Got GPS on your phone? – read this!
One company in the US is now offering a child tracking service to parents. The monitoring can be done through a mobile app installed on the child’s Smartphone and it can, for example, provide parents with GPS coordinates of where the phone is at any given time.
Parents would also be able to read text messages sent or received by their kids and what photos have been taken with the phones inbuilt camera. All of this is possible thanks to the co-operation agreement that the app provider signed with mobile networks providers. The obvious and most likely main use of the app will be safety as it gives parents the piece of mind of knowing where their kids are at given time.
Secondary usage of the technology that the monitoring app is using is driving safety as the phone is shut down when driving so no text messages or phone calls can be made). Also, if connected with a persons credit card, the banks could start using the GPS localisation to confirm that the purchases are made at the same location as the Smartphones current position thus working as an anti-fraud measure.
The app sends out random messages to the monitored phone about the monitoring activities that the handset is subjected to. This is to ensure that the technology is not misused and installed on people’s phones without their knowledge. The data collected by the app is also regularly disposed off, with retention periods varying between 7 to 30 days.
In the European Union, the localisation data is considered personal data and as such is protected by the EU Data Protection Directive. It will be still some time before similar services are offered e.g. in the UK.
