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. 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. 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.
A 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. 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.
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 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. 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. Explore further. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more. Your feedback will go directly to Science X editors.
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By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. May 16, Are tracking technologies changing parenting? Credit: Trendsetter Images. Do let us know if there are more apps that you have used and are satisfied with. With that being said, she has an Honours degree, a few educational certificates, a photography diploma and two novels under her belt.
She is an avid sleeper who can create and improve any story especially if it's an eye roll. In her free time, she is either listening to her music collection or can be found studying something or the other. Great Language Learning Services. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Hello guys, though this app is only a week old but I find this app really cool. I am so very happy using this location tracker.
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How to locate that cell phone?! I found very simple, free app which locates cell phone depending which source is available! By Zahra Last updated Mar 1, Zenly Free By far the best of the lot here, Zenly app is a free real-time locator app available on both iOS and Android. Once again, the app is free and anyone with iOS or Android can use it.
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Family Tracker Paid Family Tracker is certainly one of the oldest apps on this list, but it is still popular because it is effective. Continue Reading. Zahra 58 posts comments. You might also like. Prev Next.
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