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?

We have it as a family, because I regularly go running and it's a good safety feature should I hurt myself and not know exactly where I am. It also came in handy when DS was getting the bus to school by himself for the first time and got off the wrong stop and got lost. We could see where he was and help him over the phone. I don't see it as intrusive, we don't constantly look to see where the other is, it is just handy to have if needed. DH has used it before to make me a cup of tea ready when I get on when I've been on a run and the weather has turned. I've come in soaking wet and he's had a bath run and hot tea waiting for me.

Oh and re tracking my husband - I find it useful because he has a long drive home after work and I like to know whether he’s running late or not, particularly as the time he arrives home affects my own work schedule.

My husband likes to know whether I arrive somewhere safely.

Nothing to do with trust in my case - my husband seldom goes out drinking or similar, literally not even once a year, and if he was to have an affair I’m quite sure it would be at work or somewhere work-related, as statistically that’s where most affairs begin, and therefore the tracking would tell me nothing. Not that I particularly think he’d have an affair anyway, but there you go.

In that particular scenario, maybe.

For virtually everybody else it’s a non-issue.

Nope. Never did it with my kids either. It’s an invasion of privacy if you ask me.

I really don’t see the whole point of it.
obviously in the case of young dc although it wasn’t around when mine were really young,we went in trust and hope we taught them well.
and I see the point for vulnerable people but other than that I don’t get it

We have it and I find it helpful with my young teens starting to be more independent but I don’t check it much.

'I am seriously worried that I’m in the minority here.'

If this is all you have to 'seriously worry' about OP then count your blessings.

Only with my kids who are school age

Actually yes, if he is driving.

There are no phone boxes true. Because everyone has a moblie phone. Being able to contact someone in an emergency is way easier today than it was in the era of phone boxes

Surely it’s only an invasion of privacy if people aren’t consenting.
Everyone in my 360 circle has actively chosen to join.

What would you have t if your DS said no to being tracked at uni?

Because that's the issue. Not the actual tracking per se, it's if young people (actually any people) are enabled to be allowed make the adult decision to say "actually mum, no, I'm not having tracking" without threats or a major drama.

It’s not controlling if you are choosing to share your location.

It's perfectly reasonable to have views and concerns about the changing ways that people in society are behaving, and about the increasing hold and control that technology has over people's lives. That kind of stuff is everyone's business.

If "everyone" in your circle has joined, how much freedom would one person really have to opt out without question or pressure? Is it really free choice at that point?

My husband declined an invite to join one of circles in. It wasn’t a problem 🤷🏼‍♀️

We use Life360 as a family. Even my 21 year old son at Uni is happy to still have it on. He must think it is a reasonable request (not demand) especially as we pay still pay for his phone contract.

I won't go into detail, but we have been grateful for it in the past when I located him in a far away hospital A&E. He was away from home, his phone had died, he had a concussion, couldn't contact us, and his NHS record that the hospital could access had an old number for us. (GP had up to date details, but presumably a different system.)

I love how those who don't have it assume it's used in secret to control other family members or to spy on them. We have all given permission to be in it and no one in our family is sat looking where everyone is all the time. It's just handy for emergencies. I don't use it to see where DH is if he goes out or likewise.
We also found it handy the other week when DS lost his phone, quick look on family link and we could see it was in his school and whereabouts 😂

I have never tracked anyone.

I can however see if an elderly parent has dementia it might be useful if they are prone to getting lost.

The thought of tracking teenagers/young adults is really not great. In the days before mobiles we had total freedom, I don't want to take that away from my children!

I only ever switch it on for the last hour of a journey so my hosts can see when I am likely to arrive, or if I'm trying to meet up with someone, but OH and I have never tracked each other and it wasn't a thing when our kids were younger.
However, some parents need to seriously get a grip : the number of phone calls I have had to field from parents checking that their kids are actually in school "because I can't see them on the tracker" which is normal because the phone has to be switched off when they arrive.... and we message anyone whose kid is inexplicably absent, so no news is good news. These are 11-16 year olds.

Until you by default share the location of everyone you’re with.

I have my location shared with my eldest son, he is very anxious and if I can alleviate this in any way I will. But hell would freeze over before I shared my location with a boyfriend/partner.

Yes this
What would happen if they turned round and said no I don't want to do it?
A lot of people would be worried about causing drama and just feel like they had to go along with it to keep the peace.

No one makes you do that, by default or otherwise.

I have it on with my husband. It's extremely practical for determining whether I should still call him for a forgotten ingredient or he's already oit of the shop, am I picking up the baby or is he there already,, can he put on my meal or an I on a later train.

I wonder what proportion of people really “choose” to let someone know exactly where they are at all times (outside specific circumstances like being in a dangerous or potentially dangerous place for a short time).

My thoughts are that many people are likely led to believe it’s normal by controlling partners and/or accused of having something to hide if they don’t share location all the time. I also suspect many who feel their partner “never checks” or “only checks when I’m on my way home from work for dinner reasons” are actually being checked up on much more but don’t know it.

People deserve privacy, independence and, if they want and aren’t betraying anyone, to have secrets from their kids, parents, spouses.