All you need to know about Kik
Watch our app guide to Kik
“Kik is a space that parents are unlikely to know about.”
What is Kik?
Described by law enforcement internationally as "a key playground for online predators", Kik is a "be as anonymous as you want" multi-media chat app (chat, photo, video). Fake profiles of adults pretending to be children/teens are prolific and the app has been directly linked to multiple cases of child exploitation and was the app used to groom and lure 13 year old Nicole Lovell to meet with her killer a year ago.
“Kik has been the bane of law enforcement officials for the past couple of years.”
Risks
Adults posing as kids - lots of them!!!
Grooming by online predators and pedophiles
Sexting (exchanging of sexually explicit images and/or videos) is prolific
Anonymity and no age verification "leaves the door open" for predators
Safety Settings
There are essentially no safety settings. If you do allow your child to use the app, we strongly encourage close supervision and the use of profile pictures that cannot identify the user as a child. The lack of an age-verification tool poses a risk for children and opportunities for predators.
Devices
Kik is available for Apple and Android devices, in both tablet and smartphone format.
Age Restrictions
There is no age verification process. The app has an age rating of 13+ on the app store. It is very easy to access the app using an incorrect date of birth.
Our Opinion & Recommendations
We strongly discourage the use of the app for minors for all of the reasons listed above. There are other apps designed for chatting that have decent safety and privacy settings - facebook messenger as an example.