Stalking your kids with Google Latitude
Is tracking your kids with Google Latitude a good way to make sure your kids are safe and staying out of trouble, or is it simply taking it too far?
Google Latitude is a feature for Google Maps which uses your cell phone’s GPS to enable you to (from Google):
- Share your location and status updates with the friends you choose
- See on a map where your friends are and what they’re up to
- Quickly contact them with text message, instant message, or phone call
- Control how much or how little location info you want to share with whomever you choose.
When Google initially announced Latitude, there was a somewhat of an outcry from people concerned about the privacy implications. The fact is, however, they were concerned about nothing. Latitude notifies cell users that it is running and so cannot be used to surreptitiously track a person without their knowledge. Additionally, users can choose how and with whom their information is shared. But that hasn’t stopped some parents from using it to track their kids. It’s easy enough to tell a child that they must keep their cell switched on and must keep Latitude running – or else! On one hand, it’s an easy way to make sure that your kids are where they are supposed to be (or aren’t where they are supposed to not be!). On the other hand, is this sort of tracking simply too invasive?
What do you think? Is monitoring with Latitude – or, for that matter, any other form of cell/GPS monitoring system – a form of stalking or is it simply a good way to make sure your kids are safe and help keep them out of mischief?
The world isn’t any more dangerous than it ever was- just the existing dangers get a lot more publicity than they used to. 99.9% of children will not ever be plucked off the street by a kidnapper or pedophile, and certainly don’t need to be watched remotely to ensure their “safety.”
That said, the fact is there’s some bad egg teenagers out there who might benefit from the supervision and being unable to sneak around (on another note, when a friend or bf is running late, could help to see just where they are). The rest of the time- well, we’ve all lived without this till now, haven’t we? Why is this suddenly essential to parental well-being or safety?
Don’t get me started on the potential abuse of this kind of device- literal stalking, not only by hovering parents but also paranoid romantic partners and perhaps obsessive bosses wanting to know why you’re 5 minutes late to work.
It can be a useful tool in a select few scenarios, but overall it looks like there’d be a lot of ethical questions related to using it.
wow, this is pathetic. Sure some would agree, that tracking your kids would make them think twice before skipping second period, but at the same time though, don’t you think that is restraining them too much? Think, Movies and books always talk about this. Totalitarianism, and all that, crap. Sure your reading this and thinking that I am a idiot, but think, every human should have the freedom of doing his or her buisness without it being monitered. This is what some goverments are pulling off, monitering everyone, and I know that most people would not enjoy it at all. Im not defending people who do things like being out late or skipping, but monitering like that, shows a lack of trust between the parent and child. All Im saying is, that we should not use a tool, that was built for friends be turned into a device in which we moniter children as if they were a flock of sheep. very daft sheep at that.
I’m 14, I’d be mad if I found out my mother was tracking me with Google Latitude. I expect her to trust me, I tell her where I am, call her when she tells me to, ect. I’ve always went straight home after school, she calls right around the time I get home, so she knows if I’m safe or not.
I think it’s a stupid idea. :|
Thank you to all of you for commenting on this story. I now know (or can easily figure out) your whereabouts, your name, your address, the balance in your bank account, etc., etc.
Wake up sheep! Your right to privacy from government, big business, and “law enforcement” as well as your individual freedom and liberty is rapidly eroding and will probably irretrievable. And you guys are debating whether Mommy needs to know where her kids are and whether that should apply to a 16 year old. OMG!!!
DO YOU KNOW that the FCC, principally in an effort to satisfy the demands of the FBI, has been trying for a decade to mandate that all cell phones in the US be GPS enabled to the extent that the location of any phone can be determined at any time??? The rationale provided to the public for this new requirement is that response times to 911 calls will be enhanced and therefore some lives will be saved. Do you really think the FBI gives a sh%# about the precise location of the latest armed robbery, or of a drive-by shooting victim, or of some idiot lost in woods?? NOOOO!! They aren’t first responders anyway, in most cases. The FBI wants to collect and store data about where you were, where you are now, and what direction you are moving in and at what speed.
DO YOU KNOW the US government doesn’t obey its own legislation which provides the conditions which must be met before they are permitted to wire-tap a US citizen without first obtaining a warrant. The folks employed to carry out this surveillance program are routinely listening to and recording personal, sometimes intimate, conversations between two randomly selected individuals, both located inside the country, and neither of whom represent the slightest threat to national security.
DO YOU KNOW that the UK government is presently debating new legislation that will mandate that every single communication directed by or to a UK citzen/resident, in any form whatsoever,(ie. land or mobile phone, text, email, fax, etc., etc.) be digitally recorded and stored indefinitely. The only outstanding issue appears to be whether the UK government will supply the necessary storage capacity, or whether they will simply legislate a requirement that the industry maintain a copy of everything that passes through their servers.
The above examples are not the paranoid ramblings of a NWO extremist. Alternatively, the examples I gave are fact and easily verifyable.
We must not be distracted by these constant, frivilous debates about when, where and how an individual is permitted to use a specific technology and how that might affect the rights of other individuals until we get a grip on the big picture and stop the accumulation of personal information by organizations which cannot be held to account for their actions to the public.
