This article answers common questions parents may have about using Qustodio as part of your school's Linewize Parent offering.
Before you begin
- You must have permission to manage Linewize Parent.
What can parents use Qustodio for?
If enabled by your school, Qustodio can give parents access to information about how their children are using school-managed devices. The Qustodio Parent App also includes features such as content filtering, reporting, and screentime controls for one personal device. Parents who upgrade to Qustodio Premium can protect more devices and get access to advanced features such as app restrictions, tracking calls and messages, monitoring location, a panic button, and much more.
Do parents need a paid (Premium) Qustodio account to see their child’s school activity?
No. Parents have free access to their children’s school activity through Qustodio My School. They can optionally upgrade to a paid Premium service, which provides access to additional features. However, only schools that use Linewize Filter and Parent can share student activity information with parents through Qustodio.
What devices does the Qustodio Parent App work on?
Parents can install the Qustodio parent app on iOS and Android devices. The app is a mobile version of the Qustodio portal, which parents can access from any web browser.
What devices does the Qustodio Kids App work on?
Qustodio works on most platforms and operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Chromebook, iOS, Android, and Kindle. Qustodio maintains a list of supported platforms and recommended specifications.
Should parents uninstall other parental control solutions before installing Qustodio?
Yes. Having more than one parental control app on a child’s device can cause that device to behave unpredictably and limit the child’s use of the internet and apps more than intended.
Does the Qustodio app track what parents do?
No. The Qustodio Parent App doesn’t track any activity on the device it’s installed on. However, if a parent uses a child’s device, including their school-managed device or any other family device they have installed Qustodio on, their activity may be visible in the Qustodio Parent App.
What information can parents see about their children’s activity at school?
If your school shares student usage and insights, parents can see their children’s most used apps and websites, and the top categories of content they access. They can also see an aggregated view of their child’s usage data on school-managed devices for the current day or an overview of the last seven days. You can find out more in our guide to sharing student data with parents.
What information can schools see about a child’s activity at home?
Schools don’t have access to any information captured by the Qustodio app on personal devices, regardless of the device’s location, time of day or day of the week. Schools who have configured Linewize Filter to run in 24/7 mode can only see a student’s activity outside of school hours on school-managed devices. Schools that do not run Linewize Filter in 24/7 mode can’t see any student activity outside of school hours.
How does Qustodio store and use student’s data?
Qustodio complies with the strictest global privacy laws. Qustodio collects only enough data to enable the service and holds it only as long as needed to provide the service to parents. You can refer parents to https://www.qustodio.com/en/family/privacy for more information.
What happens if a student leaves my school?
If a student leaves your school, parents will not be able to use Qustodio to see their child’s activity on school-managed devices, unless they move to another school that also uses Linewize Parent. Parents will also lose access to any special Qustodio offers your school has arranged.
If they do move to another school that uses Linewize Parent, they will need to connect their child again at the new school, using that school’s sign-up link.
Where can parents go for more help?
Parents can get more information and help with Qustodio at Qustodio's Help Centre or your school’s Online Safety Hub.
How does a parent connect to a child using the Qustodio app?
A parent must open your school’s sign-up link in a web browser to create a Qustodio account. After verifying their email, the parent will be directed to a web page to connect to their child’s school account, and optionally provide their child’s birth year for tailored safety insights.
What happens if a parent already has a Qustodio account?
A parent with an existing Qustodio account can connect to a student at your school if their Qustodio account email address matches their one in Linewize Filter. If the addresses match, all the parent needs to do is go to the link supplied to your school and login with their Qustodio account email and password.
If the parent’s Qustodio account email address doesn’t match their one in Linewize Filter, they won’t be able to connect to their child. The parent can change their email address in Qustodio or you can update it in your source of truth so that the emails match.
Can parents change their email address or other information in Qustodio?
Parents can change their name, email address, language, time zone and country in the Qustodio app. However, if a parent changes their email address in Qustodio to one that’s different from their address in Linewize Filter, they will stop being connected to their child through Qustodio. Fixing this is a two-step process:
- You must get the emails to match again. You can do this by either
- updating the parent email address in your source of truth and in Linewize Filter, or
- Asking the parent to change their email back to the one you have listed for them
- Ask the parent to connect to their child again.
What do parents need to do to start an account?
A parent should follow the instructions on your school's Online Safety Hub or Parent invitation to create a Qustodio account. The parent must go to the link supplied to your school, enter their email address, and provide their name and a password. The email address must match the one listed for them in Linewize Filter.
Should parents install Qustodio on unmanaged BYO devices?
We don’t recommend using any parental control app on unmanaged BYOD school learning devices. Installing parental control tools on school learning devices may interfere with learning or and classroom activities. However, if a parent still wants to install a parental control tool on a BYOD learning device, we recommend using Qustodio. We have created a guide to configuring Qustodio so it will cause little or no disruption to learning.
What happens if two people try to connect the same student?
Your school's supplied link can be used by multiple parents to connect to a child via Qustodio. However, the Pause Internet function in Qustodio will only be available to the first parent who connects to the child, and not to any additional parents.
Can multiple parents be on the same Qustodio account?
The primary parent should create the Qustodio account initially and then invite the other parent to join. If both parents create their accounts at the same time, one parent will need to deactivate their account.
How can split families use Qustodio?
Each parent can create separate Qustodio accounts to manage their child (without the other parent having visibility). Each parent will be able to protect one personal device in their respective homes, as per the Linewize Parent School offer.
What happens when a parent is unlinked from Extended Rules?
If a parent is unlinked from Extended Rules, they will continue receiving emails from Qustodio even if their child or device is no longer linked to their account.
There are two ways to stop receiving these emails from Qustodio:
- Unsubscribe from Qustodio emails by using the unsubscribe link in the email footer.
- Close their Qustodio account if they no longer wish to use the service.