Verizon to Launch Mobile 'Chaperone' Service 427
Billosaur writes "CNET is reporting that Verizon will soon be offering a service (branded "Chaperone") which will allow parents to
keep track of their cell phone-carrying children. Following on the heels of a similar service started by Sprint in April, the system will allow parents 'to set up geographic limits and receive text alerts if their children, who also carry phones, go too far from home. The service also lets parents check where their offspring are via a map on their cell phone or computer.' Disney will purportedly be offering a similar service when it begins selling mobile phones sometime this summer. It's 10pm -- do you know where you child's cell phone is?"
It's 10pm... (Score:3, Insightful)
Does someone else know where your child is?
Re:It's 10pm... (Score:5, Funny)
Annoying Kid: Can you molest me now? Good.
Re:It's 10pm... (Score:3, Insightful)
Big Daddy (Score:5, Funny)
We are all NSA's children...
Re:Big Daddy (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course Verizon will say they were forced to submit the information to the NSA.
-October Sky
Cell phone free since 2003!
Re:Big Daddy (Score:3, Insightful)
You read it here first.
Re:Big Daddy (Score:4, Interesting)
Consider part 1 of your question answered with "now". Every mobile phone has this feature.
If you are within range of two or more cell towers, then your position can be triangulated. The more towers nearby, the more accurate the reading will be. It's simply the nature of cell phones as broadcast devices. You can't broadcast a signal without revealing your location.
The second part is a different story. Whether or not any government agency has used this ability is unknown; whether it would be accurate enough for their purposes is unknown to me as well. Nevertheless they certainly could use it to at least roughly track you.
So if you really don't want your location known, do what the teenagers with these phones will do: Turn it off. And when mom/the G-men pick you up and want to know why they couldn't track you, tell them you couldn't get any service.
Re:Big Daddy (Score:5, Funny)
Unfortunately, the cops will figure this out and disable the software after I bury my victim alive, but not before she actually dies, and my whole operation will be foiled.
Re:Big Daddy (Score:5, Funny)
It depends on their purposes (Score:2, Insightful)
For example, if they want to know what room you're in at the Budget-99 Motel, probably not.
But if they want to
Re:It depends on their purposes (Score:3, Insightful)
How would you know? Blackmail is most sucessful when it goes unreported. If the blackmailer is some shadowy arm of government or the police who are you going to report it to?
Re:It depends on their purposes (Score:3, Informative)
Are you telling me you've never heard of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI? Thanks to the FOIA, we now at least know
Re:Big Daddy (Score:2)
>
> We are all NSA's children...
What the government taketh away, the government also giveth. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
When the federal government drops a $100M unfunded liability in your lap to set up a citizen tracking system, you've gotta recoup your expenses somehow.
Lobbyists: Reaming out the last scrapes of pulp from the lemon since at least a generation before 9/11.
Steps for Workaround (Score:4, Insightful)
2) At friend's house, tie Cellphone to family dog (make 'em think you're actually there and moving around)
3) ???
4) Profit!!!
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:5, Interesting)
Or better yet, have a bunch of prepaid cell phones, which you loan out to people to use while you're carrying around their parentally-supplied one. After all, nobody wants to be without a phone: it's uncool.
I look forward to watching the segment on CBS where they interview some kid who's doing this and everyone acts surprised that kids can actually think for themselves.
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:2)
this is how guys at the office keep there US numbers when they are inthe UK..
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:5, Insightful)
Moreover I don't expect that a generation raised using surveillance will be particularly upset by increased government surveillance in their adult years. Or maybe that's the whole point.
Simple (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:3, Insightful)
Because of this system, you believe that his phone is at his friend's house. You have no idea that the system is accurately reporting his position, or that the phone is actually in his possession. While you can probably safely assume that the position of the phone will be reported accurately, the latter is probably a bad assumption.
