Log in

Business

Mental health focused smartphone for kids launched by Mesa company

Posted 9/1/21

Cyber Dive, a Mesa-based tech startup, has a fully functional smartphone for children integrated with unlimited parental monitoring functionality, the Aqua One.

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue.

Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here

Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

To Our Valued Readers –

Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.

For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.

Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.

Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.

Sincerely,
Charlene Bisson, Publisher, Independent Newsmedia

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor
Business

Mental health focused smartphone for kids launched by Mesa company

Posted

Cyber Dive, a Mesa-based tech startup, has a fully functional smartphone for children integrated with unlimited parental monitoring functionality, the Aqua One.

Every action taken on the child’s Aqua One device — including their text messages, search history, social media activity and more — is presented to parents on a comprehensive web application, according to a release.

Committed to the well-being of children, Cyber Dive has integrated the Aqua One with its patent-pending “Mental Health Check” created with insight from the company’s clinical child psychologist, the release states.

The Aqua One is available for pre-order at cyberdive.co.

With the assistance of Jackie Henretig, in-house clinical child psychologist, Cyber Dive developed questions that assess a child’s overall safety, family communication, connectedness to others and general mental state. The “Mental Health Check” delivers questions based on the age of the child and the responses are presented on the parent’s web application.

“On average, children in the U.S. receive their first phone at the age of 10 with instant access to the Internet and social media,” Derek Jackson, Cyber Dive co-founder and CTO, said in the release. “These platforms were not designed with the safety of children in mind and the current market of ‘smartphones for kids’ offers outdated solutions for the virtually connected world we live in. The Aqua One changes that. We put parents back in the driver’s seat, giving them the ability to see the content that their children are viewing, how this content is affecting their mental health and if any of these experiences or interactions require a parent’s extra attention.”

Angela Solomon, Cyber Dive’s human trafficking advisor and clinical psychologist, reports that it takes an average of 18 minutes after initial online contact for a predator to groom a child and request sexual content. By providing access to the entirety of a child’s device activity including both positive and potentially negative interactions and experiences, parents are able to intervene as soon as they see any instances that they believe to be inappropriate or potentially dangerous for their child, the release states.

“Cyber Dive is committed to driving forward in creating safe, seamless and sustainable solutions that will result in deeper relationships free from the barriers and congestion that encompass a child’s online ecosystem,” Jeff Gottfurcht, Cyber Dive co-founder and CEO, said in the release. “The Aqua One gives parents a ladder and takes them to places they have never been able to go.”

Cyber Dive has chosen NUU to be the exclusive hardware provider of the Aqua One.

“NUU Mobile is grateful to be the exclusive hardware provider of the Aqua One smartphone,” Tim Clemens, NUU mobile COO, said in the release. “It is exciting to work alongside a forward-thinking team and see their vision of a comprehensive parental monitoring platform and mental health-focused digital device come to life.”

Cyber Dive has selected Plum as the exclusive wireless service partner for Aqua One devices.

“We are excited to have been selected as the exclusive wireless service partner for Cyber Dive’s Aqua One smartphone,” Josh Lowenthal, Plum general manager, said in the release. “The team at Plum looks forward to being part of creating a safer smartphone for children that prioritizes family relationships and online responsibility.”