This week, I have been writing about various topics concerning cell phones and kids. So far, I have addressed the topics of whether your child is ready for a phone and cell phone monitoring software. Today, I’m going to address a related topic, GPS tracking.
Cell phones and GPS
Perhaps you are not interested in tracking all cell phone activities of your child but you would like to know where they are or how fast they are driving in their car. These days, many phones come equiped with a GPS tracking ability. This makes it possible for cell phone companies to offer services for parents to be able to track their child’s whereabouts.
Cell phone GPS tracking was originally only used for 911 emergency services. The tracking info is now accessible to the user but typically must be accessed through a special program via the cell service provider or third party provider.
There are several trackin options available including the following.
Geo-fencing
This service does not provide tracking information all the time. The tracking will only begin when the person enters or leaves a pre-determined area. For instance. If your child left the school property during the day, you could be alerted to this fact and be able to track your child at that point.
Speed alert
Similar to the geo-fencing service but activates tracking upon the tracking device exceeding a certain pre-determined speed. This would allow parents to monitor the driving speed of their teens if it went over a certain limit..
Real time tracking
Allows for continuous monitoring of the speed, and location of the tracking device. A parent could track the progress of a teen as they drive to another town or across the country.
Cost
There are various costs which may be assessed for GPS tracking services. It is important that you understand the details of any plan you sign up for so you are not surprised by charges you were not anticipating. Charges may include a setup fee, equipment charges, a monthly subscription fee in addition to cell phone service, and possibly fees for each location report.
The best place to begin researching GPS tracking options is probably with your current cell phone service provider. If you would like to investigate third party options, here are a couple of sites to research.
Other Considerations
There are also GPS tracking solutions that do not involve the use of a cell phone. The Ultimate Child-Tracker Buyers Guide is a good resource where you can get more detailed information about these types of products and services.
As with cell phone monitoring software, it is important to consider your individual family’s needs as well as privacy and ethical concerns. This technology can also be used for tracking pets or even other adults in certain situations.
What do you think of GPS and the potential for its use or abuse? Would you use it to keep track of your children? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
photo credit: MiNe (sfmine79)
Written on September 25th, 2009 at 12:39 am by Nikki Brown
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