Pipsqueak Security

Hey, wow, is it really December already? Amazing how time flies when you're having fun really, really busy & preoccupied!

Anyway... As the family technical support department, I often spend a lot of quality time with various iDevices. Most recently that was Mom's iPhone 4S, which decided that my updating it to the most recent possible version of iOS was a security violation and locked everyone out. To make a long and curse-filled story short, I eventually figured out the login credentials for Mom's AppleID account (Dude, didn't you set up that account yourself so you'd be sure to always have that information...?) and set about updating and/or installing the various apps she wanted.

The first app I put on was the FBI Child ID app, a free download I heartily encourage everyone with young kids to install on their smart devices.[1]  I entered as much of the information as I could and then posed my niece against the front door for an ID photo to add to the app. That got me wondering about how current the data was on my phone, and I immediately realized the photo I was using was from Miri's first day of school.... LAST year.

Since I didn't have a more recent photo I thought was appropriate in my camera roll, I grabbed the Pipsqueak from the kitchen and had her pose again, which she thought was kind of funny (and thus resulted in several silly poses before I could get a "real" ID pic). The fact that I kept posing her for photos to use in an app on my phone was intriguing, so she began grilling me interrogating me asking me what I needed the photo for, why I needed the app on the phone, what the app was used for... LOTS of questions that required some careful verbal wordsmithing to explain the safety aspect without making it sound like she was going to be snatched and/or get lost every time she went someplace with family or friends.

The Pipsqueak seemed to absorb it all and was quiet for a few moments, then marched back into the kitchen and asked Grandma for a pen and some paper. She was soon busy crafting what she told me was a "child ID security file" for herself.  Unfortunately, it was getting late so I couldn't stay to see the finished product and soon forgot about it.

Fast-forward to this past Thursday, when I was over at my folks' again (letting Mom sample an iPad Mini 2, which looks like it's going to be added to the list of devices I have to configure & support, argh). There, hanging among various slowly-aging holiday cards and the Pipsqueak's artwork was the completed homemade "Kid ID" file:

First & last name obscured for security, of course.

And on that note, I'll sign off for the evening. :-)

[1] The FBI Child ID app is currenty available for iOS and Android devices.

>> iOS (iTunes): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fbi-child-id/id446158585?ls=1&mt=8

>> Android (Google Play): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fbi&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5mYmkiXQ