If y
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:2)
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:2)
And the parents will either A: have no money, so a lawsuit is meaningless...or B: have lots of money and will basically destroy the idiot family
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:3, Insightful)
War is good for business. Selling to both sides, doubly so.
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:5, Funny)
My god, according to GPS, Johnny hasn't moved in hours. I think he's dead!
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Steps for Workaround (Score:2)
Hello, who is this? (Score:2)
Can anybody say "grounded for a year"?
How pointless is that? (Score:5, Insightful)
Then if the kids really get into trouble they won't have the option of calling for help.
Sounds like a great plan to me.
Re:How pointless is that? (Score:2)
Seriously, the kids will know this kind of watching is being done and will either turn off their phone or leave it behind (or ata friends house inside the "permitted area".
Except the service will be linked to an RFID chip planted inside the pain center of the child's brain. Then, if they get further than 5 feet from their cellphone or roam outside the allowed area, a jolt of pain sensation can be sent directly through their body. Think of it as a giant invisible fence!
Re:How pointless is that? (Score:2)
Except the service will be linked to an RFID chip planted inside the pain center of the child's brain.
Thus teaching gadget obsession to the young and creating a new generation of mindless consumers.
Re:How pointless is that? (Score:2, Insightful)
How about this? Watchdog watches (Score:2)
You make a good point, but... (Score:2, Interesting)
It's funny but I was thinking late last week that I would like to implant a GPS in my kids. They're quite young at the moment and would not be able to use a cell phone or other device to alert me to their location. When they play, they play in t
Re:You make a good point, but... (Score:2)
That's why a "child-locator" device would be so wonderful to have. Think about all the kids that walk home from school and such. I think this is a great idea. Pop the phone in their backpack or put it in their pocket and make sure it's recharged every night and never turned off. I would punish my kids for turning it off for sure.
Add to that some form of "panic button", so they could send the folks an instant SOS with their location, and this turns into quite a useful service.
Re:You make a good point, but... (Score:3, Insightful)
You must not have children, and if you do I hope you live in a safe area because you are the parent letting the kids run around and after a couple hours realizing they're gone and phoning your neighbors and going "uh, is Johnney over there?"
Trust and relax. Please, get a frigging clue..
Yep, trust and relax.
Hey parents of kids who have had bad things happen, Newsfla
Reminds me... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How pointless is that? (Score:4, Interesting)
This ought to make dating easier. (Score:3, Funny)
This brings a whole new meaning to those "find available women in your area" banner ads.
Re:This ought to make dating easier. (Score:2)
Re:This ought to make dating easier. (Score:2)
Re:This ought to make dating easier. (Score:2)
This brings a whole new meaning to those "find available women in your area" banner ads.
Let me guess. You work for the Dept of Homeland Security, don't you? DHS has brought a whole new meaning to the oft-used knee-jerk phrase "but think of the children!"
This seems like a violation of privacy rights... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:This seems like a violation of privacy rights.. (Score:5, Interesting)
This used to irritate me so much when I was under 18. It still irritates me, because no where in the constitution does it say anywhere, "these rights are only applicable to those 18 years old or older".
What I find amusing is that a lot of emperors of China, etc, in centuries past were 13 years old. Somehow, recently, we decided an individual is too stupid to think for themselves until they turn 18.
I think most can agree on here, age is no determining factor for intelligence - look at our politicians - most of them are in their 40s, and still brain dead.
Re:This seems like a violation of privacy rights.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't consider this as implying even the remotest knowledge of Chinese history, but were any of these 13-year-old emperors actually running the empire vs simply being crowned while adult aides ran the show?
Somehow, recently, we decided an individual is too stupid to think for themselves until they turn 18.
No, not true. 18 is not the age at which we believe you are no longer too stupid to take care of yourself
Re:This seems like a violation of privacy rights.. (Score:3, Funny)
Most, unfortunately, are still too stupid to think for themselves at this age and much older.
What did parents do before this? (Score:5, Insightful)
making time to have dinner together, or helping with the homework or the millions of other things families should do together.