Well, I’m 14, and this is EXACTLY the kind of things my parents would try to pull on me, and I DO think it’s invasive. XD
reading all these comments ive noticed the majority of them went half way with it,about that 10 year old kid he or she DOES have an opinion . we are not dumb.and having a tracking device to follow your kids every move….i kinda think you need to talk to you kid more openley cuz using a thing like that means you dont trust them at all. and now knowing im 13 ur probably gonna think i dont know what im talking about….well thats all i have to say
reeeces pieces
I have a 14 year old daughter who we do keep track of, although not to this level. To date, she has been a model teenager. She still has alot of fun, and is well adjusted, although she does make mistakes, but not anything that would cause her or anyone else serious harm, just things that she will learn from by dealing with the repercussions.
However, when we look around, almost without exception, all of her friends and classmates are either drinking themselves stupid, getting into drugs and cigarettes, having sex at a rediculously young age (one is currently pregnant), stealing, getting involved with gangs or some combination of these. And I don’t need this google feature to know that… The ONLY exception is one of her friends whose mother also keeps close tabs on her.
The bottom line is that if you don’t have anything to hide, then you shouldn’t be worried about this new google feature. The only ones who would complain about being observed are the ones who are hiding something.
Again, I presume that you also have no objections to CCTV surveillance, red light cameras, speed cameras and other ways of keeping tabs on you because you would only complain about being observed if you were hiding something.
Well, I took a Canadian law class at the end of my grade 12 year, the one that just ended, and I could see a good reason why parents would wanna track their kids. I’m no lawyer, just somebody with a basic understanding of law. Up to I think 14 (don’t quote me on that, it’s been a while) parents are held responsible for their childs actions. If a kid
does something like vandalize something, for some reason, the parent gets blamed, and has to foot the bill for repairs. I guess they figure parents should keep a closer watch on their kids cause somehow they are mentally incapable of knowing right from wrong. The little bastards obviously know it’s wrong cause that would be the thrill of it! Knowing they get off scoff free and their parents gotta suffer the consequences makes it so much easier. I don’t know for sure, but if the parents were able to know where their kids are, or at least think they know, if their kid leaves their phone somewhere to throw off their parents, it could possibly be a mitigating factor for their case. After all, I’m not a parent yet, only 18 right now, and I know from growing up that after you start school, like middle school, your parents stop being your biggest influence, and the kids naturally rebel. Plus parents have busy lives with work and possibly other kids, they can’t be expected to only focus on one of their kids and drop life. Oh yeah, if you complain about your parents knowing where you are, or where you say you will be, then you are probably one of the people that aren’t doing what they are supposed to be.
This blog is too painful to read!!!!
BAAAAAA BAAAAAAA Idiot sheep.
I would be mad if my parents did this, but if a parents child is bad and has gotten in trouble before, this is completely resonable. Otherwise, no, this is stalking.
If Elizabeth Smart had a cell phone with Google Latitude running, her situation may have turned out differently.
Smart parents will use it as a safety net, not a stalking device. If your child is supposed to be home by a certain time, and they get home late.. it’s a good way to check up that they’re not in danger.
Stalker parents will use it to stalk. But they’ve already found ways to stalk. It’s not that difficult.
I’m 19 for the record, and I agree with what YoYo said. If I had Google Lat on my phone, my dad wouldn’t worry so much when I went out partying. And I go to school in a different city and take road trips with my friends, and I’m the kind of kid who just honestly forgets to phone when we arrive somewhere. If I’m at a club or a party, it’d be easier for my parents to make sure I’ve actually arrived by just checking this out than to try and call me over the noise.
While I can see the use of an application like this in certain circumstances, personally, I think it’s a gross violation of privacy and shrieks of a lack of trust.
If your kid already has a cell phone, and you don’t know where they are when they come home late, then, oh, gee, maybe CALL them on it? By requiring your kid to have a tracking device on them implies that you don’t trust them to tell you the truth as to where they are.
The whole point of a cellphone is communication. Tracking is the exact opposite, a unilateral monitoring of someone else’s activities. Parents, if you want to keep your kids off drugs, then talk to them, don’t stalk them!
A parent is legally responsible for any child in their care, to know where that child is at any given time is a perfectly reasonable request. The only reason I can think that somebody wouldn’t want their parents to know where they are (assuming they still live with them) is if the child is somewhere that they are not supposed to be. children, especially Teenagers, make stupid decisions (this shouldn’t be news for anybody who has been a child and/or known one. Even well behaved children will make stupid decisions from time to time) and the deterrent of having somebody know where this child is may be enough to make them think twice about their stupid decision.
I think this is reasonable in SOME circumstances. Like if you’re a young kid in a big city and out late, then it makes sense for your parents to want to know where you are and if you’re safe. Or if you’re out past curfew parents might want to know where you are (if you’re still at your friends, on your way home, or being kidnapped and raped).
