Location sharing- I think I’m worryingly in the minority

[PomPomHead]

I am seriously worried that I’m in the minority here and the world’s gone mad. Why would you share your location All The Time with every member of your family ( even, as in the case of my friends, with your
married 30 year old daughter!)? Why does nobody feel able to be independent and unwatched ? It baffles me and nobody has been able to persuade me of the so-called safety benefits?
Is checking your location now the new showing me you love me?

Might be a stupid question as I've never used these apps, but can you actually see who views your location when and how often? Do you actually know how often he is watching your location?

How long does it take for your kettle to boil?

And just because you have left work doesn’t mean you are going straight home anyway. So how does it help with tea making unless he is watching it constantly for your journey?

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jul/24/inside-the-rise-of-couple-location-sharing

It’s lovely to have it ready for you when you walk in! And anyway, it really doesn’t matter how long it takes the kettle to boil-she doesn’t have to justify what she does, she’s just saying that’s what they use it for.

You have to share your location willingly she isn’t doing it unknowingly and what is wrong with a mum checking her son or daughter is home safe for example after a journey, it saves messaging them

Yeah not for me. My kids have never shared their location permanently with me. Occasionally will do an 8hr share via what’s app but not all the time, definitely not.

We share, between me and DH but I also have my mum and sister. I consider it a complete non issue tbh -I do a lot of driving and consider it a safety thing. I rarely look at it - but it’s definitely helped me on a few rare occasions.

Which is just justifying stalking another person really. Let’s not pretend so it’s so they have a hot cup of tea waiting, maybe they don’t want a cup of tea thrust at them as them the second they walk through the door.

But that’s how people on this website justify it. With a tinkly emoji and a “lol”

These are adults! They should not have to be reassuring their parents as to their whereabouts or getting home or anything else. The fact that they share willingly shows how that sense or expectation of privacy has been eroded.

Me and my dds do. It’s helpful if we are meeting up or if I want to ring them. We don’t look at it obsessively. I’ll just check it if it’s helpful to know.

How does it help for phoning them? Just call them, they will answer if it’s convenient

Well if they are busy/still at work I don’t disturb them.

You know they’re perfectly capable of simply not answering if it’s not convenient, yes?

But location doesn’t necessarily dictate ability to answer a phone. If they are busy, they just won’t answer.

I’m much more worried about being filmed and recorded. everywhere I go, than sharing my location with my close relatives. The former feels much more intrusive and oppressive.

Christ what a lovely relationship you must have with your family

Boundaries are indeed lovely!

Not once did my mother ever burden me with having to reassure her to as my whereabouts or getting home safely or anything like that. Which is good because I spent a number of years boozing and partying my way round London.

She didn’t interfere. She wasn’t nosey. She wasn’t judgemental. She allowed me to grow up, make mistakes, find my own way.

She’s been dead 6 years now and it’s reading threads like this that make me miss her most and realise what a gem she was.

I do this with my friends, have you got home okay cos actually living in a city isnt that safe when you’re going him late for example or to just check after a seven hour drive have you got there okay, yes. What’s wrong with that? Sorry about your mum being dead, i can’t imagine losing a parent.

Thanks @Emonade.
Yes, with a couple of friends we might say, message me when you’re home. We don’t track each other though!
My main partying was done in the days before mobiles or right at the start. Keep track of each other in any way simply didn’t happen.

The more we normalise tracking, "cos I've nothing to hide" the easier it is for controlling partners to track their partners. After all, if you've nothing to hide, no reason to decline.... this isn't good

Mine is permanently off after my DH complained some years ago that I’d spent too long in Tescos (because I was trying loads on in the adjacent M&S!)

Yes, this.

I think it tends to increase anxiety and the need to control in parents, and cell phones in general are robbing kids of an important kind of independence. The differernce between my generation, and my much younger sister's, in this regard, is extreme, there seem to be so many control issues in her age group.

Yep. That’s the start of a slippery slope. Along with the implication that you’re not in a loving relationship with the person if you don’t want to share. “It’s just cos I love you, I want to know you’re safe”. So sinister.

I actually just realised how many people use it instead of actual communication.