Parents are always peppering kids with the usual questions to keep them safe:
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
Who are you with?
A new wave of tracking software is helping families answer those questions, but some critics worry parents may not realize exactly what they’re getting into.
Family tracking services rely on GPS technology, whether it’s through a smart-phone application, or a tracking device about the size of a pager. Children too young to have their own phone, can carry the device in their backpacks.
We met one mom using a service called Life-360. For a monthly fee, she can virtually track everyone in her family on her laptop or iPhone. Like most parents using this technology, she says it gives her great peace of mind. She says she’s not “hovering,” just making sure her kids are safe.
But the technology isn’t foolproof, and critics point out it could offer a false sense of security, if, for instance, the child gets separated from their smart phone or GPS device that’s supposed to be tracking them.
Internet privacy experts also point out that if mom can see a map of her kids whereabouts, so can the company providing the service, and that it’s important families find out what kind of information is being gathered, how long it’s being stored, and who else might have access to it.
One school is making a point of tracking kids. At a federally-funded Head Start Program in Richmond, California, the preschoolers are wearing special vests that contain tracking devices. Officials say the vests will help them monitor attendance, student-to-teacher ratios, even what the kids are eating- to make sure they’re complying with federal guidelines.
The school says it will help save money and manpower, but some critics say it’s akin to tagging cattle and again, wonder who else might have access to that data.
The wave of family monitoring apps raises many moral and legal issues. But a number of technology experts say the “tracking trend” is here to stay, and that, eventually, most electronic devices will contain location features.
