4 ms·

Are this kind of apps really a thing?

ryandvm 8y ago
I'm curious about the demographics of someone that would ask such a question (in such a manner). I suspect you do not have children, or at least not teenage ones. I recall that I used to hold much stronger (and different) opinions about child-rearing _before_ I had children of my own. I constantly struggle with balance between keeping my children safe and allowing them agency and the development of personal responsibility. Among other things, this ranges over such topics as location tracking, internet filtering, browser history, screen-time, etc. I will absolutely admit that much of this sounds like the stuff that repressive governments engage in, but then again, my children are not full citizens. They are developing human beings that require a certain degree of protection. Are you only opposed to location tracking? What level of "nanny-state" do think is acceptable in a household setting?
- Geimfari 8y ago
  I just fail to see what exactly tracking teenagers would be keeping them "safe" from. It seems like it wouldn't result in anything but resentment and sneaky behaviour.
- pavel_lishin 8y ago
  Now that you do have kids, do you use such an app? Do you plan to? (I'm a father of a 3 year old; I'll likely use _something_ like this when she's old enough to go to the store around the corner and back by herself, but will likely stop once she's old enough to take the subway by herself.)
- dylan604 8y ago
  Think of it this way, what did parents do before these kinds of things were available? Humans are still in existence, so teenagers were able to survive without this level af parental tracking. I think this level of parental overwatch says more about the parent’s insecurities than anything. You know what you were up to as a teenager. That’s probably what your teenager is doing. Did anything you do deserve big brother level tracking?
- pragmacoders 8y ago
  Every generation throws off the ideals of the generation that came before. Parents monitor their kids for a combination of: 1. Worry about the outside world. Justified - but monitoring location doesn't make it any less likely that they'll get hurt. 2. Worry about their child doing something they consider dumb. Again - justified. They will absolutely do something you consider dumb. But monitoring your child won't make then agree with you and won't stop them from doing something you don't like. The tighter the grip, the more they'll fight and the more they'll resent you for making them fight. Parents like to think that this resentment will go away when the child is older. It doesn't. Many of you probably resent something your parents did when you were younger. But it does become less intense with distance - like everything else. Anywho - Monitoring teenagers doesn't actually help anything. Monitoring younger children might make you feel more safe, though.
- okmokmz 8y ago
  As someone with extremely overbearing helicopter parents that now has a lot of issues that I have been working through over time with a therapist, please don't surveil and micromanage your children. It ultimately led to a lot of distrust of authority, anxiety, depression, social isolation, making worse choices in attempts to circumvent security controls and attempt to have control over my life, and other long lasting negative effects. I can guarantee that anything you implement (gps tracking, cameras, filters, logs) will be easily identified and bypassed, causing distrust and potentially even less safe decisions/scenarios.
- acheron 8y ago
  > I suspect you do not have children The absolute worst genre of HN comments is "single childless guy criticizes others about their parenting". You've got some examples in the replies to this comment. I will say you're probably doing fine.
code_duck 8y ago
Well, Apple has had one called “Find My Friends” since 2011.
- napolux 8y ago
  But you have to authorize them and I trust more Apple than any random dev making an app with my location. I used the "find my frieds" enabling my wife to track me for when I went in a long distance working trip from Italy in a very sketchy area of the US called SILICON VALLEY. Jokes apart, a temporary "find my friends" can be useful, but a continuous tracking it's nonsense to me.
  - code_duck 8y ago
    People routinely grant apps location access for much more dubious reasons. Anyhow, I was just pointing out this is an function that people definitely find useful.
rootusrootus 8y ago
Yes of course. Personally I use Life360. It's very handy. Even Google had an app like it, until (of course!) they killed it.
- dcbadacd 8y ago
  Google maps still allows location sharing, not just covert one.
- ryandvm 8y ago
  They brought it back. It's branded "location sharing" in the current iteration of Google Maps. Works just like Latitude used to. You can see people who are sharing their location with you right in Google Maps.
  - rootusrootus 8y ago
    Ah that's cool, I did not hear that it came back. Thanks for the info!
lotsofpulp 8y ago
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201493 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201493 https://support.google.com/maps/answer/7326816?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en https://support.google.com/maps/answer/7326816?co=GENIE.Plat...
willio58 8y ago
Yes. They are terrible. My mother uses it on my teenage brother so much that he actually leaves his phone places so she thinks he’s somewhere he isn’t. So in wanting to keep your child safe by checking these apps often, you can make them _less_ safe and more dishonest.
- rootusrootus 8y ago
  That's not a problem with the app.
  - whenchamenia 8y ago
    It is a root problem the app embodies.
    - rootusrootus 8y ago
      We manage to use the app without this problem. Everybody participates willingly.
- anbop 8y ago
  That gives him the different benefit of experiencing life as a teenager without a phone.
  - pavel_lishin 8y ago
    Not much of a benefit if he's the only person in his friends' group without one.

