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May 16, 2019 by Joel Michael Reynolds, The Conversation

Are tracking technologies changing parenting? Credit: Trendsetter Images

The use of self-tracking and personal surveillance technologies has grown considerably over the last decade. There are now apps to monitor people's movement, health, mindfulness, sleep, eating habits and even sexual activity.

Some of the more thorny problems arise from apps designed to track others, like those made for parents to track their kids. For example, there are specific apps that allow parents to monitor their child's GPS location, who they call, what they text, which apps they use, what they view online and the phone number of their contacts.

As a bioethicist who specializes in the ethics of emerging technologies, I worry that such tracking technologies are transforming prudent parenting into surveillance parenting.

Here are three reasons why.
1. Companies are tracking for profit
The first reason has to do with concerns over the tech itself.

Tracking apps are not primarily designed to keep children safe or help with parenting. They are designed to make money by gathering loads of information to be sold to other companies.

A 2017 report from a marketing research firm estimates that self-monitoring technologies for health alone will reach gross revenues of US$71.9 billion by 2022.

The lion's share of the profit is not in the device itself, but in the data drawn from its users.

To get as much data as they can, these apps work hard to keep one constantly using them via push notifications and other design techniques.

This data is then often sold to other companies - including advertising agencies and political campaign firms. The primary aim of these devices is not people's well-being, but the profit that can be made off of their data.

When parents track children, they help companies maximize their profits. Should a child's information become de-anonymized and fall into the wrong hands, this could put one's child at risk.
2. Risks of leaking private data
There are also significant privacy risks.

A 2014 study by the security firm Symantec found that even devices that do not appear to be traceable can still be tracked wirelessly, as a result of insufficient privacy features.

That same year, a study by computer scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that many Android mobile health applications, for example, send unencrypted information over the Internet. Nearly all of these apps monitor one's location. Researchers at MIT and the Catholic University of Louvain found that just four time-stamped locations could uniquely identify 95% of individuals, making promises of anonymity hollow.

Information related to people's whereabouts can reveal valuable data about them. In the case of children, their tracking data could very easily be used by someone else.
3. It can break trust
Another reason why tracking one's child is worrisome has to do with the risk of breaking their trust.

Social scientists have shown that trust is central to close relationships, including healthy parent-child relationships. It is necessary for the development of commitment and feelings of security. A child's sense of personal privacy is a crucial component of this trust.

A 2019 study shows monitoring a child can undermine the sense of trust and bonding. In fact, it can become counterproductive to the point of pushing the child further towards rebellion.

This risk, I would argue, is perhaps far more serious than those leading parents to track their children in the first place.
A few exceptions
While I think that tracking one's child is often unethical, there are some cases where it may be warranted.

If a parent has good reasons to suspect that their child is suicidal, involved in violent extremism, or engaged in other activities that threaten their life or that of others, the best course of action may involve breaking trust, invading privacy and monitoring the child.

But those are the exceptions, not the rule. Think twice before tracking your kids.

Provided by The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Why parents should think twice about tracking apps for their kids

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May 16, 2019 by Joel Michael Reynolds, The Conversation The use of self-tracking and personal surveillance technologies has grown considerably over the last decade. There are now apps to monitor people's movement, health, mindfulness, sleep, eating habits and even sexual activity.

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When I was a teenager, I wasn't always truthful when it came to my whereabouts (sorry, mom and baba). I won't get into detail since both of my parents read Metro Parent each month. Because, honestly, even though I'm 31 years old with a husband and child - and those days are behind me - my baba, aka my dad, will still get mad, turn 10 shades of red and grind his teeth at me if I elaborate on my escapades.

So, I'll just move on ...

I wasn't alone in this behavior growing up. In fact, I think it's a rite of passage to lie to your parents about your location at one time or another.

But now that I'm a mom, I realize the importance of knowing where your children truly are at all times. After all, the world is a scary place where kids can go missing in minutes. In fact, in 2017 alone, there were 464,324 entries to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) for missing children.

The use of social media has presented a slew of dangers, too. It's easier than ever for online predators to contact and even track a kid's location, which can lead to some seriously scary situations.

That's why it's so important to not only track your child's whereabouts, but also their online activity. And I think it's particularly crucial to do so during those tween and teen years when your kid's developing brain makes him less likely to consider the consequences of his actions.

When it comes to social media, the Pew Research Center found that in 2017, 61 percent of parents checked their teen's browser history, 60 percent checked their teen's social media platforms and 56 percent have friended or followed their teen on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. Another 48 percent have even looked through their teen's call and text message records. However, not as many were keen on monitoring their location. In fact, only 16 percent reported using monitoring tools to track their teen's whereabouts.

In today's world, I'm actually shocked that so few parents are tracking their kid's location. I will absolutely track my son as he gets older and goes places without me. When he hits the teen years, I know he'll go places he isn't supposed to go and hang out with people he isn't supposed to hang out with - and I don't think tracking him will stop that. But for me, making him wear a smartwatch or use a GPS device offers peace of mind that I can locate him at every minute of the day or night.

