cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/37022405
This is a carrier in the USA (T-Mobile).
I did a quick search for the other 2 carriers using the term “[Carrier Name] Family Tracking” and Verizon and AT&T also seems to have it.
And according to https://www.t-mobile.com/support/plans-features/t-mobile-familywhere-app, it says:
FamilyWhere uses geolocation data from the T-Mobile network and is not affected by changes to device location settings.
So it appears that its using cell tower triangulation. Turning on Airplane Mode should stop it (assuming there isn’t a separate tracking app on your phone)
Oh Wow, What a wonderful tool for abusive spouses and abusive parents. And telecom companies are making money off of it. 🙃
TLDR: Its a good idea to get your own separate cellular plan.
This is a useful feature. If you are in an abusive household, then yes you should have as much financial separation as possible. For those that are in a happy and functional family with kids that you want to allow freedom for, this provides a measure of safety if you need it for potential emergency’s or if they aren’t answering the phone or whatever.
This is a problem even without this. The account owner can get lists of all outbound calls of their victim’s line if they share a plan.
The fcc requires some remediation if a domestic abuse order is submitted but obviously that’s at the far end of the abuse cycle.
The issue here can be traced all the way to phone companies pushing the very concept of family plans because it makes churn more difficult.
An abuser can shut off their victim’s phone line on a whim with convenient online interfaces.
Phone companies don’t treat their customers will respect because their is no requirement. No one of adult age should be subjected to any of these controls simply because someone else pays.
The health industry has rules around this. The moment a child hits 18, their claims disappear and the parent loses access to medical records.
There is absolutely no reason phones should not have the same restrictions but the industry lacks the will and will until the fcc or other three letter agency forces the issue.
If you are in a healthy relationship, you can do this voluntarily and for free using functionality built into the OS or third party apps, without paying your network operator $10/mo
Agreed. My wife and I are both on iOS so there is no need for this feature. Our daughter when she is old enough for a cellphone, would be the one I’d use this for since she can’t turn it off.
This is going to get DV victims killed. At least on phone tracking like iPhone’s family sharing makes it clear it’s happening and often has a way of disabling it when you make your final run for it allowing you to keep your phone.
Your toxic partner: “What were you doing at that cafe at 5:42 PM”
I have been thinking about how or if I would track my own children. I do not have any at the moment though.
I think the only system that would work with tracking and still be ethical is a system with accountability.
They need to know that I would never check unless there was an emergency. So we’d have to have some sort of immutable log that they can check regularly. So they know if I checked their location. It should not be like a panopticon. in which they don’t know if the parent is checking their location or not. That changes behaviour. Even with the trust that I would not check, just me having the option would alter behaviour probably.
Youth and kids are independent individuals with their own rights to privacy, autonomy, right to select their own friends and acquaintences, right to freedom of expression and movement, right to make mistakes, etc. If they are thought right and have a high trust bond with their parents, preferably with little judgement, then it will probably be fine and most issues can be solved.
A reciprocal arrangement would also work. My little terror will soon be at the point of having a mobile phone. My wife and I already share locations in real time. They will get the same arrangement. We can check on them, however, they can also check on our location. Moving on from this, in the future will be a negotiation, not an ultimatum.
It’s also worth noting however, that a level of accountability is required with phones and social media for children. Knowing that mum or dad might go through their phone to check things makes them think about what they are doing. It is also required to make sure they don’t err too badly. The key is to be open, clear and reasonable in your requirements of them. Also, never mock or belittle. To you, it might be a cute minor kids spat. To them, it’s the life or death of their entire social life.
If you have a good relationship with your children, these will be a non-issues. Mutual respect (not fear) is a FAR better position to take, parenting wise.
Knowing that mum or dad might go through their phone to check things makes them
think about what they are doingspend 5 minutes researching how to hide stuff. Better to rely on trust then on pure force aloneThere’s trust in intent and trust in judgement. My goal is to train them so that I can trust their intent. Any search will be to cover lapses in judgement. If they are hiding things, then that is intentional. If they have thought about it enough to hide it, then at least they have thought about it.
My intent is to spot things like grooming, or bullying (at a level they can’t cope with). Things they might not understand the severity at the time. It gives us a nuclear option, it won’t be used lightly.
Yeah making it optional for them to turn on because they are still entitled to privacy even though they are children is the key to building trust. Them trusting you as a parent is the most essential thing here, there is always a way around something, you want them being honest by choice rather than sneaky or you forcing “honesty” by coercion.
We always did that from when the kids were younger and my now adult daughter still chooses to turn it on when going on dates.
OP does not know about Life360.
At least the other has to install it of their own will
Mmm I can see absolutely no way where they misuse this information
Or, “hey we’ve been doing this for the police and gov’t for free and we have the tech so why not sell it?”
I share my location with my wife just in case I end up in a ditch dying while riding my motorcycle.
The sort of thing that’d be really fucking useful, anywhere in the last twenty years - if it was built by privacy nerds. If I’m out with people at a mall or whatever, we should be able to exchange GPS coordinates once per second, using approximately zero percent of any modern server.
But it should be extremely opt-in. Like not even an option to turn on and leave on. And if any fucking brand ever sees that data, the person responsible can track my phone’s trajectory through their front window.
Try Paralino! It’s a family location sharing app but is end-to-end encrypted :)
No Consent??
I’m sure that the “consent” is part of the terms and conditions when you sign up for a line on a family plan. Not that it’s genuinely informed consent, or that people know what they agreed to, but technically…
Find My and Google’s device locator service exist, they’re free and work without a carrier. Ik they’re not that private, but you save money at least and they’re more private than your carrier.
/s
But you need geolocation. This, at least, can track you scarily accurate. Cannot escape it except you have more money depending on which situation. (Like parents giving it for free to the child, so the only escape is to either have secretly a second phone with own carrier plan or be open and purchase your own carrier plan by gaslighting its needed)
Or maybe a prepaid SIM card where you top up your credit.
If we didn’t have this, my kids would have a lot less freedom. Knowing where they are gives me much more peace of mind to let them roam further, and for longer than I would otherwise 🤷♂️
My kids don’t even have phones, as they do not need them and they are unhealthy for the young brain’s development.
I also don’t use location services on my phones. Fuck all that tracking bullshit.
aaand next time they’ll leave their cell phone home to not get tracked, so not only do you not get their location, they can’t even call you in an emergency
good parenting, i guess
And then they’ll be grounded 🤷♂️ rules exist for a reason
These are great services. Insane that they charge for them but there are great use cases. Sorry kids, but parents need to know where you are.
“Good morning daughter, how it was the date last night? great motel uh? ;)”
Parents not even 20 years ago had no way of knowing and it wasn’t a problem.
