Kaspersky Safe Kids: setup walkthrough
Affordable cross-platform parental controls — but you can no longer buy or update them in the US. Here’s the setup, and the availability problem first.
Kaspersky Safe Kids
One of the most affordable cross-platform parental control suites. Strong filtering, location tracking, screen time, and activity reports.
Setup
- Create an account at kaspersky.com/safe-kids.
- Install Safe Kids on each kid device; sign in with their profile.
- Grant accessibility and device-admin permissions on Android.
- On iOS, install the Safe Kids profile.
- Configure rules in the parent portal: categories, time, apps, YouTube search, location geofences.
Features
- Content filter across ~12 categories.
- App management (block, time-limit).
- Screen time with daily schedule.
- Location tracking with geofence alerts.
- YouTube Safe Search and search-term monitoring.
- Suspicious-content alerts (less deep than Bark).
Considerations
If you are in the United States, this one is off the table. The Commerce Department barred Kaspersky from selling to US customers after July 20, 2024, and from sending them updates after September 29, 2024. Kaspersky then wound down its US business and moved its remaining US subscribers to a different vendor. You cannot buy Safe Kids here, and a copy still sitting on a device is no longer being updated.
Outside the US it is still sold and still works. Some organizations in Europe and elsewhere have their own policies against Russian-origin security vendors, so it is worth deciding deliberately rather than by default. Kaspersky has engineering centers outside Russia, but the policy debate continues.
Common questions
Is Kaspersky Safe Kids good value?
Where you can still buy it, yes — it is one of the most affordable cross-platform parental-control suites available, with strong filtering, location tracking, screen time and activity reports for the price. It is no longer sold in the US.
Can I still use Kaspersky Safe Kids in the US?
No. The US Commerce Department barred Kaspersky from selling to US customers after 20 July 2024 and from sending them updates after 29 September 2024, and Kaspersky then wound down its US business. You cannot buy Safe Kids in the US, and a copy still installed there is no longer being updated. Outside the US it is still sold, though some organisations in Europe and elsewhere have policies against Russian-origin security vendors, so it is still worth deciding deliberately.
What does Safe Kids include?
Content filtering across around 12 categories, app blocking and time limits, screen time with a daily schedule, location tracking with geofence alerts, YouTube Safe Search with search-term monitoring, and suspicious-content alerts — though these are shallower than Bark’s.
What permissions does it need?
On Android, accessibility and device-admin permissions. On iOS, installing the Safe Kids profile. Both are normal for tools of this type, but both are steps people abandon halfway through.
When parental controls change
Monitoring tools change what they can see, and sometimes stop being available. Roughly monthly we send new guides, changes to controls like these, and scams worth knowing about.
Free. No ads, no affiliate links, and we never sell or share your address.