Flirting With Disaster

Skout is an app designed for flirting between adults. Users exchange photos, messages, and virtual gifts. It has GPS that allows people to connect with strangers that are nearby, and its popularity is growing with millions of new users each month.

Its growth also attracted $22 million in financing from one of Silicon Valley's leading venture capital firms which cited Skout's safety and security protocols as a major reason for the investment. For example, the GPS location feature is an opt-in and approximates a user's location within half a mile. Skout also monitors the app for illicit and violent behavior, nude photos, inappropriate sexual messages, profanity, spamming, and copyright infringement.

After learning that children were using its adult app, the company started a separate service with parental controls for 13- to 17-year-olds. 

However, the minors’ app and "creepinator" technology were not enough to keep out child predators who have been accused of sex crimes against children they met using Skout:  a 15-year-old Ohio girl, a 12-year-old California girl, and a 13-year-old Wisconsin boy were sexually assaulted by adult men posing as teenagers on Skout.

Skout's founder calls these cases "a five-alarm fire" and says, "The entire company is re-evaluating everything it's doing."