01
Getting started
What is Vigie Parentale?
A free tool, with no account, that reads the official exports from your child's networks and keeps only the times. It compares your child with their own habits and flags changes that last. It never reads messages, and nothing leaves your device.
How do I get started?
Open the app, protect the device with a passphrase, then import a network's export under your child's first name. To discover the sheet without importing anything, choose “Try it with sample data”.
Do I need my child's agreement?
Yes. Only import an export obtained with their agreement, as part of your parental authority. The best approach is to make the request together and tell them what the tool reads: activity times, not their conversations.
02
Getting an export
How do I get a network's export?
From your child's account, in the network's settings (“Download your information”, “Export data”…). Choose the whole period. The export arrives anywhere from a few minutes to a few days later. The exact steps, network by network, are in the app: “Which networks, and how do I get the export?”.
Which networks are supported?
YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, X, Pinterest, ChatGPT and Claude; WhatsApp for account dates only; and, in conversation mode, Meta, Snapchat and Discord, of which only the times are read.
The import says “no activity times found” or “export not recognised”.
Check that you are dropping the complete export as received (the zip), not a single file. For Claude, the first file you receive is only a manifest: download “conversations-000.zip” within 24 hours. If that is not enough, create the structure report offered under the files and send it to the author: it describes the shape of the files, without any values.
03
Reading the sheet
The gauge shows “Too short”.
At least 14 days of history are needed before the recent week. Request the export for the whole period, or make a new one in a few weeks.
What do the levels and alerts mean?
In line, moderate or marked: the change over the last 7 days compared with your child's habits. “To watch”: a signal is emerging. “To report”: several signals, or a change that lasts. It is never a diagnosis; the sheet suggests guidance and people to turn to.
The gauge is red although everything seems normal.
Look at “Data quality” and “What the export covers”: an old export, a gap of several days or networks that stop on different dates often explain a change. Note unusual periods (holidays, exams) and exclude them from the calculation.
Why is there no screen time?
Several networks, including YouTube, do not provide the duration of what was watched. The tool counts moments of activity and reads their times; it never calculates hours of screen time.
04
Two parents, several devices
How can the other parent open the sheets?
In the parent menu, “Other parent”: they choose their own passphrase and then open the same sheets. The log shows who opened them, and when.
I can't find my sheets on another device.
Sheets stay in the browser where they were imported: nothing is synchronised. In the menu, “Transfer to another device” creates an encrypted file; on the other device, “Restore from another device” opens it with your passphrase.
How do I back up my sheets?
Create the transfer file from time to time and keep it (cloud, email to yourself). If the browser is cleared or the device replaced, you get everything back with this file and your passphrase.
05
Security and data
I've forgotten my passphrase.
Nobody can recover it, not even the author: that is what protects the sheets. If the other parent has their own, they can open them. Otherwise, clear the device from the menu, then redo the imports, or restore a transfer file whose passphrase you know.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. The sheets are calculated and encrypted in your browser. Only a book request goes through the website's server, with the email address you enter. The details are on the Privacy page.
06
The full guide
24 pages with screens from the app, from the first opening to the follow-up calendar.
Download the guide (PDF, in French)
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Updated on 27 October 2026 · Patrick Wanet