Kids Corner still Disappointment!

[Dhaval Thakur]

Guys today I tried kids corner again after wp 8.1 update and again like wp 8 ,kids corner asks for my phone password to open! Wasn't that bug fixed?

 

[illidanx]

Guys today I tried kids corner again after wp 8.1 update and again like wp 8 ,kids corner asks for my phone password to open! Wasn't that bug fixed?

No, it no longer asks for your phone's password to access kid corner. It only asks you to set up a password for your adult corner if you have not done so.

 

[Dhaval Thakur]

Its asking here in mine :/

 

[teckris]

For me too

 

[Dhyan Hariprasad]

Once the screen is locked it should not go back to the main page. It's still going to my page. So if there is no password kids will be entering directly into my things. Couldn't they change this little thing. What we just want is no passcode asked in kids corner and we don't want the main page to come if the phone is locked and unlocked again. The main page should not come unless we Swype. And when it comes to main page password should be back.

 

[manicottiK]

The disappointment is the result of disagreement about what Kid's Corner is supposed to be. There are two groups: GROUP 1 wants Kid's Corner to be a controlled place where kids/guests can use a limited set of apps AFTER being given permission to access that set while GROUP 2 wants Kid's Corner to be a controlled place where kids/guests can use a limited set of apps WITHOUT needing permission to access it.

The group 1 folks are happy. Phone users like that their kids/roommates can't use up all of their battery power gaming without consent. People responsible for IT security at businesses like that their users can't bypass security by providing a "back door" to some apps and data.

The group 2 folks are not happy because they want their phones to be usable by kids/roommates/friends as diversions. A subset of them recognize that the security folks in group 1 don't want them to reveal their PIN to others and so they want Microsoft to add a second PIN for Kid's Corner.

 

[sadiq.na]

I don't know what the use of kids corner if I need to put password for unlocking.If they think about security they should atleast create a new password for kids corner that I can share with kids.

 

[manicottiK]

I don't know what the use of kids corner if I need to put password for unlocking.

Here's the use case: I come home from work. My kids want to play with my phone. I unlock it and drop them in to Kid's Corner. They play. They put the phone down to go to the bathroom. The screen times out and turns off. The kids come back. They CAN get back in to Kid's Corner on their own and continue playing -- they do not need the parent to continue playing.

Kid's Corner requires the parent to get the kid started, but lets the kid continue to intermittently play on their own without needing additional parental assistance. The limitation to that is how long the phone is allowed to be inactive before the PIN is needed again. That timeout applies to both the regular functions of the phone and the Kid's Corner functions. So, if the kid spends a lot of time in the bathroom or decides to go out and play for half an hour before coming back to the phone, the parent is going to be needed again to get them back in to Kid's Corner.

 

[crav4speed]

The disappointment is the result of disagreement about what Kid's Corner is supposed to be. There are two groups: GROUP 1 wants Kid's Corner to be a controlled place where kids/guests can use a limited set of apps AFTER being given permission to access that set while GROUP 2 wants Kid's Corner to be a controlled place where kids/guests can use a limited set of apps WITHOUT needing permission to access it.

The group 1 folks are happy. Phone users like that their kids/roommates can't use up all of their battery power gaming without consent. People responsible for IT security at businesses like that their users can't bypass security by providing a "back door" to some apps and data.

The group 2 folks are not happy because they want their phones to be usable by kids/roommates/friends as diversions. A subset of them recognize that the security folks in group 1 don't want them to reveal their PIN to others and so they want Microsoft to add a second PIN for Kid's Corner.

SImple... create a toggle in Kids Corner settings to require the pin or not.

 

[manicottiK]

SImple... create a toggle in Kids Corner settings to require the pin or not.

I suspect that something like that will come, but not until disabling the feature or allowing companies to blacklist certain apps from inclusion in Kid's Corner becomes available via Exchange Active Sync or a more advanced Mobile Device Management platform. Being able to prevent what you suggest is necessary in some business settings to ensure that security isn't compromised by exposing protected app data to the unsecured side of the phone.

If an organization needs to be compliant with healthcare or financial regulations, they either have to have to a way to prevent their employees from "getting around the security" or they need to ban Windows Phone. Right now, we don't need to give enterprises easy excuses to keep WP away.

 

[PPCFreak]

I suspect that something like that will come, but not until disabling the feature or allowing companies to blacklist certain apps from inclusion in Kid's Corner becomes available via Exchange Active Sync or a more advanced Mobile Device Management platform. Being able to prevent what you suggest is necessary in some business settings to ensure that security isn't compromised by exposing protected app data to the unsecured side of the phone.

If an organization needs to be compliant with healthcare or financial regulations, they either have to have to a way to prevent their employees from "getting around the security" or they need to ban Windows Phone. Right now, we don't need to give enterprises easy excuses to keep WP away.

this is the exact reason I am the Only one that got a WP device approved at the company I work for. After it was approved, I got it and then they discovered this gap.
Hope MS provides one fast or they will loose a lot of Enterprise use just as you described.
And I hope they don't just disable it all together.

 

[manicottiK]

this is the exact reason I am the Only one that got a WP device approved at the company I work for. After it was approved, I got it and then they discovered this gap.

What gap? The issue that I was writing about does not exist. It would exist IF they allowed Kid's Corner to be accessed without a PIN, but they don't.

WP has FIPS 140-2 certification for its encryption (which can be activated by EAS). It can't encrypt SD cards, but most devices don't have them so the point is moot. For the devices that we have them, they are read-only, making them again moot. WP 8.1 will change the latter fact (i.e., SD cards will become writable), so that will need to be reviewed by the security folks.

 

[PPCFreak]

My issue is more around the ability to black list apps from being on the kids corner. They either what Kids Corner disabled or ability to have aps restricted from being on the kids corner all together.

 

[Olof Lagerkvist]

I am sorry, but I fail to see the actual problem. Since you cannot bypass lock/passcode policies by enabling kid's corner, why exactly would it improve security to be able to blacklist apps from there?

As a consultant giving advice about these things to enterprises and security staff, I am just curious about what I might have missed.

Sent from Windows Phone using Tapatalk

 

[manicottiK]

I am sorry, but I fail to see the actual problem. Since you cannot bypass lock/passcode policies by enabling kid's corner, why exactly would it improve security to be able to blacklist apps from there?

I think that some of the folks who want Kid's Corner to be accessible without a PIN now accept that having that would create a security problem in some environments. To address that, they are offering up the idea of blacklisting certain apps from Kid's Corner. This blacklist would allow a firm to keep its enterprise apps that access corporate data out of an "unprotected" Kid's Corner, so that Microsoft could provide users with an "unprotect" switch for Kid's Corner.

If I'm right about that, I see it as progress. It means that folks accept that there are legitimate reasons to keep data protected. Those folks are now trying to figure out how to maintain security while gaining flexibility. Maybe this is the "bargaining" stage of grief since it follows the denial and anger stages. Next, we'll get depression ("Kid's Corner will never work right") then acceptance ("Kids shouldn't play with mommy's work phone without asking first").