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I'm giving up on Windows 10 for my kid. I got this cheap HP tablet and thought it would be great for my kiddo. I can manage screen time, apps, and all sorts of cool things. I'm sure it's possible, but it's not easy to get set up. Maybe someone here can tell me what I'm doing wrong. Here's the story.

I proceeded to log into this cool free-to-me tablet and set up my account and I installed the Netflix app. I then create my an "adult" account for my wife and a new "child" account for my little one. I log onto her account so she can watch her favorite Netlix app but it's not installed! Strike one for the tablet. I have to install it again. *sigh* OK, so I go to install it and strike two! I have to verify the account activity with my account but it requires a credit card and a $0.50 charge. So I take a week break and come back today with a new plan. Promote her to an "adult" account, set up her stuff, then make her a child all over again. I proceed to delete her account, add it as an adult, and check her email for the invite. Strike three! I have the same $0.50 charge request to do this because I set her up as a kid with no online access. Being only three I thought it was a good idea. Well, that came back to haunt me.

In short:
-there is no way to install an app and let everyone access it (at least not easily)
-$0.50 for any child activity that needs to be verified by an adult
-No easy way to change accounts from child to adult
-Family settings require an internet account (WTF, my kid doesn't need a MS account at 3, really?)

I remember Windows Phone touting the kids corner feature and I thought it seemed really cool. Oh my, what a mess it morphed into! So, any suggestions other than using it as target practice? I'm tired of searching Google (because Bing sucks for all things related to Microsoft searching) and coming up empty.

Sure your 3 y.o. doesn't want to sign up? The applicable Services Agreement is only 12,153 words

Tablet a Stream 7? I have one and recently put Windows 10 on there hoping to let my kids play around, but they only want to use my iPad mini and iPhone...

Makes sense-- Microsoft probably hopes you'll give up and just make her an adult account to use. The less control over your child you have, the more control Microsoft does -- in what activities she does and what she sees and hears while using the tablet. Marketing to a 3 year old will give them the opportunity to implant ads in her psyche so they can harvest capital later in her life. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it.

...Or maybe I'm being too 1984-ish about this.

Are there any other OSes that offer the controls you want?

Why does Microsoft charge me when I create an account for my child?

"Microsoft and Family Safety comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) regarding online account creation for children under the age of 13. To verify that an adult is giving a child permission to create a new Microsoft account, COPPA requires that a small amount be charged to the adult's credit card. We charge 50 cents for this verification. These charges aren't refundable."

TwistedKestrel wrote:

Why does Microsoft charge me when I create an account for my child?

"Microsoft and Family Safety comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) regarding online account creation for children under the age of 13. To verify that an adult is giving a child permission to create a new Microsoft account, COPPA requires that a small amount be charged to the adult's credit card. We charge 50 cents for this verification. These charges aren't refundable."

To be fair, COPPA only applies in instances that a corporation intends to collect information about a minor, and there is no requirement that a small amount be charged to anyone's credit card. That's a bald face lie. COPPA requires that parents be directly notified of their intention to collect data; They must "Obtain verifiable parental consent, with limited exceptions, prior to any collection, use, and/or disclosure of personal information from persons under age 13."

The 50c thing is merely microsoft's chosen interpretation of the law.

In re the original question of the thread, I'm not sure that WINDOWS is right for dads (of non-school-aged childen) just in general. There are probably better devices out there for that demographic (get him/her a wiiU) Just sayin

VincentHanna wrote:

COPPA requires that parents be directly notified of their intention to collect data; They must "Obtain verifiable parental consent, with limited exceptions, prior to any collection, use, and/or disclosure of personal information from persons under age 13."

The 50c thing is merely microsoft's chosen interpretation of the law.

The $0.50 CC charge has been the market's universal verification mechanism under COPPA since day 1. Other ways may meet the law, but this one is cheap 'n' easy and we all know how those concepts drive SEC-registered companies.

FireGryphon wrote:

Makes sense-- Microsoft probably hopes you'll give up and just make her an adult account to use. The less control over your child you have, the more control Microsoft does -- in what activities she does and what she sees and hears while using the tablet. Marketing to a 3 year old will give them the opportunity to implant ads in her psyche so they can harvest capital later in her life. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it.

...Or maybe I'm being too 1984-ish about this.

Are there any other OSes that offer the controls you want?

Then when theyre teenagers you have this "feature".

http://www.mtv.com/news/2254238/windows ... matically/

The title should be "Windows 10: not for sentient beings".

BlackDove wrote:

FireGryphon wrote:

Makes sense-- Microsoft probably hopes you'll give up and just make her an adult account to use. The less control over your child you have, the more control Microsoft does -- in what activities she does and what she sees and hears while using the tablet. Marketing to a 3 year old will give them the opportunity to implant ads in her psyche so they can harvest capital later in her life. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it.

...Or maybe I'm being too 1984-ish about this.

Are there any other OSes that offer the controls you want?

Then when theyre teenagers you have this "feature".

http://www.mtv.com/news/2254238/windows ... matically/

The title should be "Windows 10: not for sentient beings".

Oh great, more nonsense from them with W10? And I can't help but wonder - how many people are actually benefiting from Microsoft account logins, and how many are only using it because it was the more obvious option during setup? I swear, linux distros are looking more and more like a breath of fresh air as time goes on - you install them, there's none of this online account or refusing certain unwanted updates from the OS company nonsense, you load the programs you want (no online accounts required for a store - that's the one thing I hate about Macs that makes things harder both with the enterprise and my grandparents), and you're done. That's it. No intentional stupidity in design. And unlike Windows (particularly 7 and older, with the amount of updates released and the poor algorithms), I've never seen a linux distro sit on its laurels checking for updates (while hogging your CPU) for up to an hour or more on a clean install.

