Kids begin their digital lives pretty early, and it is becoming increasingly hard to guard them against dangers waiting online. Instant messaging is one part where parents should be careful, and Kik is one of the leading messaging apps for kids. So what is Kik? Why is it a possible threat? And how can you delete your Kik account? In this blog, TechNinjaPro will discuss all the questions mentioned above.
What is Kik?
Kik is a free mobile messaging platform for Android and iOS systems. You can use it to exchange confidential messages and share photos and videos with other users. Kik is proven to be extremely popular with younger people. To use Kik, you need an email, birth date, and username to log in. That means other users see the least information about each other. The app also removes messaging histories after some time. However, Kik also has various privacy issues, including IP logging and a lack of end-to-end encryption.
What Happens If You Deactivate Kik Temporarily and Permanently
The difference between Kik temporary and permanent deactivation is that your Kik account is no longer accessible or not.
Temporary | Permanent | |
---|---|---|
Kik account is no longer accessible | ||
Kik username would not be searchable | ||
No longer receive Kik emails or messages | ||
Kik username will be deleted from the contact list of your friends |
What can I do if someone is harassing me on the Kik app?
If someone is harassing you on the Kik app, TechNinjaPro advises you to do the following things:
- Immediately report the harasser by sending a message to [email protected]. This will help you get in touch with Kik’s safety center that will handle your situation. You can easily report a bully in the Kik app by following the user-blocking instructions below. You need to select the Report User option instead of blocking.
- Terminate all communication with a harasser. Do not provide them any private data or agree to meet them in person.
- Immediately inform your guardians or parents if you are underage.
- In some cases, inform the local cyber police.
TechNinjaPro also advises you to block an annoying user. You can also do this by:
- Navigating to a chat you had with them.
- Ticking on the username of your friend.
- Clicking the three vertical dots in the top right corner.
- Tick on the block option and confirm your choice.
If you want to unblock a user, just navigate to the block list in the Kik app’s privacy settings and unblock them by ticking on a specific username.
How To Keep Your Kik Account Confidential?
Rather than deactivating your Kik account, you can make your Kik account confidential. There are various tips that help keep your Kik account closed, and follow the steps below to keep your account private.
- Select a different and unique username, such as a combination of special characters, symbols, and numbers.
- Make sure that you share your account with the only ones you need to.
- Do not share your username or Kik account code on other social media websites.
- Do not join random group chats.
- Use the “Block” and “New Chats” features to manage chats in your Kik account.
Why should you delete the Kik account?
There are various reasons to delete your Kik account:
- Lack of parental control: Kids can use Kik easily without their parent’s intervention. While minor kids should have parents’ permission to use the application, they can bypass the parent’s permission by entering a false birth date.
- Online threats and exploitation: Kids’ exploitation is an issue on any platform that allows people to stay anonymous. Many experts find it hard to obtain data from the company to investigate these cases. However, the company has introduced strict measures to tackle these threats.
- Poor privacy: Kik does not have end-to-end encryption, which means internet service providers can see all your information and communications and sell your information to third parties. The company can also see your IP address and find out your location. A lack of encryption makes Kik it simple for hackers and cybercriminals to intercept users’ information.
- Lack of transparency: Kik is not transparent as its code is not open for independent expert reviews. Kik’s design is not documented correctly. That is why it does not have any independent audits.
- Users cannot verify identities: Users can log in to Kik without any valid email address; this creates a lack of responsibility and transparency among users and can lead to exploitations, scams, and Cyberbullying.
How to delete Kik account permanently
Kik is a messaging platform that keeps things simple with its deletion procedure. All it takes is a few clicks and confirmation emails. To permanently delete a Kik account, you should follow the steps mentioned below.
- Go to the website of Kik and open the delete tab. Enter your information and reason for leaving and click the box below.
- Click go
- You will get an email from Kik. Open it.
- Click permanently Deactivate and follow the further instructions.
When you follow the steps mentioned above, your account will be permanently deleted. You will no longer get notifications, and nobody will see your profile and username in the applications. You will not have access to reactivate your Kik account, so you will have to create a new profile if you need to reaccess the platform.
How to deactivate the Kik account?
To deactivate Kik, the process is straightforward. Just enter your email address at the deactivation page of the official Kik website and follow the steps on the screen. After that, you will stop getting all the notifications from the applications, you will not appear in contact lists, and nobody will find your username.
How to deactivate your kid's Kik account
If you need to delete your kid’s Kik account, you can contact the company at the official email [email protected] with the “Parent Inquiry” subject line. In the message, identify the reason for clarification purposes. Then list your kid’s Kik username, email, and age. Kik’s customer support services will contact you via email with instructions to delete your kid’s account.
Kik with a VPN
If you still need to use Kik, make yourself and your kids safe. As TechNinjaPro mentioned above, Kik does not have a proper privacy record. Kik does not use end-to-end encryption, so internet service providers can monitor your messages and IP address while hackers intercept them. Your geolocation and IP address are also visible to the company. So virtual private network is one of the best solutions. VPN will encrypt your internet traffic, and no one will be able to intercept it. Moreover, it will cover your real IP address, so your location would not be visible to anyone. There are many VPN services available in the market.
NordVPN is integrated with OpenVPN, and it is exclusively made NordLynx protocol. This offers you the top-notch encryption of your information, thus improving the overall performance of the virtual private network. Combining these high-level military-grade protocols with features like DNS leak protection and kill switch helps you keep your identity secure and safe.
FAQs
When the Kik app is deleted from your phone, there is nothing to be concerned about regarding your Kik account. You are no longer able to access your Kik account. When you reinstall the Kik app, you will log into your account again.
You will be removed from the group conversation if you remove a Kik group. So when deleting chat, make sure that you are only removing what you no longer need.
The Kik app does not read or store chat messages in their systems and does not have access to this information.
Tick and hold the image you need to remove. If paste or delete appears, select it. These images will be deleted from both you and the person you sent them to in chats.
Kik app's anonymity is one of the most notable features which sets it apart from other messaging applications. To create a Kik account, a user must provide a full name, email, and birth date.