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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To expect my husband to accept me having his "find my friends" details on my phone?

80 replies

KettleNips · 14/10/2017 13:24

Long backstory.

For many reasons I won't bore you with it

I NC constantly as I have many friends who use this forum.

DH has a history of being dishonest , lying being a bit of a pig. We had counselling saw out the rough years. I suspect something. He's not acting differently - he's at home a lot more but someTHING just does not sit right with me.

After we had counselling he made a promise to me to be more transparent etc. I asked this morning for his FMF details and for him to accept the request and he refused saying I didn't need to have his location tracker on

When I told him that he works in cities regularly and the last time he was in Westminster tube station when there was a Terror attack he brushed it off.

I don't think I'm being unreasonable in asking im happy for him to have my details.

OP posts:
rwalker · 14/10/2017 18:13

nothing to hide but wouldn't like it feels very invasive and no respect for privacy . Only ok if you are both ok about it works for some people

cod · 14/10/2017 18:15

You’re well weird op

paq · 14/10/2017 18:18

Sounds like you have tried and tried but the relationship is over. Sorry.

Lagerthaisfabulous · 14/10/2017 18:23

Conditions like you have both agreed are not healthy and dont make a good marriage. I am sure there are some people who live like this and are happy with it. But usually those marraiges arent like that through lack of trust.

I could not live with no privacy at all. If dh needes this to feel secure, it would be the end of the marriage. The marriage is over.

I dont get how it makes you feel better anyway. If i were wanting to go somewhere that i didnt want my partner to know (which has never occured) i would just leave my phone somewhere else.

supersop60 · 14/10/2017 18:28

Frivolous answer - a colleague of mine used to regularly 'track' her H, mainly as pp have said, to know when to put the dinner on. He had to lie like mad about his phone being dead, on the day when he planned a surprise party for her!

diddl · 14/10/2017 18:35

"DH has a history of being dishonest , lying being a bit of a pig."

If he still is, why stay?

If he has to be transparent, what's the point?

Acadia · 14/10/2017 18:36

Personally I find location trackers really creepy. They have so little value OTHER than feeding whatever fear or neurosis made you want it in the first place (I know people who stalk their adult children all the time. They sit there glued to it watching a 29 year old drive home from work, ringing him up to nag him if he gets a KFC on the way home. It's like watching literal insanity take place) so why not tackle the root cause - you don't trust him, so either ditch him or deal with the fact you can never trust him forever.

All he'd do is leave his phone in a gym locker while shagging around anyway. It'll never give you the satisfaction you crave. It will not fix the symptom.

And the symptom is he's a cheat, and very few people can ever truly forgive. It's poisoned. It always will be. Why stick with poisoned?

Booboobooboo84 · 14/10/2017 18:46

I'm a bit torn on this. On the one hand he agreed to these conditions however deeply unhealthy they are but if it was three years ago technology has come on so far that the fact mobiles are now virtually trackers wasn't even thinkable when he made the promise.

I think overwhelmingly you deserve better than someone who you describe as a pig.

GerrytheBerry · 14/10/2017 18:47

Well, I understand you feel something isn't quite right and hence fmf app situation, but hubby and I had a similar tracking thing and I hated it tbh, I don't want anyone obsessing about where I am at all times, I'm completely innocent btw.
Plus it caused stress because it wasn't always accurate (it regularly said one of us had been somewhere we hadn't and knew it was a blip because we were together the whole time)

strongasmeringue · 14/10/2017 18:50

I can see both sides but the Op needs to do what is best for her.

ny20005 · 14/10/2017 18:52

I have this with my dh - not because I don’t trust him but so I can plan dinner & pick ups & all manner of normal stuff

If your dh has nothing to hide, he’d allow it but I think you know that xxx

Lightsoutandawaywego · 14/10/2017 19:11

I also have this with DH, mainly because I worry about him having an accident on his motorbike and it helps put my mind at rest (as it would do for you if there were any terror attacks). Also handy for putting dinner on. We tend to let each other know of any plans out of the ordinary anyway (I.e. going out after work for drinks, not coming home on time for dinner, etc) as it’s just more convenient. I really don’t see how it’s creepy or weird as pp’s have said.

Saying that, if you have trust issues with him then it may not be the healthiest thing to have as you’ll be checking it constantly to see if he’s telling the truth. But that’s a separate issue really. If he’s got nothing to hide then there should be no problem with you tracking him.