Because ultimately, it's our responsibility as parents to keep our children safe, and if tracking their moves ensures they make it home every night, then I'm all for it.
Is tracking your kids with their technology just another way to ensure their safety? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check out another mom's take and her reasons why she'd never track her kids.

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Yes, Parents Should Track Their Kids' Location and Activity for Peace of Mind - Detroit and Ann Arbor Metro Parent

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When I was a teenager, I wasn't always truthful when it came to my whereabouts (sorry, mom and baba). I won't get into detail since both of my parents read Metro Parent each month.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Cellphone Tracking

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Cellphone Tracking

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Cellphone Tracking

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Your smartphone's built-in GPS receiver can help you stay safe, avoid getting lost and find the way to the hottest party this Friday night. A combination of GPS data and cell tower triangulation can reveal your current location wherever your phone has a signal. Such technology does bring privacy concerns, however.

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Pros and Cons of "Spying" on your Children

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Pros and Cons of "Spying" on your Children

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https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/tracking-apps-the-pros-and-cons-of-spying-on-your-children-872150.html

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All parents worry about their kids. But does that make it alright to 'spy' on them?

Increasing numbers of parents are using GPS tracking apps on their phones so they can always tell exactly where their children are.

Chef Jamie Oliver has admitted to using one of the apps, Life360, to keep an eye on the eldest of his five children, saying it's a 'brilliant' way to check where daughters Poppy Honey, 16, and Daisy Boo, 15, are.

#SpotTheDifference!

How many can you find? #JamieCooksItaly pic.twitter.com/xN28CIcS80
- Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver) September 26, 2018

But using this type of surveillance on adults might be considered harassment, and while they may give peace of mind to anxious parents, the counter-argument is that they're not helping young people learn to be independent and keep safe on their own.

Jeremy Todd, chief executive of the parenting charity Family Lives (familylives.org.uk), says his organisation is concerned about a parent feeling the need to track a young person, pointing out that they should instead be talking about any concerns with their child, establishing how they might be addressed, and discussing what a child might do if something went wrong while they were out.

Talking it through (Thinkstock/PA)

"We're concerned that there's a false sense of safety - just because a parent knows where a child is, doesn't mean the child's safe or that the concerns a parent has about their child's wellbeing have been addressed," he warns. "We don't want it to be something that prevents parents talking to their children about being streetwise.

"Parents need to allow their children to grow up to be independent, and there's a sense that this has the potential to prevent that happening in a healthy and natural way. How would we have felt as teenagers knowing our parents always knew where we were? Part of being a teenager is exactly the opposite of that."

Todd says tracking raises important questions around consent, suggesting some parents may feel that because they pay for their child's mobile phone, they're entitled to know where their child is all the time.

"🔔 Sarah has arrived at school 🔔 ". Don't you wish your home speaker could tell you that whenever it happened? Good news! Knowing where your family is at is even easier now that Alexa can automatically announce notifications for Life360 Place alerts: https://t.co/hQU7io0SWj pic.twitter.com/mLDoOrZ5kG
- Life360 (@Life360) January 16, 2018

"You're entitled to establish what the parameters are around communication with your son or daughter, but that's not the same as tracking them," he says.

"The most important thing is having a conversation about communication - about parents ringing kids at the right time, and about children picking up when they do - but the notion of tracking someone feels uncomfortable."

But despite having such conversations with their children, some parents may still want to use a tracking app. So what are the pros and cons of using such technology?

Advantages
Peace of mind for parents

No need to call continuously (Thinkstock/PA)

Sten Kirkbak, co-founder of the tracking watch phone XPLORA (myxplora.co.uk) says the main benefit of tracking a child, for the parent, is instant peace of mind.

"For example, parents no longer need to ring their child continuously, thus causing them to feel embarrassed, or interrupting their play and exploration. Location tracking can also ease unnecessary worry if a child doesn't answer the phone straight away. Through GPS tracking, a parent can receive a quick update and put their mind to rest."

Mum's watching you: the XPLORA watch phone (XPLORA/PA)

Gives kids more freedom
Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington has said she installed a tracking app on her 12-year-old son Joe's phone, pointing out it gives him more freedom because knowing where he is means she's more relaxed about letting him go further afield.
Reassurance for children

It's a tracking app - it's on all our family phones so we know where we all are at any given time. We put it on phones as kids start driving. Gave great peace of mind when oldest was in S Africa last summer.
- Tami Farr⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@tamitaylorfarr) March 30, 2018

Location tracking can also be reassuring for the child, particularly if they get lost. This is especially useful if a child wanders off in a crowded place, says Kirkbak

"Knowing their parents can locate them at any given moment can alleviate the immediate sense of panic a child feels when they realise they're lost."

He points out that this peace of mind is relevant to older children too, especially in the wake of new research by Girlguiding UK that shows nearly two-thirds of 13 to 21 year-olds either feel unsafe, or know someone who is fearful of walking home alone.

Disadvantages
Kids may become more secretive

A child is located (XPLORA/PA)

Young people may respond to being tracked by becoming increasingingly secretive and flouting the surveillance by, for example, leaving their phone at a friend's house so their parents think they're there.
They don't become streetwise
Young people run the risk of not learning to be independent and safe on their own.

