How to control this?

[Theblackdogagain]

My son is 12 but has additional needs. He's had a phone since 11 with few issues but no buying things. Last month he made purchases on his phone account (shouldn't be allowed, I love spent hours with ee to find out how) and setting up accounts with websites I don't want him on (twitch and facebook). His Google account age is 12 since shouldn't be allowed.
Obviously his phones been taken off him, found out today he was doing it on his grans ipad which he's not meant to be on.
So what do we do? He has to use his laptop for homework but he does it in the lounge with the screen facing the room so we can keep an eye on it. We're going to remind his gran he cannot have her ipad. I need to protect him for various reasons but I don't want him to be different to his friends by not having a phone.

What has he been purchasing and how is it paid for?

Set up parental controls that do not allow purchases. This is very easy to set up. Remove payment methods if he's paying by card. If he's charging purchases to his phone contract, cap charges to zero with his provider.

Thats a seperate issue to monitoring what websites he uses. Firstly - ensure you have free access to his phone. You should know the password to the phone and if he leaves the phone out of his room at bedtime, you can look through every night if you need to. He should be sharing all his passwords with you.

Utilise the parental controls on his phone, so that he has to ask permission before downloading a new app.

Log into his Google account on your phone. Then you can check his search history at any time. I believe you can also get tracking apps, so that you can keep track of all his activities on the phone.

Thanks, he charged to the phone bill, he had a zero cap but ee say as it was a third party app they can't stop it. That's one headache I have with them. We do have all passwords etc and phone is not allowed upstairs. He's been sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night to play games which is impressive as he has a physical disability. In one way I'm proud he's managed to work it all out but I'm disappointed that he's done it.

How about putting his phone on charge in your bedroom overnight, so he cannot access it.

Do you have his Google account logged in on your phone? This has been one of the most useful tools I have for keeping an eye on my young teens search activities. You can see times he's been online and exactly what he's been doing, which website. All done from your own phone.

While you're logged into his Google account, set up an email forward to your email address. You then get a copy if every email sent to him. Its useful because sign up emails are sent, or confirm your email address, that kind of thing when setting up a new account on a website.

I'm pretty sure you can block in app purchases directly through your phone settings, in parental controls.

When on other people's devices, unless he can earn your trust, he's going to have to be directly supervised.