But for me, I would be outraged if my mom wanted me to get this technology. I’m 15 years old and live in a town in the middle of no where with 3000 people. All of my friends live merely blocks away and the walk home, no matter how late at night, is only ever 10 minutes tops. If she wanted to know where I was at all times in a place this small when I’m with a large group of friends, I think it would be more a trust issue than a safety issue. I find it unessecary to have to stalk your kids, unless its a safety issue. Maybe the most reasonable thing to ask is to turn this on if you have to come home alone or with just you and a friend, or if you’ve blown curfew.
Seriously…. i know i am only a kid but, for some of these adults, weren’t you a kid once??? would you have wanted YOUR parents to have this, this TRACKING THING so they could see where YOU were every waking second of every day? huh? what about all the stuff you guys did when you were younger…like seriously think for a second and respect your children’s privacy a little…like a little bit of supervision isn’t bad…actually it’s good, but i think this has gone way too far….
Bella: Of course when I was a kid, thinking I knew everything and feeling immortal when I knew virtually nothing about the real world, I would have had a problem with being monitored. I also would have had a problem with limitations, responsibility, being accountable for my actions, having my video game/television time limited per day and being made to get off of my a$$ and actually contribute to the household.
Then I grew up, entered the real world (not the one where the kids are coddled like they are today), got a job (where you don’t get multiple chances to get it right), got married and had a child.
I would dare say that anyone complaining about a method to keep track of your kids has ever experienced these facts of life.
I think it’s unfair to say she (and I) are so naive simply becase we’re young. Sure, we still live under our parents roofs and rules, but that doesn’t mean we are irresponsible and stupid. Maybe you were and had all of those attributes as a child, but I know that I don’t. I’m 15 years old, have had a job for a year and a half, understand why my parents might want me home earlier on some nights and don’t complain about it. I will help do the dishes or clean, and I certainly know I am responsible for myself and my actions even if I am not legally yet. Maybe I don’t know everything about the “real world” but heaven knows that if your parents never let you learn first hand, you will never learn for yourself and never grow up. All this monitoring is crazy, parents are so paranoid and kids are not given enough credit for being able to think wisely on their own. Maybe some of them can’t, but there sure are a fair few who can.
And somehow enough of us survived to be a thorn in the sides of our own kids.
Why do you suddenly think you can judge her like that? You say she knows nothing about the world, but I’m the same age as her and I do know some things. I gone through more than most 14 year olds have to go through, and even more than some adults have had to go through. Just because someone is young does NOT men they are naive like you were. I’ve experienced and am fine with everything you listed, but still have a problem with this type of tracking of children. If you have a bad kid, then it’s no wonder you would need this to track your child, because you most likely aren’t doing a very good job in the first place. But from your previous comment it sounds like your a good parent and shouldn’t need this.
I’m a teenager and honestly this is just taking too far. I mean personally i have a good relationship with my parents so i tell them what i do and there’s that trust there. Also, if you have a cell phone why do you need to know where the kid is all the time…can’t you just give them a call or a text?
I remeber one day when my friend got a message on his phone saying “you are now being tracked by: his dads name” and he called up his dad and they fought for hours about this and all its doing is making parents not trustthere kids and kids not trust there parents. Wonder how the kids might feel: “My parents don’t trust me to go out on my own. I’m a bad child” all you guys are thinking of is how the parents feel!
When I was a kid, we had a set area of the neighbourhood and rules about when to be home, etc. My sister rode my bike farther from home than she should have and fell driving the brake handle into her thigh. A woman called our home and said she had called an ambulance for my sister and my mom heard ambulance and daughter and freaked. By the time my mom hung up, we realized we had no idea where my sister was. We spread out and as we saw our friends, spread the word even further. I found her and sent a friend to tell my mom to meet us at the hospital. If she had been able to track my sister, I think a lot of wasted worrying and searching would have helped immensely. Children are going to push the buttons and if Jane isn’t at Sally’s, as she said she would be, and there is an accident, do you want to know where Jane is really?
I think if you really need this to keep track of your children, you need to re-assess your parenting job. I don’t understand the pressures of being a parent, but I do know my relationship with my parents. We have a very open relationship, I tell them where I’m going, what I’ll be doing, and who I’ll be with as best as I can. We have rules and I follow them. The rules are basic, but they keep me safe but still give me freedom at the same time.
1. You don’t go out alone. You always go with at least one other person. Obviously this doesn’t always work, because I walk to peoples houses, but it’s something where you use common sense.
2. You stay in the area, and ask if you want to leave it. I live in a small town, so the rule is I stay within our section of the town, and if I want to go lets say to the mall, I ask.
3. You don’t go out after dark.
4. You call if your going to be late, or if plans change.
I follow theses rules, and on the few occasions I didn’t, I had consequences. But I always use common sense. I don’t go places that I know people might be doing drugs or whatever else. And if I’m uncomfortable somewhere, I leave. My parents trust me, and thats why I have such an open relationship with them. I think if they started using this technology on me, it would ruin our relationship, probably permanantly. If you teach your children about trust, morals, and common sense, and you set out rules that are easy to follow, there should be no reason to need this technology.
I personally say any1 who is for this needs to get their heads checked. Its just creepy, I would be really pissed if my mom was tracking me (im 14)