The Teensafe app allows parents to look at where their children are, their web, text and call history, and Facebook account.

The app, which is about to be launched in Australia, runs in the phone’s background and is not detectable in any way.

It allow parents to monitor their child’s phone remotely.

Parents who spoke to The Border Mail yesterday said they liked the idea, but their children said they felt it was an invasion of privacy and showed a lack of trust.

“I’d think my mum does trust me,” Amelia Peisley, 12, said.

“If I’m not doing anything wrong, why install it on my phone?”

Amelia and her brother, Noah, 11, both use Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, Kik and Skype.

Their mother, Sue, said parents needed to know what their children were accessing.

“I think it’s a good idea, being able to know what your kids are up to,” she said.

“I’d tell them I was using it.

“I pay for their phones, so I think that’s fair enough.”

Georgia Bolitho, 15, said she would be angry if she discovered the app had been installed, and her friend Imogen Lewis said parents should be able to trust their kids.

Sam Daley, 19, said the app “opened a whole can of worms” and noted parents could find out if their children were accessing material like Islamic State propaganda.

Jake Bilardi, who joined Islamic State and carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq last month, became radicalised online.

Sam’s mother, Helen Daley, said she liked the idea behind the app.

“I trust my three kids, but some people can’t trust their children at all,” he said.

“If you’ve got worries, it would be good to check.”