I'm curious about the demographics of someone that would ask such a question (in such a manner). I suspect you do not have children, or at least not teenage ones. I recall that I used to hold much stronger (and different) opinions about child-rearing _before_ I had children of my own. I constantly struggle with balance between keeping my children safe and allowing them agency and the development of personal responsibility. Among other things, this ranges over such topics as location tracking, internet filtering, browser history, screen-time, etc. I will absolutely admit that much of this sounds like the stuff that repressive governments engage in, but then again, my children are not full citizens. They are developing human beings that require a certain degree of protection. Are you only opposed to location tracking? What level of "nanny-state" do think is acceptable in a household setting?

Geimfari 8y ago
I just fail to see what exactly tracking teenagers would be keeping them "safe" from. It seems like it wouldn't result in anything but resentment and sneaky behaviour.
pavel_lishin 8y ago
Now that you do have kids, do you use such an app? Do you plan to? (I'm a father of a 3 year old; I'll likely use _something_ like this when she's old enough to go to the store around the corner and back by herself, but will likely stop once she's old enough to take the subway by herself.)
dylan604 8y ago
Think of it this way, what did parents do before these kinds of things were available? Humans are still in existence, so teenagers were able to survive without this level af parental tracking. I think this level of parental overwatch says more about the parent’s insecurities than anything. You know what you were up to as a teenager. That’s probably what your teenager is doing. Did anything you do deserve big brother level tracking?
pragmacoders 8y ago
Every generation throws off the ideals of the generation that came before. Parents monitor their kids for a combination of: 1. Worry about the outside world. Justified - but monitoring location doesn't make it any less likely that they'll get hurt. 2. Worry about their child doing something they consider dumb. Again - justified. They will absolutely do something you consider dumb. But monitoring your child won't make then agree with you and won't stop them from doing something you don't like. The tighter the grip, the more they'll fight and the more they'll resent you for making them fight. Parents like to think that this resentment will go away when the child is older. It doesn't. Many of you probably resent something your parents did when you were younger. But it does become less intense with distance - like everything else. Anywho - Monitoring teenagers doesn't actually help anything. Monitoring younger children might make you feel more safe, though.
okmokmz 8y ago
As someone with extremely overbearing helicopter parents that now has a lot of issues that I have been working through over time with a therapist, please don't surveil and micromanage your children. It ultimately led to a lot of distrust of authority, anxiety, depression, social isolation, making worse choices in attempts to circumvent security controls and attempt to have control over my life, and other long lasting negative effects. I can guarantee that anything you implement (gps tracking, cameras, filters, logs) will be easily identified and bypassed, causing distrust and potentially even less safe decisions/scenarios.
acheron 8y ago
> I suspect you do not have children The absolute worst genre of HN comments is "single childless guy criticizes others about their parenting". You've got some examples in the replies to this comment. I will say you're probably doing fine.

code_duck 8y ago

Well, Apple has had one called “Find My Friends” since 2011.

napolux 8y ago
But you have to authorize them and I trust more Apple than any random dev making an app with my location. I used the "find my frieds" enabling my wife to track me for when I went in a long distance working trip from Italy in a very sketchy area of the US called SILICON VALLEY. Jokes apart, a temporary "find my friends" can be useful, but a continuous tracking it's nonsense to me.
- code_duck 8y ago
  People routinely grant apps location access for much more dubious reasons. Anyhow, I was just pointing out this is an function that people definitely find useful.

rootusrootus 8y ago

Yes of course. Personally I use Life360. It's very handy. Even Google had an app like it, until (of course!) they killed it.

dcbadacd 8y ago
Google maps still allows location sharing, not just covert one.
ryandvm 8y ago
They brought it back. It's branded "location sharing" in the current iteration of Google Maps. Works just like Latitude used to. You can see people who are sharing their location with you right in Google Maps.
- rootusrootus 8y ago
  Ah that's cool, I did not hear that it came back. Thanks for the info!

lotsofpulp 8y ago

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201493 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201493 https://support.google.com/maps/answer/7326816?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en https://support.google.com/maps/answer/7326816?co=GENIE.Plat...

willio58 8y ago

Yes. They are terrible. My mother uses it on my teenage brother so much that he actually leaves his phone places so she thinks he’s somewhere he isn’t. So in wanting to keep your child safe by checking these apps often, you can make them _less_ safe and more dishonest.

rootusrootus 8y ago
That's not a problem with the app.
- whenchamenia 8y ago
  It is a root problem the app embodies.
  - rootusrootus 8y ago
    We manage to use the app without this problem. Everybody participates willingly.
anbop 8y ago
That gives him the different benefit of experiencing life as a teenager without a phone.
- pavel_lishin 8y ago
  Not much of a benefit if he's the only person in his friends' group without one.