I nternet and social media access

Children need a smartphone for their parents to install a tracking app, but this can expose them to the potential dangers associated with social media and the internet such as cyberbullying, inappropriate contact with strangers and unsupervised access to inappropriate information.
Trust issues

FUN FACT I have a tracking app on my phone now, along with my whole family, which I use to my advantage bc I can see where my parents are also

BUT I'm 19

like....stop???

it's okay for small kids but really??? I'm am actual adult and you wanna track me STILL
- kristin - ia adulting (@handcuffeddjh) August 5, 2018

If they're being tracked, young people may feel their parents think they can't be trusted. By contrast, if they feel they are trusted, such responsibility can help them behave in a trustworthy manner.

Kirkbak says: "Teenagers might feel they're mistrusted and controlled by 'helicopter' parents. Make sure the discussions you have with them are transparent and always listen to their feedback.

"In my view, the use of these apps should always be a two-way thing. Jamie Oliver is transparent about the fact that his children can also see where he is, so that they too can locate him. This means no-one is being 'spied' upon; rather, the whole family is connected, able to easily see and locate each other if needed."
- Press Association

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Tracking apps: the pros and cons of 'spying' on your children

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All parents worry about their kids. But does that make it alright to 'spy' on them? Increasing numbers of parents are using GPS tracking apps on their phones so they can always tell exactly where their children are.

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https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/05/big-mother-gps-tracking-technology-threat-privacy-childhood

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Losing track of a child is a terrifying prospect. The recent emergence of GPS devices that can report on youngsters' whereabouts, coupled with the falling prices of gadgets, seem to offer parents a tech solution.

Swedish firm Trax, for example, has designed a GPS tracker, on sale for $249 (£170), that issues alerts when children step outside of pre-set "geo-fences" and allows parents to follow their children from their smartphone or computer in real time. French company Weenect has also created a GPS tracker for children, and for €99 it includes an SOS button that allows distressed kids to call their parents. The device can send notifications when children reach a set destination and allows parents to review where their child has been throughout the day.

Any parent who's frantically searched for a lost child will likely see the appeal. Weenect founder Adrian Harmel expects to see "considerable growth" on the 10,000 trackers the company sold last year. But he says children aren't in fact the biggest focus for his GPS trackers. Currently, 60% of the company's total sales are for devices to track pets, 30% are for child trackers and the remaining 10% are for its Weenect Silver device, a tracker designed for elderly.

Freedom from tracking

However appealing such technologies may seem at first, they could have negative effects on the very children they aim to protect.

"It is understandable that parents want to do anything they can to keep their children safe but they need to ask themselves whether tracking technology is really necessary and whether it will actually protect their children," said Pam Cowburn, communications director of the Open Rights Group. "Parents need to teach their children to be independent and to be able to cope with risks and dangers."

These trackers, she says, could limit children's privacy and personal freedom, while encouraging them to accept surveillance. "There will undoubtedly be an impact on children's behaviour and development if they think that they are constantly monitored by their parents and teachers.

"A big concern is that it becomes normal for children to be tracked all of the time. Children have a right to privacy as much as anyone else. They need private spaces to be able to play and grow without feeling they are constantly watched."

Harmel believes the trackers should not be seen as spying devices. He says the purpose is to give children independence while reassuring parents at the same time: "Let's say you're stressed as a parent, what is better for your kid: to not let them do anything on their own, or to let them get a bit of autonomy thanks to a tracker?"

Harmel stresses such technology requires good communication, advising parents to carefully explain the purpose of the tracker and make sure children are aware it's not a "superhero" and they still need to be careful when out and about.

Real-life parenting

These gadgets can never be a replacement for parental attention, says Barbara Wallner, head of customer experience at Trax. "Trax provides an additional security aid for parents and pet owners, a little bit of extra piece of mind when their loved ones are away," she says. "But it can never replace proper care."

A spokesperson from the NSPCC warned that tracking technology could lull some parents into a false sense of security, particularly when it comes to crimes such as kidnapping or abuse. "There is no reason to think this will keep the child safe from determined offenders, who will simply throw the device away. It is also important to remember that most abuse is perpetrated by offenders who are either part of the family, or known and trusted by it."

"As children grow older and develop in maturity it's important they get the freedom to go out on their own or with friends. It's just a natural part of developing independence and, like every part of growing up, it can be a challenging hurdle for a parent to overcome," added the NSPCC spokesperson.

No technology can completely protect any child, and talking to them about dangers and teaching responsibility are necessary whether using trackers or not. Ultimately, trusting children to make the right decisions and giving them the freedom to do so is big part of growing up. This should not be lost sight of by parents, who may turn to tracking technology as a crutch to get over the difficulty of letting go.
Topics

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Would you use a GPS device to track your child?

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Losing track of a child is a terrifying prospect. The recent emergence of GPS devices that can report on youngsters' whereabouts, coupled with the falling prices of gadgets, seem to offer parents a tech solution.