Guides

Guides on supervising a child's phone. The legal ones cite the specific articles and link to the official source, so you can check them yourself. None of them is legal advice.

Is supervision legal?

What the law allows depending on who you supervise and how old they are. The difference between a minor in your care and an adult decides almost everything.

Is it legal to monitor my child?Yes, if your child is a minor, in proportion and with their knowledge. What the UN says and what changes in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, the US and Spain.
Is it illegal to check your child's phone without them knowing?For a child under 18, usually not — but the law is only half the answer. When secret checking is justified, when it backfires, and how to move to an agreement, by age.
Can I read my child's WhatsApp messages legally?Yes, for a minor child in your care — with limits. What the law allows, what WhatsApp's encryption means for parents, what you can actually see, and where the line is with other people's messages.
Is it legal to monitor an employee's company phone?Usually yes, on a company-owned device, with a written policy the employee has signed and monitoring limited to work. What US, Latin American and EU rules require, and what is never allowed.

The law in your country

The specific framework for each country, with the code, the act and the article number linked to their official source.

Digital parenting

The decisions that come before any app: at what age, with which rules, how much time, and how to talk it through with your child.

How to set it up

Step-by-step setup and a comparison of tools: what Android includes out of the box, what WhatsApp adds, and what a supervision app adds.

Risks and what to do

How to recognise a warning sign in time, and what to do in the first few hours once something has already happened.

How we write these guides