BeReal Safety Guide
A parent's guide to BeReal, covering location data, privacy settings, and what makes this app lower risk but not risk-free.
BeReal is a photo-sharing app that prompts users once a day to post an unfiltered front-and-back-camera snapshot of what they're doing right then.
Official age
13+
We recommend
13+
Developer
BeReal
Risks
2
Features to know about
Overview
BeReal prompts users once a day to take and share a photo within two minutes, using both front and rear cameras simultaneously. The app is designed to encourage authenticity rather than curated content. It is generally lower risk than many social platforms, but parents should be aware of location data, friend requests from strangers, and the direct messaging feature.
How children use it
Children use BeReal to share a daily snapshot of their life with friends. The randomised notification means photos are taken in a variety of settings. Many young people enjoy the low-pressure, unfiltered format compared to more curated platforms like Instagram.
Main risks
Recommended privacy settings
Who can see your BeReal
Location: Profile > Settings > Privacy
Set to: My Friends only
Restricts photo visibility to accepted friends rather than the wider Discovery feed.
Location on BeReal
Location: When posting, toggle off location
Set to: Off
BeReal can attach location data to photos. Ensure your child turns this off to avoid sharing their whereabouts.
Parent actions
Ensure photos are shared with friends only, not on Discovery
Time: 5 minutes
Disable location tagging on posts
Time: 5 minutes
Discuss that even 'authentic' photos can reveal location, routine, and personal details
Time: 10 minutes
Related app guides
If you need to report this
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
Myths & facts
Myth: BeReal is the safe social app, so there's nothing to configure.
Fact: It is lower risk by design, but it still ships with a public Discovery feed, optional location tags on photos, and direct messaging. Two settings do most of the work — share with friends only, location off — and they're only protective if someone actually sets them.
Myth: One photo a day can't reveal very much.
Fact: A daily photo at a random time is close to a diary of your child's routine: bedroom, school uniform, the same street each afternoon. Over weeks it maps where they are and when — and with location tagging on, it does so literally.
Myth: There's no pressure on BeReal like there is on Instagram.
Fact: The pressure is different, not absent. The two-minute timer interrupts homework and nights out, lateness is visible to everyone, and the daily obligation can start to feel like a streak. Watch whether the app records their day or starts to run it.
Age by age
- 8-10
BeReal's minimum age is 13, so no account at this age — and its core premise, dropping everything to photograph wherever you are the moment an app demands it, isn't a habit you'd want a younger child forming anyway.
- 11-13
At 13, BeReal is one of the more reasonable first social apps if you set it up together: sharing to My Friends only, never Discovery, location off, and a friend list made up solely of people they know in real life. Agree from the start that friend requests from strangers get declined, not collected.
- 14-16
Spot-check the two settings occasionally — friends-only and location off have a way of drifting after app updates or new friendships. Talk about what backgrounds quietly reveal, and agree the daily prompt can wait when it lands mid-lesson or mid-exam; posting late is fine.
- 17-plus
The useful check now is accumulation: a friend list built over years of casual accepting, location tags that crept back on, and how much of their weekly routine a stranger could reconstruct from their posts. Ten minutes pruning the list once in a while is worth more than any new rule.
Frequently Asked Questions
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