The domestic panopticon: location tracking in families

Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2015, 2015

A diary approach was used to explore location-sharing preferences of 126 parents with young children with the goal of investigating which elements play a role in their decision to share their location. During a 3-week user study, we daily collected parents' preferences of location sharing along with data related to the physical and social context, their interest in socializing with other parents and their emotional states. Our analysis points out several insights for this previously underexplored user group. In particular, our results suggest a relative greater importance of the context, both physical and social, with respect to individual traits such as personality, trust dispositions, and demographic characteristics. Moreover positive and negative emotions seem to influence the intention to share location information in a peculiar way: positive moods like happiness seem to encourage private sharing with selected people such as partner, relatives, friends and nearby parents, yet, when parents experience a negative mood, such as being worried, angry or sad, their intention to share publicly on the web is higher.

Real-time location tracking of individuals has become relatively easy with the widespread availability of commercial wearable devices that use geographical positioning information to provide location-based services. One application of this technology is to allow parents to monitor the location of their children. This paper investigates child location tracking technology in the US and the UK and compares its privacy implications. Although overall the price levels and the technical capabilities are the same, we find that the features of the technology are different depending on the social context. This can be attributed to national regulations and law that shape how a technology can be used. These laws and regulations, influenced by cultural frameworks, values, and morality, differ considerably between the countries. Clarifying the expected impacts of technology on the lives of users and other stakeholders in terms of these contextual factors will help to inform public debate about technical possibilities and societal needs.

Re-Orientation: Translingual Transcultural Transmedia. Studies in narrative, language, identity, and knowledge (J Hartley & W Qu eds)

The moment of birth was once the instant where parents and others first saw their child in the world, but with the advent of various imaging technologies, most notably the ultrasound, the first photos often precede birth (Lupton, 2013). In the past several decades, the question is no longer just when the first images are produced, but who should see them, via which, if any, communication platforms? Should sonograms (the ultrasound photos) be used to announce the impending arrival of a new person in the world? Moreover, while that question is ostensibly quite benign, it does usher in an era where parents and loved ones are, for the first years of life, the ones deciding what, if any, social media presence young people have before they’re in a position to start contributing to those decisions. This chapter addresses this comparatively new online terrain, postulating the provocative term intimate surveillance, which deliberately turns surveillance on its head, begging the question whether sharing affectionately, and with the best of intentions, can or should be understood as a form of surveillance. Firstly, this chapter will examine the idea of co-creating online identities, touching on some of the standard ways of thinking about identity online, and then starting to look at how these approaches do and do not explicitly address the creation of identity for others, especially parents creating online identities for their kids. I will then review some ideas about surveillance and counter-surveillance with a view to situating these creative parental acts in terms of the kids and others being created. Finally, this chapter will explore several examples of parental monitoring, capturing and sharing of data and media about their children, using various mobile apps, contextualising these activities not with a moral finger-waving, but by surfacing specific questions and literacies which parents may need to develop in order to use these tools mindfully, and ensure decisions made about their children’s’ online presences are purposeful decisions.

Journal of Children and Media

Recent studies point to the heavy rate of smartphone use by parents while they are accompanied by their children in public places This, in turn, leads to parental technoference, which raises concerns regarding children's safety and their emotional wellbeing. Accordingly, the present study aims to ascertain the cross-cultural manifestations of parental technoference due to mobile phone use in playgrounds and eateries in two different national contexts: the US and Israel. Parents with children aged 2 to 6 years old were selected for observations. In the US we conducted 27 observations in playgrounds and 30 observations in eateries. In Israel, we conducted 20 observations in playgrounds and 38 observations in eateries. Our data suggest that during phone use, parents ignore children's interactional initiatives and convey lack of attention and care to the point of sometimes being inattentive to their safety and emotional needs. Children, on their part, expressed frustration and disappointment, which are manifested at times in different forms of inappropriate or risky behavior, or withdrawal from any attempt to communicate with their parents.

