Kik Messenger , commonly called Kik , is a free instant messaging mobile app from Canadian company Kik Interactive, available free on iOS and the Android operating system. It uses a smartphone or Wi-Fi data plan to send and receive messages, photos, videos, sketches, mobile web pages, and other content once the user registers a username. Kik is known for its features that maintain user confidentiality, such as allowing users to register without providing a phone number. This app records the user's IP address, which the company can use to determine its location. As of May 2016, Kik Messenger has about 300 million registered users, and is used by about 40% of American teenagers.
Kik Messenger has invited controversy for his reported involvement in a number of child exploitation incidents. This app has been criticized for being unsafe for minors due to anonymity features and suspected poor parental control mechanisms.
Video Kik Messenger
History
Kik Interactive was founded in 2009 by a group of students from the University of Waterloo in Canada who want to create new technology for use on smart phones. Kik Messenger is the first application developed by Kik Interactive, and was released on October 19, 2010. Within 15 days of its release, Kik Messenger reached one million user registrations, with Twitter credited as a catalyst for the popularity of new applications.
On November 24, 2010, Research In Motion (RIM) removes Kik Messenger from BlackBerry App World and limits software functionality to its users. RIM also sued Kik Interactive for patent infringement and misuse of trademarks. In October 2013, the company completed the lawsuit, with an undisclosed requirement.
In November 2014, Kik announced a $ 38.3 million Series C funding round and its first acquisition, purchasing a GIF Messenger "Relay". Funding is from Valiant Capital Partners, Millennium Technology Value Partners, and SV Angel. At this time, Kik has collected a total of $ 70.5 million.
On August 16, 2015, Kik received a $ 50 million investment from Chinese Internet giant Tencent, the parent company of China's popular WeChat messaging service. These investments resulted in a billion dollar valuation company. Company CEO Ted Livingston expressed Kik's aspiration to be "WeChat of the West" and said that attracting young users is an important part of corporate strategy.
In 2017, Kik decided to oppose more VC funds, instead of raising nearly $ 100 million in initial coin offerings (ICO).
In November 2017, Kik Messenger was secretly removed from the Windows Store. Beginning January 23, 2018, neither the developer nor Microsoft provided a statement or explanation of the removal of the application.
Maps Kik Messenger
Features
Kik's main attraction that sets it apart from other messaging apps is its anonymity. To sign up for the Kik service, the user must enter a first and last name, e-mail address, and date of birth (which, in February 2016, should indicate that the user is at least 13 years old), and choose a username. The registration process of Kik does not require or require the entry of a phone number (although the user has the option to enter it), unlike some other messaging services that require the user to provide a working mobile number.
The New York Times has reported that according to law enforcement, Kik's anonymity features go beyond the most used apps. In February 2016, Kik's guide to law enforcement said that the company could not find user accounts based on first and last name, e-mail address and/or date of birth; the correct username is required to find the specified account. Further guides say the company does not have access to "historical user data" content or "historical user data" such as photos, video and text conversations, and that photos and videos are automatically deleted as soon as they are sent. Some limited data from certain accounts (identified by appropriate username), including first and last name, date of birth, e-mail address, link to current profile picture, device related information, and user's most recent location information using address IP, can be retained for a period of 90 days pending receipt of a valid order from law enforcement. Anonymity Kik has also been referred to as a protective security measure for users in good faith, because "the user has a screen name; the app does not share a phone number or email address."
Since May 2014, Kik has loaded security features that obscure messages from strangers, so users should choose to view content sent by people outside their network. Users also have the option to remove offensive content or block other users from contacting them. These features are developed in response to widespread use of Kik for "cross-app" communication, where users who meet people in other apps (usually game apps) will then use Kik to communicate with them.
