Parental Control Software Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Operating System (Windows, Android, iOS, Cross Platform/Multiplatform), By Deployment (On Premise, Cloud), By Application (Residential, Educational Institutes), and Regional Forecast, 2021-2028

The global parental control software market size was USD 898.5 million in 2020. The global impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented and staggering, with the parental control software witnessing a positive impact on demand across all regions amid the pandemic. Based on our analysis, this market exhibited a significant growth of 11.0% in 2020 as compared to the average year-on-year growth during 2017-2019. The market is projected to grow from USD 1,000.8 million in 2021 to USD 2,159.0 million in 2028 at a CAGR of 11.6% in the 2021-2028 period. The steady rise in CAGR is attributable to this market’s demand and growth, returning to pre-pandemic levels once the pandemic is over.

The proportion of children that own a smartphone have increased exponentially over the past years. Parents are becoming more anxious about their children's safety and well-being as they become more engrossed in multimedia entertainment and constantly changing technologies. Kids are constantly using online platforms to find out different interesting facts, play video games, and do a variety of other things. Some of the online content may not be trustworthy or secure, necessitating parents to closely track their children's online activities.

• According to a 2019 Common Sense Media survey, smartphone use has grown among all age ranges in the last four years, especially among the youngest generation.

COVID-19 Impact

Children Spent More Time on Internet and Social Media Amid Lockdown

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, children and teenagers are undoubtedly spending more time online, presenting a huge need for parental control solutions that can aid in minimizing excessive screen time. For decades, parents have tried to manage their children's use of technology, putting time constraints on phones and limiting what websites their children can access. But, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in school closures and social distancing, those problems have taken on new urgency.

Several parents are considering the use of parental management tools in light of the increasing emphasis on reducing the risk of children accessing objectionable material online. As a result of the pandemic, parental control software, which allows parents to track and control their children's online activities and internet use, is becoming increasingly popular.

Amidst the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, schools have turned to digital technologies in order to keep teaching-learning activities going. Several schools have invested heavily in new platforms to offer online learning to students. Teachers act as curriculum curators, and parents work as proctors, ensuring that lesson plans are followed. The national lockdown has sent a warning to schools that they must change tactics quickly to stay connected with the students and continue with the teaching processes.

Thus, COVID-19 boosts software adoption as children tend to spend more time on the internet and social media platforms. 

LATEST TRENDS

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Growing Trend of E-learning to Promote the Adoption of Parental Control Software

Over the past decade, online learning has grown significantly as the internet and schooling have merged to provide users with the ability to learn new skills. Online learning has been more relevant in people's lives since the emergence of the COVID-19 epidemic. The pandemic has forced colleges, universities, and businesses to operate remotely, which has increased the use of online learning. With colleges and universities conducting lectures and classes online, students have started spending more time on the internet and mobile phones.

• According to The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 95% of students from Norway, the United States, Switzerland, and Austria have access to computers and strong internet connections for educational and learning purposes.


• According to KPMG, digital learning is one of the rapidly growing industries in educational infrastructure, with a 900% growth since 2000.

With the rapid and widespread adoption of online learning, parents have turned to technologies that help their children better understand interactive content and smartphone use. Consequently, the adoption of software is expected to rise steadily in the near future.

DRIVING FACTORS

Growing Product Launches and Government’s Regulations to Standardize Digital Content for Children's Safety to Aid Parental Control Software Market Growth

Online content offers a variety of educational, social, and entertainment benefits to kids. However, there are also perceived dangers, especially with the internet content and the behavior and interaction risks associated with internet-facilitated peer-to-peer communication. The use of parental control tools enables parents to limit children’s exposure to unwanted social media posts and helps in protecting children from unethical practices such as cyberbullying. Key players operating in the market are launching innovative and advanced tools to fulfill customer’s requirements and attract potential customers. For instance,

• In February 2020, Bark Technologies, Inc. acquired Router Limits LLC, a parental control and software company. Both firms will be able to use each other's capabilities to create the most holistic online protection approach for families as a result of the acquisition. Bark will introduce screen time tracking and filtering in the coming months to supplement its current AI-powered control technologies.

Additionally, government mandates on using parental control tools for student’s safety are expected to increase its adoption in residential and educational sectors.

In February 2021, the Indian Government announced a new set of regulations and guidelines to regulate digital content. In these rules and guidelines, OTT platforms are required to implement parental lock solutions for those above the age of 13 for classified content.

Such regulations & guidelines coupled with key initiatives by key players are expected to drive global market growth.

RESTRAINING FACTORS

Issues Related to Children’s Privacy, High Initial Cost of the Software, and Data Privacy Concern Are Some of the Drawbacks of the Parental Control Software

While monitoring a child's online conversations is an excellent way to keep them secure, it's also a breach of privacy that can damage a parent’s relationship with them as they grow older. Excessive parental control can also lead to children creating false identities on games and social media that their parents can't reach, leading to even more complications in the future.

The software provides cutting-edge functionality and advanced applications at a high cost. For certain parents, this price could be prohibitively expensive. Purchasing parental control software could be out of budget for few parents. Many websites provide innovative functionality at the high expense of parental control solutions. Thus, the high initial price is a crucial limitation for the adoption of parental control tools.

The software can be attacked with malware and is subjected to data breaches. This software can contain an infection or pose other threats to phone or computer devices, resulting in significant data loss. It may also harm other electronic devices in the vicinity. Thus, all these issues associated with software might impede the growth of the market.