New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia, 2024

This paper contributes to research on family location tracking technologies by investigating public discussion about the uses, meanings, and impacts of location tracking apps. The study offers a topic-based qualitative content analysis of public posts about the most popular location tracking app Life360 across three key social media platforms-X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and TikTok. It adopts a crossplatform perspective to gather and analyse varied viewpoints from these platforms, which differ in their social media content, user demographics, and technical affordances. The analysis reveals an extensive range of public discussion topics, which are categorised into three themes: Family Experiences, Views and Values; News, Commerce and Information; and Critique, Subversion, and Humour. The themes align with the different platform vernaculars of each platform, with X posts spread across family experience, news and criticial commentary, whilst YouTube emphasises more commercial and informational topics, and TikTok surfaces more humour, subversive or critical posts, especially from younger users. Furthermore, the cross-platform analysis highlights how the personal, political, and subversive posts from teenage users on TikTok influences the wider news and public discussions about family location tracking and surveillance across other social and legacy media.

Proceedings of the 6th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction Extending Boundaries - NordiCHI '10, 2010

In this paper we explore technologies that help parents locate their children. Parents regularly use mobile phones to stay in touch with their children, but recent developments in location-based tracking allow parents to assess the location of their child directly. Such location-based services offer new assurances, but also bring new privacy challenges. In order to explore these, we conducted a case study focussing on the way in which a family has used location-based technologies to keep track of a child with Aspergers Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This novel research shows that Location-Based Services, although usually applied to lone-worker situations, can be effectively applied to other user groups. The parents of the child were interviewed at length, and the interview was analysed using qualitative methods. The findings are discussed and considered against a current predictive model of LBS use.

Selected papers of internet research, 2019

Case Study: Communication Technologies in Danish Families This study is part of a Danish research project that explores perceptions and experiences of everyday surveillance practices in family life. The project aims to

2010

In this paper we explore technologies that help parents locate their children. Parents regularly use mobile phones to stay in touch with their children, but recent developments in location-based tracking allow parents to assess the location of their child directly. Such location-based services offer new assurances, but also bring new privacy challenges. In order to explore these, we conducted a case study focussing on the way in which a family has used location-based technologies to keep track of a child with Aspergers Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This novel research shows that Location-Based Services, although usually applied to lone-worker situations, can be effectively applied to other user groups. The parents of the child were interviewed at length, and the interview was analysed using qualitative methods. The findings are discussed and considered against a current predictive model of LBS use.

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 2012

Location-based social networking (LBSN) is a service that utilizes location information to facilitate social networking. LBSN applications allow users to view the locations of their “friends.” They also may allow users to view information about other users of LBSN applications that are located in proximity. Users invite their friends to participate in LBSN. A process of consent follows in which users provide permission for their location information to be viewed to varying levels of detail depending on their chosen settings. The manner in which LBSN applications work is illustrated simplistically in Fig. 1, although variations to this model exist. LBSN applications such as Loopt, Fire Eagle, Navizon, iPoki, Locago, ZinTin, iFob, WhosHere, and Google Latitude enhance a users ability to perform overt or covert social surveillance. These applications enable users to view and share real-time location information with their family and friends. With the emergence of this technology it is crucial to consider, as suggested by Kling [1], that “technology alone, even good technology alone is not sufficient to create social or economic value.” Further to not contributing “sufficient” economic or social value, Kling and other scholars, such as Kraut et al. [2], have identified that technologies can have negative impacts on society.

Pervasive and Mobile Computing, 2010

Does pervasive technology have a role to play in supporting the communication of busy couples? Especially when they are already living together and already have a high degree of awareness of each other’s rhythms of daily life, their whereabouts and needs? A two week long field study of an awareness system allowed eight working couples to automatically exchange place, activity and calendar information as well as messages and photos. Data analysis provides both qualitative and quantitative evidence which suggest strongly that such a system can provide support for availability, coordination, reassurance and affection for this group. Findings which inform the design of such systems are: the need for transitions in places instead of location information to support coordination, the two tracks of daily communication of busy parents (reassurance and emergency) and usability barriers in current mobile applications which prevent this group from engaging in photo sharing. The contexts and unexpected uses that participants found in the system are described in detail.