But "Family Zone is absolutely not spyware. Spyware refers to software that is invisible to users, he says.
Spyware, as Levy defines it, is technology for reading messages or emails, tracking a person's location and accessing data stored on their device.
He says his company's hardware and software does not snoop on messages or track location. It does have a School Community feature that allows a student's personal data to be accessed, but also an opt-out if a school does not want to enable that feature. The level of filtering is up to a school or parents, he says.
Beagle has issues with Family Zone's apps being installed on smartphones and laptops that children use at both school and home.
Controlling internet access outside the school "should surely be between the child and the parent".
"You can see why a school might want to build some obligation into its access policy, but the next level up of what is basically spyware, and reporting what you have done to someone else, seems a step too far," he said.
For his part, Levy paints a picture that will not so much give parents the heebie-jeebies - most are already spooked about what their kids can access online - as amplify their fears.
"Today, on average, children start accessing connected devices by the age of 4. They have their first personal device by 6, have seen their first pornographic image by 8, have their first mobile phone by 11 and start accessing social media at 12. By 16 almost all have been exposed to cyber bullying, pornography, sexting and gaming," he told the Herald.
Research suggests that three quarters of teenagers get insufficient sleep as parents struggle to control screen time, he said.
"Family Zone research has identified that over 50 per cent of online children access inappropriate material each month and over 20 per cent of teenagers are active on social media at any time during the school day."
He also cites a study by Christchurch-based Linewize (bought by Family Zone in a $20 million deal in 2017) that found some 35 per cent of New Zealand Students use VPNs or virtual private networks - a low or no-cost technology that's easy to download and install and lets you skirt a school or family home's filtering software.
Family Zone pushes its ability to crack down on ever-shifting VPNs, which it gained with its Linewize purchase, as a key point of difference.
Historically, filtering software has had two drawbacks.
One is that it slows down internet access. Levy says this isn't an issue with Family Zone.
The other is that if filtering software blocks VPNs, that means mum and dad can't, say, access Netflix US or Hulu on the sly, or surf to adult sites that they would rather not be logged. But Family Zone's most expensive plan features an "unfiltered parent wi-fi" option/
The Linewize buyout gave Family Zone an instant presence in NZ as it inherited the Christchurch company's customer base that included 260 schools – representing around 130,000 students or about 15 per cent of pupils in the country.
Schools get bulk pricing. A family with three kids pays $5.95 for three months for the basic version of Family Zone's service or a robust $99 for its premium version.
Family Zone has told investors it will break even this year, but some investors have lost patience. Its ASX listed shares have dropped from A$1.03 to a recent 21.5c.
Lance Wiggs' Punakaiki Fund was one of Linewize's major backers. Punaiki received 1.1m Family Zone shares in the buyout, which it sold for a profit, and will soon be issued with the first of five tranches of performance shares that will total 1.9m.
"We are comfortable there is upside," Wiggs says.
