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.
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.
I share my location with my wife just in case I end up in a ditch dying while riding my motorcycle.
I have very mixed feelings about androids crash detection. The personal privacy is fine but - fucking google.
You supposedly hate Google, yet have an android… The fuck is wrong with you?
Didn’t know there existed a crash detection function. I just share my location to her all the time. She does the same. Yeah I agree but I rather let my wife relax than not knowing. My point is that not all loses of privacy have to be bad.
Your toxic partner: “What were you doing at that cafe at 5:42 PM”
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.
Not a new thing, and I can definitely see good uses for this information. What they should have done is made it so that the one being tracked gets a log and real time notification any time someone is tracking them. This would alleviate some of the toxic spying behavior simply by making it transparent rather than covert.
