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SALT LAKE CITY — Murray teenagers like Sarah Ratzlaff are growing up in an app-friendly world. There are about one and a half million of them available to download.
Ratzlaff heads a club at Cottonwood High School that raises awareness about child sex trafficking. Backyard Broadcast is all about kids protecting kids.
"We're not saying don't have social media," Ratzlaff said. "We're saying be smart about it."
She offers this safety advice to kids who use apps:
"I think no matter what app comes out, no matter what type of social media it is, if you don't know that person, don't talk to them."
Retired FBI supervisor Petra Butler investigated criminal cases involving innocent children who became victimized by strangers — sometimes with a simple click of a mouse or a tap on their smartphone.
"They're looking for one way to get their hooks in you," Butler said.
With new cases happening across the country, Butler said it's time for parents to talk to their children about what apps they use and who they're chatting with while using those apps.
She focused on three popular apps — Tinder, Omegle and Meetme.
To demonstrate potential dangers, Butler signed up for Meetme under the name Paisley St. John and in minutes had numerous men asking her if she'd like to meet or get together.
KSL Investigators signed up for the app as a 14-year-old female, and were given access to teenagers whose profiles showed they live in the Salt Lake City area.
Butler said parents should tell their kids that a profile on an app can be fake.
"It could be a 50-year-old man sitting behind a computer who's a child predator. It could be a sex offender. It could be just about anybody and you would have no idea."
Meetme tells KSL Investigators it uses a variety of filters, both human and technological, to keep interactions enjoyable and minimize objectionable content. A company spokesman said the app displays safety messages about the potential dangers of meeting people you don't know.
The company added that it has created a website to help users stay safe, www.socialsafety.org.
Next, Butler and the KSL Investigators tested Omegle.
With Omegle, users can either download the app or text or video chat using the website. This site allows users to "talk to strangers" utilizing anonymous screen names.
It didn't take long for one chat to turn sexually explicit.
"(There are) very scary creeps on the other end," Butler said.
Butler said predators convince kids to send explicit photographs of themselves and once they do a predator will extort them for more by threatening to post the images online.
Although the public may be under the impression that the FBI can remove photos from the internet, Butler warns that's not the case.
"Once those photos are out there on the internet, we're not going to be able to get them back."
Finally, Tinder.
It's a very popular location-based dating app that millions of adults use.
But the issue isn't adults — it's the millions of teens who are using it that worries Butler.
"I don't think parents know," she said.
The Granite School District is also concerned about kids using Tinder.
"An app like Tinder is strictly for hooking up," said spokesman Ben Horsley.
"So if you don't want your kids hooking up with other kids or other strangers, they probably shouldn't have it on their device."
Tinder uses Facebook accounts to verify users and only allows 13- to 17-year-olds to connect to users within their same age range.
A company spokesman told KSL Investigators if it learns a user has lied about their age it deletes the profile immediately. And that users cannot send messages to other users without mutual consent.
Butler said it's critical that parents start discussing app safety with their kids the moment they get a smartphone and keep the lines of communication open until they're an adult. As an FBI special agent, she noticed that kids who have consistent interaction with their parents aren't as likely to be victimized.
