Sprint Users Can Track Children Via GPS By DAVID TWIDDY, AP Business Writer 36 minutes ago KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Up until now, parents had to deal with a separate company or buy special equipment to track their children through their cell phones. Sprint Nextel Corp. becomes the first U.S. wireless provider to sell its own product when the Family Locator Service rolls out Thursday. Using the Global Positioning System, the service allows parents to track up to four cell phones over the Internet or on their own wireless device. Parents can periodically ask the service to find the child's phone, displaying the location on a road map. Parents can also set alerts, automatically warning the parent if the child isn't at a certain place, such as school or soccer practice, at a specific time. The child's phone also displays a text message, letting the child know they've been searched for and found. The software, provided through WaveMarket Inc. for $9.99 per month, can be downloaded on 17 existing phones and can locate 28 GPS-enabled models. Sprint officials insist their service isn't a "Big Brother" tool. "It's not about tracking. It's not about monitoring," said Dan Gilmartin, Sprint's marketing manager for location-based services. "It's about giving parents and caregivers peace of mind that they're able to find their children's location." He added that the service could let adults keep track of elderly parents. The demand for child-locating products is heating up, with several third-party providers, such as Wherify and Teen Arrive Alive, already selling location services. Last week, CATS Communication Inc. said it was releasing a service to warn parents if their child goes near the home of a registered sex offender, and The Walt Disney Co. is targeting children this summer with a GPS-enabled phone that includes a locating feature.
A great tool for parents but if you are a husband (or wife) who is stepping out on their partner, you might want to leave your phone at home. I can picture it now - 2pm on a sunny afternoon, husbands phone mapped to Motel 6, text message that follows might include such words as "you SOB" "Divorce"
Do it for the children's sake How clever to use your children as a way to introduce tracking people, damn good idea. Too bad I don't own a cellphone. Sad thing is most people will utilize and welcome the service with open arms
The way things are today, I can't fault the parents for wanting to keep tabs on the kids. But the scheme is so easy to beat, just leave the cell phone under the porch. "Uh-oh, I forgot to turn it on" in case the parent tries to call. A damn bloody waste of time and money better spent teaching the kids right from wrong.
Not to mention that it adds vulnerability to the person carrying it if they are targeted by a preditor since it would ALWAYS be possible for the preditors to figure out how to lock into that same signal and know where the person is the same as the intended user could.
not only The Cell Co. My wife has a PI friend that can pull up where almost anyone stupid enogh to not turn the feature to 911 only is at. She catches a lot of bounties that way Check yours now. Turn it frpom global to 911 only
no personal cell phone just the one from work, it's a Motorola-Nextel, radio/phone How do you do this? :dunno:
