Jet Networks, Inc., a company based in Chestnut Hill, just announced the launch of Jet.me, a chat service and social network specifically developed for children under the age of 13.
Many social networks and chatting services bar this demographic from using their services, choosing not to jump through the hoops that would make them compliant with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA). However, Jet has. And now young children can use the safe, private space the startup has developed to connect with their friends, share content with each other and explore the world.
“Kids will feel safe and feel like they can participate in mobile,” Jenny Mirken, founder and CEO of Jet, told us. “It’s exciting to watch what they do next. They can be more than social and connect with what they love, making their lives bigger.”
Here's how Jet works: The COPPA-compliant service lets kids share text, photos, videos, stickers and moods with their friends, who have to be approved by both users' parents. No real names are made public, to protect children from strangers. And in addition to friends, kids can connect with brands, causes and celebrities - whose accounts are all vetted and verified - to learn more about what they love and have their minds opened to new ideas.
Mirken told us, “There’s a huge gap in mobile because most services leave children under 13 out… They’re true mobile natives and yet they’ve been entirely underserved. Jet wants to fill in that gap.”
Parents, do not panic: Jet isn’t just opening up young children to an internet full of strangers. “Security is our number one priority. We’re doing more than anyone has ever done and we will keep getting better at it,” Mirken said.
The startup has deliberately put “checks and balances” into its services. According to Jet, the following features have been incorporated into its network as a means of keeping kids safer:
- Profiles are protected. On Jet, only approved friends can see posts or send messages. These simple rules help users feel more confident about what they share.
- No auto-populated search. To add a friend on Jet, you must know their exact Jet username, which means you likely know that person in real life. Additionally, all friend requests include the sender’s real name.
- Personal data stays private. Personal data - including profile photos - are never displayed publicly on Jet.
- Jet is kid-friendly and parent-aware. Jet complies with COPPA, federal legislation designed to help protect kids. Jet Parent, a companion app to Jet.me, lets parents connect to their child and approve friends through a first-of-its-kind approach. Parents get peace of mind and kids get the experience they crave.
“These precautions make it harder for strangers to go fishing for strangers,” Mirken said. “Meanwhile, they ensure parents are able to participate in their children’s Jet experience, so they can both learn even more about what interests each other.”
Jet, which is currently only available on iOS, is free for child users. For parents, the app costs 99 cents in the App Store - and with good reason.
“It’s not really a revenue stream,” Mirken told us. “It’s a verification mechanism to help us stay COPPA-compliant. Having parents make a purchase with a credit card is one of the accepted ways to verify they are who they say they are. It’s the fastest, easiest way for us to build our ecosystem.”
Down the road, Jet plans to have multiple revenue streams. Those include offering sponsored content and verified account partnerships.
Mirken said Jet has been in the works over the past couple of years, having raised $1 million in angel funding to get it to the point where it is now. With the launch of its product, Jet is setting out to raise its Series A and will aim to grow its user base to 5,000 by the end of the year. That funding would allow the startup to build out its team, develop an Android app and a web-based version of its services, and do the marketing it needs to continue growing its user base.
Featured image public domain.
