Kik Messenger, commonly called Kik, is a freeware instant messaging mobile app from the Canadian company Kik Interactive, available free as an App on mobile devices. The App allows users to transmit and receive messages, photos, videos, links and other content after users register a username. Kik is known for its features preserving users’ anonymity, such as allowing users to register without the need to provide a telephone number or valid email address.
Kik features in around 50% of the indecent images cases we deal with. Although Kik is perfectly legal over the years it has increasingly been used by individuals to upload and download illegal material including indecent images of children. Many users have presumably been attracted by the anonymity Kik allows; however users may not realise that the application does not employ end-to-end encryption and the company also logs user IP addresses, which could be used to determine the user’s Internet Service Provider and location.
The police in the UK are well aware how popular Kik is with individuals swapping illegal images, and as such they have become extremely adept at monitoring what takes place on Kik and tracing back to a particular IP address.
This means that we get daily calls from prospective clients who have had the dreaded knock on the door from police after using Kik and engaging in group or 1-1 chats where illegal images were shared.
In all such cases the police will seize devices for analysis and will wish to carry out a formal interview at some point. If that is the case it is vital that you are a advised and assisted before and during that interview by a specialist solicitor. What you say or do not say is incredibly important and will effect the way you are likely to be dealt with.
As such if you are being investigated by the police in relation to your use of the Kik Messenger App please feel free to contact us for some initial free and confidential advice.