SEGMENTATION

By Operating System Analysis

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Proliferation of Windows Enabled Devices in Majority of the Countries to Drive the Demand for Windows OS

On the basis of operating system, the market has been categorized into Windows, Android, iOS, and Cross-Platform/Multiplatform.

The software is available for Windows operating systems (OS) as in many countries, Windows OS is mainly installed in devices. For example, in countries like Canada, Brazil, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, and South Korea, Windows OS are primarily installed in computers, laptops, tablets, etc. Android OS is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period as the sale of Android smartphones and handheld devices are expected to increase at a greater speed in the near future.

By Deployment Analysis

Cloud Based Software Gains Higher Market Share Owing to its Easy Features

Based on the deployment, this market has been bifurcated into On-Premise and Cloud.

Cloud-based software is much more in demand compared to on-premises software. Cloud-based tools are hosted remotely on the vendor’s server and are extremely stable with less downtime. It is offered on a subscription basis. Users need to pay a monthly, quarterly, or annually recurring fee to use the software and receive automatic updates and support services.

On-premise parental control tools are installed directly onto user hardware, either a computer, server, or private network. On-premise tools are bought as one-time perpetual license fees, and the cost depends on the number of coexisting users. However, the user has to pay an extra amount for training, support, and updates.

By Application Analysis

Rising Online Security Concern Has Increased the Adoption of Software Among Residential User

The software has applications in residential areas and educational institutes.

In past years, issues such as increasing screen time, rise in use of social media, fear of children getting exposed to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and child-abusing have led parents to install this software in child’s devices. The global pandemic has further raised security concerns due to the sudden enforcement of online learning in the lockdown period.

Besides, increasing government initiative of digital education is encouraging educational institutes to install this software to safeguard student’s online journey. This software allows educational institutes to monitor the online activities of the students and block access to any inappropriate websites, content, and applications.

REGIONAL INSIGHTS

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By region, the market has been analyzed across five major regions, namely North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

North America leads the global parental control software market with the highest market revenue, owing to the early adoption of digitalization in the education sector. Stringent government regulations regarding the online safety of children are surging the adoption of software in North America. For instance, laws such as the Children Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the US are employed to safeguard children's information. An increase in the rate of web crimes such as child abuse, cyberbullying, and sexual harassment are some of the major concerns amongst parents, which has increased awareness and the importance of installing software on a child’s device.

In Europe, strict GDPR and laws associated with children’s privacy are crucial factors to drive considerable adoption of this software across Europe. Additionally, the presence of adequate software providers and opportunistic proliferation of new entrants are probable to exhibit modest market growth in the near future.

Asia-pacific is looked at as an opportunistic region by key players for establishing their business network. For instance, in September 2018, S.C. BITDEFENDER S.R.L. acquired SMS eTechnologies to launch and expand its parental control application business in Australia and New Zealand. Educational institutes in this region are focusing on strengthening the digital well-being of students. Thus, the market in Asia-Pacific is likely to exhibit substantial growth during the forecast period.

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The Middle East and African countries still lag in terms of the adoption of parental control tools due to lack of awareness. However, with the growing digitalization, the software might gain popularity in the coming years.

KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS

Companies are Focusing on Partnership and Collaboration Activities for Safer Internet Environment

The key players in the market are expanding their business by collaborating and partnering with network providers, smartphone and gadget manufacturers, telecom providers, Wifi router enablers, among others. The companies are aiming to offer advanced parental control solutions to boost a safer and healthy online learning environment for the kids. Besides, the major players are highly focused on developing new features and products to strengthen their market position. These companies are heavily investing in Research & Development activities to launch new products and boost business growth.

April 2020 – Plume, a Smart Home Services, announced a partnership with ADTRAN, Inc., a network solution provider, to improve the security of personal home networks. Through this collaboration, the companies offered parental control software, AI security, and Wifi motion detection to customers

September 2019 – Irdeto announced a partnership with Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) to offer a trusted home solution containing parental control solutions. The companies aim to offer support to the parents in managing screen time, uncensored content, and control web access and internet activities through the partnership.

LIST OF KEY COMPANIES PROFILED:

• Alphabet Inc. (Google LLC)


• AO Kaspersky Lab (Moscow, Russia)


• AT&T Inc. (Texas, United States)


• McAfee, LLC (California, United States)


• Microsoft Corporation (Washington, United States)


• Net Nanny (Content Watch Holdings, Inc.) (Berwyn, Utah, USA)


• NortonLifeLock Inc. (Arizona, United States)


• Qustodio SL (Barcelona, Spain)


• SafeDNS, Inc. (Virginia, United States)

KEY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS:

• March 2021 – Google LLC announced the launch of Google+ TV with parental control features for separate kid accounts in the United States. The separate kid account is available on Chromecast and other Google TV devices. In the next few months, the company will launch the same feature in other countries.


• February 2019 – Qustodio LLC collaborated with SoftBank Corp, a telecommunications carrier provider, to provide internet safety and device management products worldwide. Under the partnership, the companies are offering parental control software to all the telecommunication carrier providers.

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The global parental control software market research report highlights leading regions across the world to offer a better understanding to the user. Furthermore, the report provides insights into the latest industry growth trends and analyzes technologies that are being deployed at a rapid pace at the global level. It further offers some of the drivers and restraints, helping the reader to gain in-depth knowledge about the market.

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