Webcam gives parents kindy-eye view

Jules Dinsdale drops her 18-month-old daughter at daycare each morning - but that's not the last time she will see her before home time.
Thanks to modern technology, Ms Dinsdale can now watch her wee lass Te Hiahianui Te Kura online from work, through a "kindycam".
For a first time mother, going back to work and being parted from her daughter is tough - but the "bonus" of having live pictures on hand helps her through the day.
She watches images from a web-camera that show her daughter eating her morning tea, playing water games, arts and crafts and even nap time.
Ms Dinsdale is one of 23 parents who have children attending Te Puke's Giggles Educare daycare centre and who can access video cameras through the internet.
Giggles opened nearly three weeks ago and manager Shona Ua-Marsh said parents love the online concept which has parents-only access.
Child Abuse and Prevention Services chief executive Heather Henare praised the web-cameras as a "brilliant initiative" for keeping daycare interactive for parents.
It helped reassure them that their children were safe.
She said the direct interaction meant parents could ask about specific parts of the day they had seen on the internet, helping their child to remember and describe what happened.
Webcams came under the national spotlight last week when Tauranga firm Enternet Online's web-cameras around Tauranga were slammed "a pervert's playground" by current affairs programme Close Up.
The company's Wave Cam at Mount Maunganui Main Beach can be tilted, panned and zoomed, and is intended for checking surf and weather conditions.
However, it was revealed that the cameras could be used to "perv" at beachgoers.
At Giggles, parents have their own login passwords to use the cameras, Ms Ua-Marsh can access records of who has logged in, for how long, and which of the four cameras have been viewed.
She said the cameras have been a strong drawcard for enrolment.
Ms Dinsdale, in administration at Te Rangimarie Trust's Kaupapa Maori mental health service, said the cameras were not the main attraction for her - but they were a bonus. "It is the first time she (Te Hiahianui) has been out of my care for a year and a half, for me - I needed to know she was getting the best of care."
About 90 per cent of the parents use the cameras daily as they watch from Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa and Te Puke.
New Zealand Kindergartens Association president Karen Boyes said early childhood centres around the world were moving forward in technology.
However, a widespread shift was far off for New Zealand.
"As far as I am aware, I don't think any (other) kindergartens have considered going along this track," she said.
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said: "Webcam technology can be used beneficially, where agencies take the time to think through how to manage it in advance, especially if they inform people and seek consent."