Is this hard to do, hell yes. But nobody ever said life was easy, and in the long run spending time with your kids will be worth it. Remember it works both ways, when the parents are old and need someone to talk to, the children will be there.
Re:What did parents do before this? (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously when I was growing up my parents never had any of this technology and yet they managed to keep me out of trouble. While I agree the world is a different place, and there are lots of new and different problems, it all boils down to the parents taking an active role in the child's life. Things like asking the kids how their day went, what sorts of issues they had, things that let the kid know that home is a safe place. Or how about making time to have dinner together, or helping with the homework or the millions of other things families should do together.
But in this age of two parents working, those kinds of things don't happen anymore. I spend 12 hours out of my day commuting and working. I get maybe 4-5 hours of sleep a night; the rest of the time is spent trying to pay bills, fix the house, make dinner (occasionally), take children to events/activities, etc. There's precious little time enough to have a true family dinner let alone quality time where a family can be together and share ideas and exchange thoughts. Heck, it's hard enough just getting my kids to sit down for a meal, and they aren't even teenagers yet.
Maybe some would see this as a panacea or a substitute for poor parenting, but it might prove a boon to parents who can't be available as often as they'd like and still want to be able to watch their kids no matter where they are.
Re:What did parents do before this? (Score:2)
Re:What did parents do before this? (Score:5, Insightful)
"Priviliged few"? Like people are 'chosen' to be priviliged.
Seriously. I don't have kids, so you won't listen to a word I say most likely, but I'll say it anyway:
YOU make your OWN life. Nobody TELLS you who to be or how to live. And if they do, you need to change that. You're in control of your life - not your wife/husband, not your kids. Get some guts and start making your own decisions. If you're living somewhere where it's necessary to fix your house and pay for your 12MPG SUV, then maybe you should relocate and find alternate means to travel.
Nobody is locking you into your lifestyle, you're just acting a scapegoat because it's easier to accept than to change.
Re:What did parents do before this? (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't think you quite get it. How you do in life is usually more about your choices, rather than how you started out.
My family of 4 lives comfortably on a gross income of around $17k/yr. My yearly income peaked 2 years ago at about $53k/yr. I'm able to live the way I do now because I planned and made wise choices with my money. I've been in the post-college workforce for about 10 years now. I consider myself "retired" from the 9-to-5 grind. I'm 34 and work half-time from home.
No huge cash reserves anywhere -- in fact, my savings is pretty much nill right now. Just a modest bit of equity in some property I paid off a while ago when I was getting paid well, and low monthly financial commitments. I bought a $40k house in the "country" -- 75 miles from a large city where an average starter home costs $150k. I have a $275 home payment, a $320 auto payment, a couple of utilities, and the misc stuff required of the car (insurance, taxes, gas).
We did the two-income thing for a few years early in our marriage, and it just wasn't worth it. The extra work wardrobe to maintain, the extra driving, the dining out because we were both too tired to cook. The need for TV to de-compress due to all the stress. When you break it down, most two-income families, in fact, come out worse at the end of the month.
At the risk of being old-fashioned, if one of the parents stays home and actually makes food from scratch and does other productive things to save money by reducing consumption or creating consumables, you make out much better. Why? Because savings are tax free. That $15 dinner for 4 at McDonald's was really $20 if you count the gross income needed to buy it. Toss in a buck or two for the gas. Then there's the indirectly-related expenses, ones that allow for the 2nd job: daycare, the 2nd car (and insurance to go with), etc.. So that $15 McD's meal may, in reality, come out to $30.
Now, a similar dinner made at home from scratch (where practical), may cost $7 in materials and a hour of time. Say it comes out to $10 when you count the applicable factors (outlined above) of a single working family member.
Sure, I was "lucky" by getting to go to college and starting off on relatively secure footing in life. Many are not so lucky. However... I see many "poor" making simply dumb financial choises.
