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As seen in January 2008 Issue of 201 Magazine – Top 10 People to Watch Segment Screen Savers By Liz White
"It sounds kind of snoopish." That's one eighth grader's reaction to imView™, a Web-based way for parents to get a virtual look over the shoulder of their online teens and preteens. imView™ CEO Jerry Salvi acknowledges, the "Kids in this area are for the most part good kids, they want to do the right thing."
As Salvi and imView™ co-founder and president Michael DenBlaker explain their new venture, it's is about security, not privacy. Based in Glen Rock, im - as in "instant messaging" -- View aims to blunt the prevalence of online predators, scam artists and anyone else whom kids might unwittingly invite in.
Salvi figures that about 70 percent of Bergen teens and preteens have their own computer, and most of those computers, he says, don't have any sort of filter. He cites national statistics that suggest one in five kids encounter a predator online. And DenBlaker states the obvious concern:
"If it's homework time, with parents coming in from work and getting dinner going, they can't physically monitor every moment their kids spend online."
After all, he warns, "A lot can happen in ten or 15 minutes."
Salvi and DenBlaker, both Bergen natives, created imView™ so that parents could consistently monitor a specific computer for a monthly or yearly fee.
Parents register right online, and keep up with their kids' instant messaging, e-mailing and Internet traffic -- from any computer, whether it's a workplace desktop or a Blackberry on the train ride home. Some parents may choose to tell their kids they have an imView™ of their online world; others may not.
Fathers themselves, with five kids between them ranging in age from three to 13 years old, Salvi and DenBlaker are both business partners and brothers-in-law. Their personal motivation in launching imView™? To safeguard their own children. Their professional passion? To take their company global. And they're on their way. "We've contacted virtually every municipality and police department in the (201) area," says DenBlaker, "and it's getting a very favorable response."
"Our grassroots is (201)," Salvi adds, "That's where we're from. We're starting in our own back yard with an eye toward concentric growth."
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