Spying on Your Kids: 96% of Parents Track Their Children's Online Activities [Survey]

Parenting is difficult, and the internet has made it tougher than ever. Knowing who your children are speaking with and what they're doing is important, but the ever-evolving technical landscape and children's rising technical literacy can make it hard to stay on top of things, especially with their digital lives.

At the same time, technology has given parents more tools than ever to keep an eye on what their kids are doing. But how many parents actually take advantage of these tools? What's the line between tracking and spying?

To get a better understanding of how people monitor their children in our increasingly digital age, All About Cookies surveyed parents to see how many check up on their kids' online activity, whether they use parental control apps, and more.

Key findings

• 86% of parents check their children's location, including 71% who check it frequently. Just over 10% of parents do it without letting their children know.
• 77% of parents monitor their kids' texts and 86% of parents know the password to their kids’ cell phone.
• More than 2 in 5 parents (41%) have caught their children doing something they shouldn't because of tracking.
• 62% of parents have at least one concern about tracking their child, with about one-quarter (26%) citing data security as a specific worry.
  

How many parents track their kids online

The internet gives everyone access to information and perspectives from people around the world. Unfortunately, not everyone has the best intentions or behavior online, which is why some parents choose to track what their kids are doing in their digital lives.

The vast majority of parents (96%) track their children's digital activities and communication. That includes more than three-quarters of parents who check things like their child’s text messaging activity, browsing history, social media accounts, and overall screen time. More than half of parents also check their kids’ email accounts, phone calls, and gaming history. Tools like phone monitoring apps for kids have made it easier than ever for parents to keep tabs on what their children are doing online.

The “why” behind parental monitoring brings up interesting challenges parents face in the digital world. Of course, parents want to keep their kids safe from harm, but online safety also means protecting them from child identity theft and unwittingly falling victim to scams.

For instance, popular social media and messaging apps like TikTok, Discord, and WhatsApp pose risks for all users, but especially children who may not be as practiced in identifying and staying away from common phishing scams.

While identity theft protection may sound like overkill for younger people, it’s important to realize that identity thieves don’t discriminate based on age: nearly 1 in 50 children is affected by identity theft. Though they may not have financial assets, kids do have valuable personal information, such as Social Security numbers, which can be used by identity thieves to borrow money, obtain government benefits, or commit tax fraud.

How many parents know their kids’ passwords?

Our survey also found that knowing children’s passwords is a key element of online tracking for many parents. More than half of parents (62%) say they know the passwords for their children’s social media accounts, while nearly three-quarters (73%) know the login information for their child’s email account.

More than 85% of parents also state they know how to unlock their child’s devices, with 86% having the passcode to their kids' cell phones and an even higher percentage (88%) knowing the password to unlock their child’s computer or tablet.

Between their own digital lives and their kids’, this is a lot to keep track of. By using a password manager, parents can keep a log of usernames and passwords, which can automate some of the login process and securely store their data. Some password managers geared for families also include monitoring services that help guard against identity theft or other vulnerabilities for multiple members of your family.

How parents track their kids offline

The internet is not the only place kids can get into trouble, of course, so we also wanted to see how many parents take advantage of modern technology to keep tabs on their children’s location when they’re out of the house.

The vast majority of parents (86%) say that they use some form of monitoring to track where their children are when they’re apart. That includes 71% who say they frequently check where their child is. Additionally, 69% of parents with teen drivers say they don’t just track location but also use technology to monitor and review their child’s driving history.

The most common way that parents track their kids is by using the built-in tracking functionality in their children’s cell phones, such as Find My on iPhones and Find My Device on Androids. 60% of parents say they use these default programs to monitor where their children are, while 43% use family monitoring apps such as Life360 or Glympse.

Around one-in-five parents use a tracking device, such as an AirTag, to keep tabs on where their kids are, while 16% use smartwatches with built-in tracking. Finally, 15% of respondents have turned to dedicated parental control apps such as Bark, which offer both online and offline monitoring, to track their child.

Does tracking your kids work?

With so many parents watching what their kids are doing, how many have actually caught their children breaking the rules online or IRL (in real life)?

Less than half of parents (41%) say they have uncovered wrongdoing by their children thanks to monitoring. That is a significant drop-off from two years ago, when nearly two-thirds of parents (64%) reported having caught their child breaking rules in the past.

Transparency may be a major reason for this change, as 9-in-10 parents who monitor their children’s activities in 2026 have told their children they are being monitored, compared with only 65% in 2024. Increased awareness that they are being watched may be leading kids to break rules less often, or at least do so in a way that can’t be detected by monitoring technology.

For parents looking to monitor their own children, there are many tools available to keep a watchful eye. Parental control apps can monitor your child’s online behavior, but also set limits on things like screen time, different apps they can use (and when), and monitor messaging in their texts or emails. There are also some solutions built into common hardware — for instance, there are built-in parental controls on iPads that can help limit screen time and manually adjust privacy settings for your kids.

Parents' concerns about using tracking technology

Tracking and monitoring technology offers parents unprecedented access to their kids’ lives, and most are willingly taking advantage of the tech in an effort to keep their children safe. However, that does not mean caregivers don’t have concerns about using these kinds of apps and services on their children.

Among parents who use tracking and monitoring tech, nearly two-thirds (62%) express some concern about its use. The most common concern is figuring out how to adjust monitoring levels to give their child appropriate levels of personal privacy while still keeping an eye on them, something that nearly one-third of parents (31%) are worried about.

More than a quarter (26%) are concerned that data about their child that is collected by tracking and monitoring technology could be breached or leaked. Around one-fifth (19%) are worried that they may rely too heavily on tech to keep an eye on their child, while a similar percentage are concerned that tracking tools may create stress or anxiety in their child.

Advice from the experts

We have our data from parents spying on their children’s tech, but we wanted experts to weigh in on the effects and ethics of parents’ surveillance of their kids’ devices.

Do you believe developers creating tracking software for kids' devices can be considered an invasion of privacy?

What effects, if any, can constant surveillance have on a child's development?

Do you personally have any tips for parents wanting to keep their kids safe online?

^{Some responses may have been slightly edited for clarity and brevity.}

Tips for keeping your children safe online

• Utilize a top-rated parental control app. There are many services and programs available to track your child’s online activities, and using a top-rated parental control app such as Aura can be a great choice for concerned parents.
• Secure their accounts with a password manager. Having secure passwords makes it hard to remember all your login information. If you have a lot of accounts to manage, look into using a password manager to keep everything secure and organized.
• Track your teen, both online and offline. Teens can push boundaries in both the real and digital worlds. Using one of the best parental control apps for teens can be a good way for parents to get some peace of mind.

Methodology

All About Cookies surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults via the Pollfish platform in February 2026. Answers were limited to respondents with children under the age of 18.