TRACKING SYSTEMS

There is a growing market in mobile devices that parents can either use to track their children when they are out, or that record information about where a child has been, so that a suspicious parent can check up.

At the moment the market is unregulated, but the Licensing of Child Location Services Bill is currently before Parliament. As this is a Private Member’s Bill, and there is little parliamentary time left this year, it is unlikely to succeed. You can read our briefing for second reading of the Bill here.

We would infinitely prefer that these devices were not used at all, but too many parents have bought into the idea that they offer some kind of protection. Read our blog to find out why we disagree, or scroll down the page for just some of our reasons.

If the use of tracking gadgets cannot be stopped, then the market should at least be regulated. Even if the current Bill fails in this session, we will be working hard to persuade Government that regulation is essential.

They lull parents into a false sense of security. If a child isn’t responsible or old enough to go out without a tracking device, maybe he shouldn’t be out alone at all.

They only give the location of the gizmo that emits the signal. Even if the (very unlikely) worst happened, they could only tell you where your child was when the device was switched off or thrown away.

The child who doesn’t want to be ‘found’ will simply find more elaborate ways of deceiving parents – as some of ARCH’s young people have pointed out, there’s a fortune to be made from babysitting other people’s tracking devices

They give children the message that the world is not a safe place – yet only a very small number of children are abducted by strangers. Paradoxically, tracking devices may increase the risks to children if information about their whereabouts is disclosed to the wrong person.

They are no substitute for discussion, and for trust

Independence is an important part of growing up

Learning to trust and to let go is an important part of parenthood

See also: Child Location Services Bill - briefing doc