slo’s WEDNESDAY 3/6 poll - Phone Tracking 📲

[lilmc]

Both teen girls, hubby, and I all track each other. My girls feel more secure knowing we can find them if sometime went wrong. One was alarmed when we told her it’s not so exact, that we might know within a block of where to tell the police to start looking (assuming her phone is still with her). She definitely feels more safe with it, not bothered at all we know where she is. We only use for practical purposes like should I start dinner, set the table, too late to add onto the grocery list, etc.

 

[mjkacmom]

I share with my family, I don’t think they’ve ever checked. I can track most of my kids (and the one I don’t track will share his location when he’s overseas next week, I just found out he’s leaving Friday). I very rarely use it, sometimes H if I think he might be driving home from work and I need him to pick up something, I track my 21 year old when she’s making the 12 hour drive to and from school, and my 22 year old when she’s taking the train home from school, 4+ hours ((she needs a ride home from the station). My other 2 kids live an hour away so no need, except when ds25 is coming home (he’s always so late, easier to track than ask him when he’s coming). Actually 3 will be out of the country in the next couple of weeks (not together), sometimes it’s fun to see where they end up.

 

[mjkacmom]

I can't get DH to carry his phone. About 6 months ago, he was outside with rollator on grass. Hit a rut, when over. After 15 mins I went to check on him. Sitting on grass, happy as a clam, but couldn't get up. Wheel broke.

My H forgets his phone frequently, one day he tool the dog for a walk, dog came back, he didn’t. I went out to look for him, he was in the park trying to find our dog. Just bring your phone!

 

[sarahann77]

If I had kids I probably would use the function. DH doesn't have an IPhone and never will; if there's another app that allows I'm surprised he isn't aware. If DH wanted to follow me I would let him

 

[fly girl]

Life 360 for the 3 of us.

Really comes in handy, especially now that I have a teen driver and it monitors habits of excessive speed, phone usage, hard braking, and rapid acceleration.

 

[lanejudy]

One of us uses an Android phone and the other two are iPhones, so when DD first got a phone we all installed Life360. I honestly found it to be such a battery-kill that I turned it off and rarely used it. DD's might be turned off as well. We do have "find my iPhone (iPad)" available and similar for the Android devices.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We all have apple phones so it's easy. Just go under Settings.

 

[amcnj]

I have never used this. I just looked and “share my location” is not on, so I guess no one has been tracking me either.

 

[Brian Noble]

Relatedly: I neither have nor want video doorbells/security cameras/etc. I'm even moderately grumpy that CLEAR has switched to facial recognition, though DHS is moving that way too. They've been doing facial recognition on international departures at DTW for at least a year now. More recently, Delta was running a pilot for them at DTW for domestic check-in, open to anyone with Global Entry or a valid passport. (Translation: anyone for whom DHS has your photo tied to your identity.) The last time I used CLEAR at MCO I also had to re-scan a photo with the TSA agent to enter the precheck line, but I have no idea why.

The surveillance state gives me the willies, but that's partly because I know folks who've traveled to the Uighur areas of western China and seen what one can do with it first hand.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I barely know how to make phone calls on my phone. I don't think it even has tracking capabilities. Nobody tracks me anyway. I'm usually sitting right here.

My cousin tracks her daughter when she's at work (she's a paramedic) to see where she goes when she has a call.

 

[fla4fun]

My sister and I use Find My to monitor each other when one of us is traveling on road trips, but we don’t use it otherwise. I do it on my iPad instead of my phone though. There’s no one else I follow or who follows me.

 

[georgina]

We don't specifically follow each other. I can see where one of our cars is on the car app though. Once when DD was visiting and borrowed one of our bikes she enabled me to see where she was. She's not familiar with our area and goes for long rides.

 

[Praying Colonel]

DW and I "stalk" each other, as we jokingly call location sharing with each other (and yes, I know it's not a funny topic for many).

We started sharing our location with 2 close friends several years ago when we were on vacation together, and we haven't turned it off.

We'd be willing to do it with our kids but they don't want to share back, so they get to guess where we are.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

We don't use it at all and I wouldn't want to. I don't see any reason for it.

 

[tasha99]

I only used it once, in 2016 when I drove to NYC. My now-husband tracked me on my drive, partly to see where I was out of curiousity, and partly for some sense of safety. When I got to NYC, we ended the tracking.

 

[lovin'fl]

I like it. I have twin DDs aged 25 and we live many hours away from them and have since they went off to college. I think it's important to have in case something goes wrong. And when we are in town together and meeting up it is nice to see where they are for an ETA. I don't have same phone type so I can't track but DH does and only one DD allows him to track. Other DD refuses. And our DS-27 also refuses but he is staying with us right now for a bit so no worries with him, as much.

Nobody cares to track me so they don't. I would track DH or at least have the ability to in case. But we have different phone types.

I did set up Life360 to track my mom after she had a stroke and left hospital against orders at 2am and had car accident. While I was 14 hours away and couldn't figure things out and was a mess. Was a horrible awful night. So now I can see where she is and how she is driving and such. It's a relief because sometimes she doesn't answer her cellphone as she plugs it in another room and she no longer has a home phone.

I sent links, or whatever invites, to have the DH and kids join Life360 and track together and they would not set it up. My mom could use to track me but she has no clue how to use Life360. So I am never tracked and wouldn't mind if I were. But I could disappear and nobody would know where.

 

[mikehn]

No, no, and another hard no.

 

[Kitty 34]

I don't have a cell phone, so I am completely out of this one!

I use only my computer for tracking my jets.

 

[easyas123]

No, but I'm thinking I'm sure glad this wasn't a thing when I was a kid
My kids had smart phones, but we didn't track them. And they are adults now, so I wouldn't think it appropriate.
The most we do is my husband will text me and tell me where he's hunting so if he falls out of his tree stand and doesn't show up for dinner I know where to send the kids to look for him and if I'm in a Uber I'll send him my location or text that I've left a airport.
This AM I flew to FL for a conference, and coincidently he drove to FL to pick up a piece of equipment....we've touched base once and will once tonight and that works for us. I don't need to know when he passed South of the Border!

 

[CynBeth]

We don't use it at all and I wouldn't want to. I don't see any reason for it.

Same here.