KungFuPandaWorksOut16 · 14/10/2017 19:49

lights I have nothing to hide, but no way would I be letting my husband track me.
It's not a case of having something to hide, it's a case of wanting your privacy.

ofudginghell · 14/10/2017 19:59

I have nothing to hide and neither does dh but I still would not have a tracker on him nor expect or let him have one on me ,not that he would ever suggest it Shock

What happened to good old trust?
If your relationship has got to the stage that you feel the need to track his whereabouts then I would say it’s def time to call it quits and don’t have him back this time.
Your self respect is worth so much more than relying on a tracker.

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 14/10/2017 20:13

Well you learn something new every day. I'm firmly in the no way would I track anyone or allow someone to track me.

strawberrypenguin · 14/10/2017 20:18

DH and I have each other on ‘find my friends’ BUT it’s not because we don’t trust each other. It’s because we sometimes find it genuinely useful ie has one of left work yet so the other can get food going. We don’t use it loads but it’s useful to have.

In your circumstances with the trust issues I’m not sure I’d be happy to have it because I knew DH had trust issues.

ilovesooty · 14/10/2017 20:56

I wonder how people managed to produce properly timed meals before they tracked each other.

Rachie1973 · 14/10/2017 21:01

Urgh, I'd hate being tracked. I don't even have it on my kids phones.

Lagerthaisfabulous · 14/10/2017 21:16

I dont get the 'i know what time to have dinner ready for' reasoning tbh.

I work outside the home. I text dh when i am leaving. I have a long commute and drive.

Dh cooks dinner.

Not Tracking has not caused us any dinner issues.

Or the 'incase of accident'. Unless you are live tracking, the whole journey, you wouldnt knoe an accident had happened any quicker.

If people are happy to tracked, thats fine. But I just dont get this reasoning.

mogulfield · 14/10/2017 21:22

DH and I have it and find it really handy. DH does a somewhat dangerous job and a commute, and often works very anti social hours, so I do like to see he’s coming home safe sometimes and not fallen asleep at the wheel.
He also is thoughtful with it, so If he tracks me home dinner is waiting for me when I get home, and he opens the gate to save me doing it! He’s even had our DS greet me with flowers (picked from our garden).

I’ve also spotted him in the supermarket and I’ve been able to put requests in!

scottishdiem · 14/10/2017 21:24

There are many reasons for having this type of function. I have recently shared it with DP on Google Maps and DP keeps forgetting about it. I gave it so DP could see where I was in terms of a journey home from variable locations (or doing shopping). Havent asked DP for it cause less variations in DPs routine.

i would never demand it and if I had got to the stage of using it to enforce trust then I would say the relationship is dead. Trust should not be tracked on a map.

jeaux90 · 14/10/2017 21:25

OP your shitty excuse of a husband is turning you into a controlling, paranoid weirdo.

Get rid of him and I can assure you, you will feel much better

Autumnskiesarelovely · 15/10/2017 00:53

OP I wouldn’t put too much Store into people saying it’s unhealthy to track or know passwords full stop. Actually it’s a sensible and positive step you both took in the past. Most haven’t been in your position.

The value of it wasn’t so much that you could definitely always know or obsess over what he is doing, that way is flawed and madness.

It is that your DP was prepared to give you a level of transparency to show you he was serious about making it up to you, and serious about changing. Having a tracker on will show up if you are staying in a hotel. It’s harder to cheat or lie.

The downside is that it’s like being with an alcoholic, it’s good if you have the keys to the drink cupboard and know if he visits a pub, but that’s a temporary help we’ve given them until they get stable.

But unless you can see real change and be able to eventually not be their ‘check’, then we become codependent and become stressed like you are now. It seems trust hasn’t got back to anywhere near a good level, and he’s just slipping again.

So the issue isn’t are you weird to want to track him, no you weren’t, as it was for a good reason, but it can’t go on and on.

The issue is he doesn’t want to, which shows he values his freedom above transparency to you, and hasn’t done enough to win your trust back so that you are ok with stopping checking up on him.

The thread wasn’t about my situation but it’s too long to go into, but I didn’t stay with my man as the damage from the trust gone was too huge, and although necessary I hated that feeling of having or wanting to check up.

I didn’t want that burden and couldn’t bear to look at his phone or where he was, so depressing. However it was important to me that I could, and that I had not demanded or asked for it, that he valued me more than his right to privacy, and that he understood he had to atone for his lies. it did make a big positive difference and massively helped him, he’s a better man. Not for me though.

KettleNips · 15/10/2017 07:16

Thanks Autumn
I agree with everything you've said and you've hit the nail on the head.
I've found myself trapped for a while but I just don't this is extra worry in my life- who does?

And for the record, I know I'm not weird Wink and no amount of posters sitting on their couches with one too many glasses of Pinot sunk, is going to change my mind on that.

OP posts:
Ercoldiningchair · 15/10/2017 07:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.