I had a poor(-ish) neighbor that I would verbally assault on a regular basis due to her dog getting off his leash and harassing our livestock. I said, "Go spend $10 and get a body harness -- he'll never get loose again." She repsonded indignantly, "You have the money?!?", implying she had no money to spare. Yet she had a huge wide-screen TV and stereo set up in her house, she had a Dish subscription, and her high-school daughter would yap all night on the front porch with her cell phone.
Drive down the "poorest" neighbourhoods in your town. Look at the people talking w/ cell phones on the porch/lawn, the fanicer-than-needed autos in the driveways, the cable/satellite installations, with big TVs in the living room. How many are smoking or drinking beer? Sure, this is a generalization, and some are better/worse than the average. But think what $100/month (cable, cell phone, plus cigarettes) could do to jumpstart a "poor" family if put into a simple savings acco
Re:What did parents do before this? (Score:5, Insightful)
I couldn't figure out why they would go through all this just to get into a neighborhood they could barely afford. Then the mom explained that at the school they moved away from, parent volunteers had to clean the kids playground every morning and pick up all the discarded needles and used condoms before the kids came out to play.
Sometimes it isn't about the SUV and the plasma TV.
Re:What did parents do before this? (Score:3, Informative)
Waaaaah! Someone put a gun to my head and forced my lifestyle upon me!
I mean, seriously... how much does it really cost to "keep a roof over 2 people and keep them fed" in a normal "middle class" neighborhood? One could live quite comfortably for under $2000 a month, which is just over $11 a
Re:What did parents do before this? (Score:3, Insightful)
What a great family life. (Score:2)
Re:What did parents do before this? (Score:5, Insightful)
Come again? You are two people working; You don't need long work-days. You don't need jobs with good pay, you need jobs with adequate pay. Seriously, find regular 8-hour work, preferably close to where you live.
I mean, maybe you'll drop 20-30% in pay in the process, but you'll have time to actually enjoy life and actually meet your family.. and sleep occasionally :). Work is for getting for money you can spend on your freetime. Work is not your life.
maybe the "AGE" isn't the problem (Score:5, Insightful)
We should not be finding ways to make slavery more convenient. We should demand the right to have the opportunity to raise our children PROPERLY OURSELVES.
I wont even get into the moral issue of whether or not a parent even has any right to force their child to carry a homing device.
Re:What did parents do before this? (Score:5, Interesting)
My kids are much too young for this - the oldest is three, and yet I am interested in this service. Let's face it - it's absolutely no good as tool to attempt enforcement - any smart kid will simply circumvent it.
But it may (I haven't decided yet) be a useful tool to allow the kids a bit more freedom where there is a good degree of trust between child and parent.
So, for example if my kids, when they are 8 or so want to go and play in the park by themselves or go to a friends house just down the road, I may sit them down and say 'yes, but with one condition - I'm going to worry about you, so please take this with you and keep it switched on. That way if I need you back home, I can call you, if you have a problem you can call me, and it will also let me know where it is roughly, so don't leave it lying around. Do you agree?'
Playing with your kids is great, letting them explore by themselves is important too. Personally, I like the idea of them being able to play and make dens in the woods near our house, but I'm a worrying dad. This technology used wisely might be able to help us all out, we'll see.
But as a tool of control? Stupid idea.
Really Smart (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Really Smart (Score:2)
Thus continuing the fine tradition of Charles Darwin. So what's the problem?
How to defeat it: (Score:2, Insightful)
2. Teen LEAVES their tracked phone within set boundaries.
3. Teen goes where teen wants, able to intercept calls from the folks on the other phone.
4. Profit! Or at least an unlimited party region...
I had one of these as a kid (Score:2)
"You'd better get home right now. You're mom's looking for you."
So what? (Score:2)
Also useful in emergencies of course.
Re:So what? (Score:3, Insightful)
Some of us - Even adults for a good many years now - Believe that kids have some right to privacy. Personal experience demonstrated to me, at least, that the more controlling someone's parents acted, the worse that person turned out. You can let them know that they can always turn to you for help, but you can't actually do their thinking for them.
