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WebWatcher, a company whose business is enabling parents to spy on their child's online activity, including email, instant messaging and website visits, has today launched a new tool for spying on SMS text messages too. WebWatcher Mobile currently only works on BlackBerry smartphones, but Android, Windows Mobile and iPhone versions are in the works now.

"Cell phones," warns the company, "can be a great way for children to keep in touch with family members," but they can also "serve as facilitators for cyberbullying, sexting and other dangerous behaviors."

That claim may be true to a point, but is reading each and every text message the best way to counteract these behaviors? For that matter, should parents be spying on their kids to this extent at all?

Have kids? Have a computer? Then you've likely installed or have at least considered installing some form of Internet protection software, like the parental control software from Net Nanny or CyberPatrol. But in this new era of everything-as-a-service, having to run software on your computer seems passé. And as of today, it is.

Internet navigation and security firm OpenDNS has just launched FamilyShield, a free parental control service that requires no software download or CD to purchase. With two steps, claims the company, parents can protect their kids not only from inappropriate content, but also from malware, phishing sites and other known fraudulent entities on the Web.

A few weeks ago we told you about a Pew study that found 71% of young adults aged 18 to 29 had changed their online privacy settings to limit which information they share with others. But what about Internet users at a younger age? It's hard to estimate how many tweens and teens worry about their privacy online, but a recent survey of 2,000 internet users by Yahoo found that parents are playing a strong role in helping their children understand these issues.

This morning I spoke with four entrepreneurs covering a wide range of businesses from an inventory optimization SaaS to an e-commerce site that creates a keepsake of your child's artwork. They each have different choices to make right now. Move to a different platform? Go nonprofit? I developed my Web 3.0 framework to help entrepreneurs make the right choices moving forward. You can find my Web 3.0 formula here.

John Krech kicked things off with Phitch. This SaaS business offers easy inventory optimization for businesses using QuickBooks. This is a validated business with a few dozen customers who are charged a monthly fee based on the number of inventory items the business is tracking, making this service affordable for very small businesses who also happen to be QuickBooks' best customers.

"Safety is Facebook's top priority," writes Facebook's Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan on a company blog post introducing the social network's new Safety Center, a revamped help portal featuring educational information for users, with sections dedicated to parents, teens, teachers and law enforcement professionals. It's a somewhat ironic statement from a company that recently prompted its 400-plus million users to accept "recommended" changes that opened up their data - including status updates, photos, videos, links and friend lists - to a public audience, revealing details that many users assumed were private.

Around the same time as the "privacy debacle," as we like to call it, unfolded, Facebook also announced a "Safety Advisory Board," a group whose purpose is to review safety-related procedures and documentation as well as make suggestions regarding best practices and other procedures. How about this safe practice, Facebook: don't publicize people's private information?

Last night, YouTube added a new filtering mechanism called "Safety Mode" to the popular video sharing website used by millions. This option allows you to filter out the sort of videos you may find offensive, whether that's those featuring adult content or violence or some other objectionable content. It will even filter out profanity from the YouTube comments.

Using the new setting found at the bottom of any YouTube video page, you can switch Safety Mode on or off. And while parents will certainly be tempted to do so in an attempt to enable parental control mechanisms for the site, they should be warned that even the least tech-savvy youngster can easily shut this new feature in a minute or less.

In an ironic twist of fate for 2009, Fox's IGN Entertainment, a company known for its game reviews of products like Zombie Apocalypse acquired What They Play. The newest member of Fox Interactive is touted as the "family guide to video games" and offers reviews, warnings and suggested products. Under the umbrella company of What They Like, What They Play uses the "Entertainment Software Rating Board" (ESRB) to warn parents of games containing explicit lyrics, cartoon violence and drug references.

In an ironic twist of fate for 2009, Fox's IGN Entertainment, a company known for its game reviews of products like Zombie Apocalypse acquired What They Play. The newest member of Fox Interactive is touted as the "family guide to video games" and offers reviews, warnings and suggested products. Under the umbrella company of What They Like, What They Play uses the "Entertainment Software Rating Board" (ESRB) to warn parents of games containing explicit lyrics, cartoon violence and drug references.

The days of moms covertly stalking their children on MySpace or freaking out over Facebook party pics are not-so-slowly shifting to headier days of proactive moms using the Internet to meet their own needs.

A new study from BabyCenter shows that mothers' social media use has increased 462 percent over the past three years. The same group's mobile web usage is up 348 percent over the same period of time. And these moms aren't just keeping tabs on secretive teenagers. They're networking for themselves, finding answers online, and sharing stories about their offspring. The two-part study was conducted between 2006 and 2009 in conjunction with NovaQuant. BabyCenter also conducted a series of 18 in-depth surveys between January and June of 2009

A new application in the iPhone App Store brings parental control mechanisms to Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. Like other types of "net nanny" software, the iWonder application lets parents filter web site traffic, monitor what sites their kids are surfing, control permissions, and even remotely disable the device.