pretty handy. However, the app is riddled with security concerns.
Although it encrypts your chats, it doesn’t use end-to-end encryption. It means that all Hangouts messages are encrypted only when transferred between your device and Google’s servers.
When your messages reach those servers, Google is free to intercept your private communication. And it’s no secret that the corporation receives and fulfils customer information requests, as goes from Google’s Transparency Report.
Another big concern is that Hangouts transfers your images via shared URLs. It means that anyone who has a basic understanding of their work can view your private photos. It’s especially dangerous for kids and teens who tend to exchange sensitive images thoughtlessly.
As online predators and cyberbullying are growing problems in the U.S., parents need to keep an eye on their kids’ activity on Google Hangouts. In this article, we’ll discuss how parents can view their kids’ Hangouts messages without violating their children’s privacy.
How to Find Out Who Someone Is Talking to On Hangouts: 3 Methods
If you suspect your child is bullied or harassed on Google Hangouts, the first thing to do is discuss the problem with your kid. If talking gives no result, then you may think about Google Hangouts tracking without your child knowing.
1. How Can Google Hangouts Be Traced With mSpy?
Restoring archived Hangouts messages can help a lot if you need to find past bullying or harassment evidence. But what if you need to check out what’s going on in real-time?
A parental control app, such as mSpy, can do it for you. After installing the app on your kid’s device, you’ll immediately get access to all your child’s Internet activity.
Follow these steps to set up the mSpy Hangouts tracker:
- Sign up with mSpy.com and choose a subscription
- Open your email and find a letter with the mSpy installation guide
- Access a target phone and follow the installation instructions from the email
- Log in to your Control Panel and add a target device
- Give mSpy a few minutes to collect the data
- Start monitoring your child’s Hangouts right from your smartphone
What Else Can I Do With mSpy?
As mSpy is a parental control app designed to safeguard kids from the dangers of the Internet, it includes various monitoring features. The app allows parents to gain full insight into their children’s online activity by giving them access to a range of handy functions.
With mSpy, you can monitor other apps in addition to Google Hangouts. Location tracking is another benefit of the app. If you want to know how to find someone’s location through Hangouts, mSpy will help you.
Not only can you know your kid’s location in real time, but you can also set geofences. mSpy will alert you when your child leaves or enters a restricted area.
2. How to Retrieve Deleted Hangout Messages on Android
If you want to check out your kid’s Hangouts messages, you can restore their archived chats. However, you need to note that this method works only if messages on a target device were previously backed up.
Here’s how you can archive Hangout messages on Android:
- Log into a target person’s Google+ account
- Tap the drop-down menu in the left corner
- Choose Hangouts
- Click the gear icon (which is Settings)
- Tap Archive
Here’s what you need to do to restore Hangout messages on an Android device:
- Open Hangouts on a target device
- Click Menu > Archived Hangouts
- Select a conversation that you want to unarchive
- Click More > Options > Unarchive conversation
Now, you can view your kid’s deleted Hangouts chats.
3. How to View Hangouts History With an Android Recovery App
If restoring archived Hangouts chats manually seems somewhat complicated for you, consider downloading a file recovery app for Android. You can find both free and paid apps to recover deleted Android data. However, you’ll need to access a target device to do it.
We recommend that you think wisely before installing a free app on your kid’s device. If your child’s Hangouts messages contain sensitive data, it can be easily leaked and then shared on the Internet.
And since you don’t know anything about a free app’s creators and their purposes, there’s a chance you could make the situation even worse.
Final Words
Now, you know how to monitor your kid’s Hangouts. It’s up to you what method to choose. You only need to make sure that it can give you all the required information about your kid’s activity.
Patricia Belton
