Is Saturn safe? Saturn App Reviews for Parents
Overview
Recommended Age: 14 and up
Back-to-school season always brings all the normal stresses like finding the right school supplies, learning a new schedule, and completing more homework than the year before. But this season we’ve added something new – an app called Saturn. Aimed at students, the Saturn app claims to be the ultimate organizer of busy high school life – “the only calendar that supports the complexities of high school life.” With the app, students can easily load their class schedules, get updates on school happenings, and connect with other students in their classes. But there is in fact a real danger (despite the company’s recent verification feature) that someone could claim to be a student and then gain access to detailed information about your child that they could use to target your child.
Harmful content😲
Some kids may use the app’s messaging feature to cyberbully and harass other kids. Or use it to post content that is usually inappropriate. The company says they create a positive atmosphere on the app through community guidelines, but every app and social media platform has community guidelines – things always get overlooked.
There is also the potential for “fear of missing out” as kids are constantly aware of who is in which class and who is doing what after school. Children are already highly aware of their friends’ whereabouts through current social media platforms, and Saturn is another platform for children to manage.
Another red flag is Saturn’s immediate request to connect to your Snapchat account. If you connect your account, Saturn will have access to your display name on Snapchat as well as your Bitmoji avatar if you have one.Snapchat itself has many security issues, which is why Saturn encouraging kids to connect to it (or create a Snapchat account if they don’t already have one) is a red flag.
Predation🚨
In August 2023, a few days after Saturn’s popularity spiked, they released a statement touting a series of security improvements to the app designed to help keep non-students out. This is important because one of the main dangers of allowing apps to access student details and locations is the possibility of predators targeting children. They can easily create an account and pose as a new student.
Unfortunately, the details of Saturn’s new verification process remain vague. Here’s how they describe it on their Security Center page:
What steps does Saturn take to verify that a user has attended high school?
We call this process “verification” and it’s an extremely important part of protecting our users. Verifying students on Saturn relies on a combination of different processes and signals – where you went to school may affect how we verify you. These signals include things like overlapping your address book and/or school email verification. At many schools, email verification is not possible because schools do not allow external applications to use student emails for verification.
In other words, it’s unclear, so there may be a solution. For example, if one of the verification tools is simply the contact number of a classmate in your cell phone, it means that someone who graduated last year can access the app if they still have friends at the school. And vice versa – what if a 10th grader is new to the district and doesn’t know anyone? Couldn’t they be verified?
Fortunately, if you are not verified, you cannot chat or interact with verified users. The app proactively limits this experience to ensure the safety of real students.
Positively worth it 💙
For students who need help keeping up with their busy schedules, Saturn will definitely help. Saturn will send you daily notifications about where you need to be based on your schedule. However, there are other calendar apps that can perform the same function without having to be digitally connected to the entire school in an app that’s likely to be pillaged.
Privacy 🔒.
Users can hide their schedule from other users:
Navigate to your child’s profile.
Click on the Settings icon.
Click on Edit Profile.
Scroll all the way down.
Turn off “Schedule Visibility”.
Even with this setup, privacy is not something that is highly valued on Saturn. The entire purpose of the app is to connect with other students and view their schedules. Additionally, Saturn allows kids to connect other social media to their profiles, including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Venmo.
Parental Controls ✅
Saturn doesn’t have any parental controls, which is concerning considering it’s only for kids. But the good thing is that Bark can help!
Bark allows parents:
Block Saturn completely if needed.
Manage the times throughout the day when your child can use it.
So, should my child download it?
If your child is older, Saturn may be a good app. But there are many dangers for younger children, including possible predation, cyberbullying, inappropriate content, and more.