Tragic Example Of The Dangers Of Kid Tracking
Back in September, we wondered what all the fuss was from people who thought the ability to locate their kids via GPS chips in mobile phones was somehow a "safety feature." In fact, we thought it was likely to make the situation worse. First, there's the chance that this could be abused completely -- and a potential abductor (most kidnappers are relatives, after all) could find out where the kid is via this technology for the purpose of kidnapping them. Then, any abductor would quickly get rid of the phone before they could be tracked. However, parents might feel more secure, and not teach their kids the necessary street smarts to avoid situations where they're at risk. Russell Buckley, at the Mobile Weblog, is now pointing out, tragically, it appears that's exactly what happened in Japan. While the kidnappers left the phone with the kid for a bit, it didn't do them any good in tracking them down, and eventually the phone was ditched, before the girl was killed. It's understandable that parents want to keep an eye on their children to protect them, but this technology gives a false sense of protection, and can often make things even worse.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