Therefore, you can either have them learn to think while still
Re:So what? (Score:2)
Re:So what? (Score:2)
They will set up alibi's to cover this. They will now just have to leave their phone at their alibi's house.
It is a fact of life...
You might as well A) Accept that they will lie about where they are going at times. B) Never even start with trust because it will be broken
No idea where the child actually is (Score:2)
Ways to beat the system
1/ Don't turn the phone on (sorry Mum, the battery went flat)
2/ Leave the phone at a safe location while you go elsewhere (sorry Mum, I had the ringer turned off soo I wouldn't annoy people near me)
Can anyone think of anymore ways?
Re:No idea where the child actually is (Score:3, Funny)
3/Sorry mom, the dog ate my phone. I had to wait to retrieve it.
Who will think this will work? (Score:3, Insightful)
1) Turn off your cell phone.
2) Leave it somewhere.
3) Pay some kid to carry it around (making it look like you're still moving)
4) Hang out in tunnels.
5) Line pockets with tin foil.
6) Get better parents.
If the kid doesn't want their parents to know where they are... then the parent's won't know where they are. All the company is doing is marketing a product to paranoid and overly-protective parents.
However... that being said it does have some merits for emergency situations, knowing where to pick your kid up from, and it could be a fun project to map the paths of a group/herd of friends.
Re:Who will think this will work? (Score:2)
Isn't like 98% or so of ALL marketing based on fear*? So, how is this any different?
* fear to get hurt, sick, be different, not cool, etc.
Re:Who will think this will work? (Score:2)
Good for me that I live in a country that bases 98% of it's marketing on sex appeal, witch I find it, well... more appealing then fear.
Re:Who will think this will work? (Score:2)
Or even, pay some other kid for the one he broke, and present the broken phone to your parents, who will refuse to get you a new (non-spying one), while selling your working unit, and using the cash left over to buy a non-spying phone!
Re:Who will think this will work? (Score:3, Funny)
Parent 95 and Parent 98 crash all the time because they drink too much. Parent ME is terrible in every way. Parent NT is always in the hospital with the flu. Parent XP is somewhat better, but still has viruses and crashes. Parent Vista will never be released and has even worse DRM. Also, it constantly annoys people with safety warnings. MacParent Pro is too expensive. It wants to eat caviar and drive a Porsche. MacParent Mini looks stupid - I'm taller than it is!
So, when does
Re:Who will think this will work? (Score:2)
I think it won't work for parents who try to use it to keep minute-by-minute tabs on their children and fly off the handle with rage any time their child appears, from the information it provides, to have broken a parentally-imposed rule.
what a win win for the telcos (Score:2)
So it's a big win: charge parents for an extra service and then make money off of the kids who need to buy cellphones to carry with them when they leave their tracking devices at the house of the friend they say they are "with".
Does the service notify you (Score:2)
Hey susan, could I leave my phone with you? (Score:3, Informative)
So much for that Chaperone.
ahahahahaha (Score:2)
What's that, you say?
*** We're sorry, but the subscriber you have requested is not currently connected to the network.
What's to worry.. (Score:2, Funny)
The thing is (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The thing is (Score:3, Interesting)
First thing that happened.. one woman did the location lookup 50 times... yup, her boyfriends' mobile.
Second thing, the manager's wife had her handbag stolen, with mobile in it (and housekeys and address). He tracked the bag to see if the burglars were heading towards his house. (they weren't, the bag moved in the
Heh.. (Score:2)
Seriously, this is just gonna cause a lot of trouble- Now, kids aren't gonna take their cell phones with them when they're going to do something stupid. Somebody gets hurt, nobody's gonna have a phone to call for help. Way to go, Verizon.
