Bringing up children is not easy and with the ubiquitous smartphone, things can get pretty challenging for parents, especially if they are still grappling with the use of technology.

Parents watch with wonder as children quickly pick up computers and do magical things with their mobile phones. Before long, they gift the child a device to use. A smartphone means selfies galore. And that is where the problem begins.

The fast growing kid will soon be exchanging messages and photos and these slowly may turn explicit. To tackle this, parents need to be one step ahead of the offspring. If you find an inappropriate photo of your child in his or her device, don't loose your cool. The golden rule of digital parenting is to always talk to your children. You want to teach your kids the right way to do things, not force them into hiding by clamping down on the use of technology. Explain how these pictures could be used for revenge porn or cyber-bullying, or could surface online several years later to haunt them.

The question is where do children and teenagers hide the pictures? The nude pictures and lurid messages can be hidden in 'vaults' in the computer or mobile phones. There are a number of apps which look innocent but are in fact are secret photo vaults. Look out for redundant apps in your child's mobile. For example, there is an app that looks like a clock. You press the face of the clock and the gateway opens.

There are literally hundreds of them in Apple's App Store and in Google Play. Though they hide the pictures with a PIN, most of them merely move them to a poorly hidden directory. But setting them up and using them can be quite thrilling and therefore they appeal to the young.

The Private Photo Vault app can even give the child a 'break-in report' and allows the creation of a 'decoy password'. If someone tries to enter the app then it will take pictures of the person and log their GPS location. If you force your child to open the app, he may use a fake password. As soon as the fake password is keyed, in the photos disappear and a different set of pictures are launched. The decoy password is a great way to fool parents. This app is available for free for iOS and Android devices.

KYMS is another intriguing App. It looks like a calculator and is in fact one. But it hides a vault that is practically inviolable. It encrypts all multimedia files, documents, passwords and more with almost military grade security. When you want to see a video, it will decrypt the files in real time while the video is being played. This app can actually be used seriously too to store important documents. Just put your hand on the screen or close the smart cover and you will be logged out immediately.

If you and your family are in the Apple ecosystem, use the Family Sharing option to control what your young sons and daughters do with their devices, including what apps they are allowed to install. You will find this in Settings--iCloud. If your child is into Android phones your only option is to create an admin account for yourself on his or her device. Then create a restricted user account for your ward. It will really put off your kid, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Send in your computer-related problems to askdoss@abpmail.com with bits&bytes as the subject line