Kik introduces several new user features by 2015, including a full-screen in-chat browser that lets users discover and share content from the web; a feature that allows users to post previous video recordings on Kik Messenger for Android and iOS; and "Kik Codes", which gives each user a unique code similar to QR code, making it easier to connect and chat with other users. Kik joins Virtual Global Taskforce, a global anti-violence organization of children, in March 2015. Kik started using Microsoft PhotoDNA in March 2015 to moderate user-added images. In the same month, Kik released the original video capture allowing users to record up to 15 seconds in the chat window. In October 2015, Kik partnered with the Ad Council as part of an anti-bullying campaign. This campaign is showing in apps and Kik releases stickers that work with campaigns. Kik released the feature to send GIFs as emoji in November 2015. Kik added SafePhoto to its security features in October 2016 that "detect, report and delete known child exploit images" submitted via platform. Kik partnered with ConnectSafely in 2016 to produce a "parent handbook" and joined The Technology Coalition, a group of sexual anti-sexual exploits including Facebook, Google, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Bots
Kik adds chats promoted in 2014, which uses bots to talk to users about brands promoted through keywords that activate responses. This feature allows the company to communicate with more potential clients than might be done manually. Promoted messages reach the target audience by gender, country and device. In April 2016, Kik added a bot shop to its app, allowing users to order food or products through an auto chat. Third party companies issue bots that will access the company's offerings. The boots add web bubbles (also known as "wubbles") feature to allow rich media content to be shared in conversation threads, as well as suggested responses and features that allow bots to be active in group threads. The update, released in September 2016, adds a concierge booth that can provide tips, tutorials or recommendations to users in a particular brand.
Security
On November 4, 2014, Kik scored 1 of 7 points on a secure scorecard of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Kik accepts a point for encryption during transit but loses points because the communication is not encrypted with the key that the provider does not have access, the user can not verify the contact identity, the last message is not secure if the encryption key is stolen, the code is not open for independent review, the security design is not documented with well, and there has not been an independent security audit recently.
Awards and acknowledgments
On October 1, 2014, Sony Music and Kik Interactive were awarded Smarties by Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) for their global music marketing campaign with One Direction. In October 2016, corporate CEO Ted Livingston was recognized as Toronto's most brilliant technology innovator by Toronto Life for his work with Kik. Livingston is also known as one of the "Most Creative People in the Business" on Fastia's Company list 2017.
Controversy
Child exploits
Child exploits stand out in Kik Messenger, causing law enforcement and the media to often express concerns about the app. Automatic spam bots have also been used to distribute explicit images and texts above Kik Messenger. A state law enforcement official interviewed by The New York Times in February 2016 identified Kik as "the application of the current problem".
Prior to 2015, Kik Interactive addressed this issue by telling parents and police about their choice to combat child exploitation. In March 2015, the company adopted a more aggressive strategy by utilizing Microsoft's PhotoDNA cloud service to automatically detect, delete, and report the distribution of child exploit images in its application. (Some experts have noted that since PhotoDNA operates by comparing images with existing exploitative image databases, it is ineffective in preventing online abuse "realtime" and may not detect material that has not been added to its comparable databases.) Kik Interactive has also begun collaborating internationally with enforcement law by joining the Virtual Global Task Force, a partnership between businesses, child protection agencies, and international police services that combat online child abuse and abuse. The company also sponsors an annual conference on crime against children.
Using Kik by Minor '
Kik has been criticized for providing inadequate parental control over the use of apps by minors. The ability to share messages without reminding parents has been noted as "one of the reasons teens love Kik". Parents can not automatically view their child's Kik communications remotely from other devices, but must have a password for their child's user account and see the communication on the same device their child is using. In February 2016, Kik's parents' guide stressed that juveniles between 13 and 18 must have parental permission to use Kik, but there is no technical way to enforce requirements or to guarantee that minors will not enter a fake birthday. Kik Interactive says that he uses the "general" industry standard for age verification, that "perfect age verification" is "unreasonable", and that the company deletes the user account under 13 when it finds it, or when the parent asks for a takedown.
Open source module name
In March 2016, Kik Interactive engaged in a high-profile dispute over the use of the name "kik" with independent code developer, Azer KoÃÆ'§ulu, author of various open source software modules published in npm, a package manager widely used by JavaScript Projects to install dependencies. KoÃÆ'§ulu has published an extension to Node.js on npm with the name "kik". Kik Interaktif contacted him objecting to the use of his name, to which the company claimed intellectual property rights, and asked him to change the name. When KoÃÆ'§ulu refused, Kik Interactive contacted npm management, who agreed to transfer ownership of the module to Kik without the approval of KoÃÆ'§ulu. KoÃÆ'§ulu then did not publish all its modules from npm, including the eleven popular code module called "left-pad" where many JavaScript projects depend. Although KoÃÆ'§ulu then published a left pad on GitHub, the sudden removal of npm caused many projects (including Kik itself) to stop working, due to their dependence on Node and Babel packages. Given the widespread software disruption, npm returns the left-hand pad and makes Cameron Westland of Autodesk a manager. This incident sparked controversy over the assertion of intellectual property rights and the use of dependencies in software development.
See also
- Instant messaging client comparisons
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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