Oh well, I've been wanting to change services for a while now. The iN network is great, but it's the only reason to have Verizon service (instead of Sprint or something else). They cripple their phones like he
So basically the cellphone gets left at a friends (Score:2)
Clue for parents, your kids are going to lie about where they are going, you wont stop that ever. Just set reasonable limits that will be somewhat broken but that your kids dont go TOO far over the line.
Rules will be broken, but it just depends how badly, and tracking on a cellphone sure as shit isnt gonna do anything.
Such hypocrisy (Score:3, Insightful)
For years, I've found it astounding the amount of discrimination modern kids face. At school, their civil rights are limited; High school students are subject to what, if placed in any other context, would be blatantly illegal search and seizure. Federal law required that internet access at public high schools (and, for that matter, at public libraries) to be filtered for inappropriate content.
This is really no different. Many Americans were furious to discover that the NSA had recently obtained their cell phone records, yet how many EFF members will raise a complaint against this system? None. Why? Because it's OK to discriminate against kids & students.
Think about it. Afraid your kids will be negatively influenced by some content on the internet? Were you warped by exposure to foul language, racism, and pornography when you were in high school? I bet I know the answer to both of those questions, and I bet they're not the same.
Read around on http://www.peacefire.org/ [peacefire.org]. Again, think about it.
Disclaimer: For what it's worth, I'm 20. It's been years since I endured any discimination because of my age.
Re:Such hypocrisy (Score:2)
20 eh? try to rent any cars lately?
Re:Such hypocrisy (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Such hypocrisy (Score:2)
Actually, Federal law does *not* require this across the board. It only requires it if the school or library applies for Federal funds. Kind of like the 55 mph speed limit - if you set a higher limit, you lost 10% of your highway funds or whatever.
-b.
Re:Such hypocrisy (Score:3, Insightful)
I buy a cell phone. I track the cell phone I bought and pay the monthly fee on. Next you'll be telling me that using OnStar for directions makes me violate my own rights, since I shouldn't know where my car is. This isn't a problem regar
Re:Such hypocrisy (Score:3, Insightful)
It is.
For all intents and purposes anything from a viable fetus to [your state's semi-arbitrary age] are treated as quasi-property.
This status does not change until [your state's semi-arbitrary age] or a court says otherwise. This is why (in many states) 16 & 17 yr old runaways can spend a night in juvie before being given a police escort back to their parents, even if they do not want to go home.
If the State decides that your parents are unfit
Other uses (Score:2)
Or what about tracking spouses, or siblings, or parents. Is my phone going to have a special 'kid' chip that I can turn on and off so that I can't be tracked by this
Who watches the watchers? (Score:3, Insightful)
For heaven's sake, don't think of the identical chips in your own phone!!!
Would have been useful last week. (Score:2)
Your son/daughter from Michigan, USA is currently in:
Amman, Jordan [wndu.com]
Would you like driving directions to her location?
This will only erode personal privacy further (Score:2)
- BENIFIT CELL PHONE COMPANIES.
This service will be of no real benefit as:
- Children have brains as adults do
- Children do not like to be 'leashed' as adults do not
- Children are smarter than adults think and therefore will circumvent the system by any number of obvious means
The ultimate outcome of this service will be:
- Human tracking will be more accepted in society
- Human tracking will continue to be precise only in governmental/highly paid commercial insta
Adverse Effect (Score:2)
Car alarm syndrome (Score:2, Interesting)
Utterly useless unless you want to find a lost/stolen cell phone which just happened to be left on.
Just for children? (Score:2)
This won't work and will cause harm (Score:2)
Call forwarding?? (Score:2)
Step 2: Leave phone a site of the 'slumber party'
Step 3: Rave all night, secure in the knowledge that Verizon is reporting you at Sally's slumber party while you do cocktails of meth and ecstasy in the middle of the desert.
Re:Missing Persons (Score:2)
What's more, it isn't when they are at places that you worry, it's when they're in transit between places that they're at the highest risk of accident, injury or assault.
If it can also detect impact and fire off a distress call, or detect