{"id":51261,"date":"2016-07-19T07:00:13","date_gmt":"2016-07-19T14:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mcafee.com\/?p=51261"},"modified":"2025-08-26T23:44:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T06:44:59","slug":"pokemon-go-families-can-stay-safe-still-catch-em","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/family-safety\/pokemon-go-families-can-stay-safe-still-catch-em\/","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon Go: How Families Can Stay Safe (and Still Catch ‘Em All)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the new augmented reality game Pok\u00e9mon Go, app fans across the globe are enjoying countless hours of fun hunting, capturing, and racking up their Pok\u00e9mon creature collection. For families, the app can be a blast \u2014 as long as everyone slows down and plays smart. In fact, the app is being credited with getting phone-addicted kids outside, building family bonds, and inspiring community camaraderie among players.<\/p>\n

Still, there are safety and privacy implications around the app that will kill off your fun quickly if ignored. News stories include: Pok\u00e9mon Go users getting injured, robbed, wandering into sketchy places, and risking arrest for trespassing. Also, the personal data access users hastily approve when installing the app could trigger a privacy nightmare.<\/p>\n

What it is:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Pok\u00e9mon Go is an Augmented Reality (AR)<\/a> game you can download on your smartphone for free. The game uses your phone\u2019s GPS and camera to help you track and capture Pokemon monsters. Once installed, users (called Pok\u00e9mon \u00a0Trainers) go outside and look for Pokemon Monsters (animated cartoon characters) in their neighborhood or nearby landmarks also called \u201cPokestops.\u201d Looking at their phones in camera mode, players walk around their neighborhoods, and the animated creatures appear in the real backdrop (see photo right) and heckle users until being caught. Users capture the Pokemon monsters by throwing a \u201cPokeball\u201d at the creature, which is simply a carefully aimed swipe across your phone screen.<\/p>\n

Game goal:
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The goal is to catch as many of the 722 Pok\u00e9mon species as humanly possible. Once a player captures a Pokemon creature, he or she can then train them and \u201cbattle\u201d against other creatures at \u201cPokeGyms\u201d which are actual landmarks outside of a users\u2019 neighborhood. A gym might be at a church, a mall, a city square, or any other public place.<\/p>\n

Family Talking Points:<\/strong><\/h2>\n