SKOUT
SKOUT
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MINIMUM AGE: 18+
WHAT IS IT? Skout is a location-based dating and chat app that allows users to meet new people nearby or around the world. It includes features like livestreaming, direct messaging, photo sharing, and virtual gifts. Skout markets itself as a way to meet new friends or romantic interests. WHAT WE SAY: Use with extreme caution. Not suitable for teens. 🔞 Exposure to Inappropriate ContentSkout includes mature content, sexual conversations, and provocative user profiles, even when set to “friendship” mode. Despite its content policies, users frequently post suggestive images or initiate explicit chats. Filters and enforcement are limited. 📍 Live Location MatchingSkout uses your real-time location to connect with nearby users. ⚠️ This may reveal your general whereabouts to strangers, making stalking, harassment, or in-person contact a risk — especially if personal details or routines are shared in chat. 🔐 Privacy Concerns Skout collects and stores real-time location data, chat histories and profile data, photos and user-uploaded media, device and usage analytics. It uses this data to match users by proximity, which can raise serious safety and tracking concerns, especially for teens. 📱 Predatory Behaviour & Grooming Skout’s location-based model and loose verification make it a hotspot for adult predators, who often pose as teens or young adults. There are numerous reports of grooming attempts, unsolicited explicit images, and age-inappropriate contact. 🚨 Sexual or Adult Content Even though adult content is technically against Skout’s rules, it is widespread throughout the platform. Users frequently engage in flirtatious or sexually suggestive livestreams, and many profiles feature revealing photos, including individuals in underwear or provocative poses. In-app messages often include direct invitations to “hook up” or share private content. The “Live” streaming feature, in particular, tends to be sexualised and is not consistently moderated, making it easy for explicit material to circulate despite official policies. 🧑💻 Misinformation & Scams Scammers use Skout to promote fake giveaways, phishing schemes, and adult cam sites. There are frequent cases of catfishing (pretending to be someone else) and social engineering to extract private information or money. ❌ No Strong Age Verification or Parental Controls Skout does not verify identity or age, and children can easily create accounts, especially with a fake birthdate. There are no built-in parental controls, making it unsuitable for children and young teens. BOTTOM LINE: Skout is not safe for teens or children. While it may offer fun or harmless social interaction for consenting adults, its mix of location sharing, livestreaming, mature content, and loose moderation creates a high-risk environment for exploitation, sextortion, and emotional harm. It should be blocked or closely monitored on any device used by a young person. |
🛡️SAFETY TIPS:
📲Understand the app: Familiarise yourself with Skout's features and how they work. Knowing how the app works will help you guide your child effectively. 👨👧Parental supervision: Check their interactions and adjust privacy settings accordingly. Try to stay up-to-date on Internet trends and best practices. 📢Underage Accounts: Skout might have an age restriction but it lacks a proper age verification process. Therefore, there’s little stopping users from faking their dates of birth or creating bogus profiles and targeting children and young people. 👥Manage friend requests: Teach your child only to accept friend requests from people they know in real life. 📷 Cover the Webcam When Not in Use Physically cover your camera when you're not ready to go live. Always be mindful of what’s visible in your background—it can reveal location clues. 🧠 Trust Your Instincts If something feels uncomfortable, it is uncomfortable. Leave the chat immediately and don’t engage with users who seem suspicious, aggressive, or inappropriate. 🖥️ Place Devices in Shared Spaces Keep internet-connected devices in living rooms or kitchens, not bedrooms. This makes risky behavior less likely and easier to notice. 🙋♀️Conversations: Have open discussions with children and young people about the topics associated with online use - bullying, grooming, sexual and criminal exploitation, body image, as well as accessing support and how to report. 🚨 Know the Signs of Trouble Watch for behaviour changes—like anxiety, secrecy, mood swings, or suddenly deleting apps. These can signal something inappropriate happened online. 💬Conversations: Have open discussions with children and young people about the topics associated with online use - bullying, grooming, sexual and criminal exploitation, body image, as well as accessing support and how to report. FURTHER SUPPORT: For parents/ carers If you're worried about your child or need support call NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000. If you discover criminal content when online then report it directly to the police or the Internet Watch Foundation. If you're worried about online grooming or sexual behaviour online then report directly to the police or contact CEOP. For Children & young people if they're worried or want to talk, encourage them to contact Childline Online or call 0800 1111. Check out our Resource Centre for further information and useful online safety tips. FURTHER SUPPORT: For parents/ carers If you're worried about your child or need support call NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000. If you discover criminal content when online then report it directly to the police or the Internet Watch Foundation. If you're worried about online grooming or sexual behaviour online then report directly to the police or contact CEOP. For Children & young people if they're worried or want to talk, encourage them to contact Childline Online or call 0800 1111. Check out our Resource Centre for further information and useful online safety tips. 
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