The thing about 1984 and tinfoil hats is that as of late, it seems like people think in that direction, they're called crazy, and then it ends up becoming true.

BlackDove wrote:

Then when theyre teenagers you have this "feature".

http://www.mtv.com/news/2254238/windows ... matically/

The title should be "Windows 10: not for sentient beings".

A feature that again, should be off by default, but at the same time is not the end of the world. Beyond that - kids should assume their browsing habits are monitored to some extent when using the family computer.

Waco wrote:

BlackDove wrote:

Then when theyre teenagers you have this "feature".

http://www.mtv.com/news/2254238/windows ... matically/

The title should be "Windows 10: not for sentient beings".

A feature that again, should be off by default, but at the same time is not the end of the world. Beyond that - kids should assume their browsing habits are monitored to some extent when using the family computer.

Yes because teenagers should know that they are considered property and not sentient humans by people with your mentality.

I think most of them use fake ages for online profiles, but this is just another destructive policy.

Im sure it will help indoctrinate people further to understand that they are all property and have no right to privacy.

BlackDove wrote:

Yes because teenagers should know that they are considered property and not sentient humans by people with your mentality.

Now you're going off the deep end. I never said ANYTHING of the sort nor did I imply it in any way.

Remind me again why I feel the need to rebuke your insane posts?

Waco wrote:

BlackDove wrote:

Yes because teenagers should know that they are considered property and not sentient humans by people with your mentality.

Now you're going off the deep end. I never said ANYTHING of the sort nor did I imply it in any way.

Remind me again why I feel the need to rebuke your insane posts?

I dont know but you always seem to say "its not so bad" about some disgusting policy in Windows 10s terms. Im sure i could determine the psychological reasons. Whats your Myers Briggs type? My guess is something with F and J in it?

Assuming that everything you do will be automatically compiled into a report by a machine and forwarded to your parents isnt normal or healthy.

Youd have to be a pretty paranoid kid to assume that. I guess youre right about one thing: kids SHOULD be that paranoid in our degenerate society.

Did the tablet come with Windows 10 originally? I can set Family Safety settings just fine without an online account on Windows 8.1.

@BlackDove - Let's not push this thread any closer to R&P territory. Thanks.

Captain Ned wrote:

VincentHanna wrote:

COPPA requires that parents be directly notified of their intention to collect data; They must "Obtain verifiable parental consent, with limited exceptions, prior to any collection, use, and/or disclosure of personal information from persons under age 13."

The 50c thing is merely microsoft's chosen interpretation of the law.

The $0.50 CC charge has been the market's universal verification mechanism under COPPA since day 1. Other ways may meet the law, but this one is cheap 'n' easy and we all know how those concepts drive SEC-registered companies.

The FTC's website explicitly allows the use of email and an automated system, or an automated telephone system. But granted, collecting free money for nothing is technically cheaper than implementing a email + second confirmatory email, or toll-free system.

Hi Losergamer04,

Sorry, I know nothing about W10 parental controls. But I've got a 4yo daughter, and she loves to watch Youtube. I let her use the tablet (a Samsung Galaxy) while it's logged into my own account, with no protections in place.
I always sample her activity in loco (or my wife does it), but I can also check the Youtube history online. The same is true about the browser history.
People are complaining a lot about W10 privacy issues, but they seem to forget how f#@$ing creepy Google is (they are probably much worse than MS).

Well, the interesting thing is, she did stumble upon some sick stuff a few times (especially when looking for My Little Pony videos) but she usually skips and avoids those things.
She even learned how to instruct YT to don't suggest her those videos again. Or the other way around, if she watches something that we don't approve, we talk to her and then ask YT to don't show it again.
It's now fool proof, but we've been doing this since she was around 1yo and it worked so far. If you can stay beside your kid while he uses the tablet, it may be worth a shot.

[]s

Poindexter wrote:

I always sample her activity in loco (or my wife does it), but I can also check the Youtube history online. The same is true about the browser history.
Or the other way around, if she watches something that we don't approve, we talk to her and then ask YT to don't show it again.

This 'human' approach of monitoring and discussion seems the smartest way. You're not using technology as a crutch to play the role of a parent. You also discuss with her (after the fact) why certain content is inappropriate. This will educate and inform her, and make her better adapted to handle such cases. Kudos to you, sir.

I get why they ask for the $.50. I am annoyed that there is no easy way around it. I wouldn't care if I could just install the apps on my account and provision her access. If I could just do that I would be happy. But you have to install Netflix for every account on there. I wonder if it is installing 3 copies or just installing it once and provisioning it. Does anyone have any insight on that?

Pindexter: I trust my little one, but she's only 3. She mostly shys away from content we don't like on Netflix kids and YouTube. However, I shouldn't have to rely on a toddler's judgement because administration of safety settings is too difficult. I'm a IT security guy and onerous security that is difficult to manage is one of my pet peeves. It should be transparent and simple or people will circumvent it, which is what I'm about to do.

In the latest development, I received an email from Microsoft stating they deleted my child's email account because she never logged into it. Well, that's because I don't want my toddler sending email and I used the family safety settings to not allow her access to email at 3! I applaud Microsoft for at least trying to do the kid thing. But, I think I'm just going to create a local account, install a few things, and call it a day.