AT&T FamilyMap for Spying on Wife/Kids

[Cody Overcash]

There are some nice options iPhone owners to track their phones via GPS. AT&T has decided the join in on the game of phone tracking and has launched their FamilyMap service. The service basically allows the tracking of any number on your plan. This tracking isn't done by just cell tower triangulation, the plan actually accesses the phone's internal GPS to provide pin-point accuracy.

There is no visual notice on the phone besides the initial text message that the service is active so if you want to spy on your family just make sure to have the phone in hand to delete the txt really quick when you activate the service Every day personal privacy becomes harder to hold on to here in the US and AT&T has put another tool in the hands of the public to make privacy violation nice and easy.

At $9.99/mo for one phone and $14.99/mo for up to five the service is pricey. iPhone users should probably stick to apps like iLocalis or FindME + Twitter, etc etc -- could be great for tracking other phones though

via bgr - thx JazJon for the tip

[mallenass]

That is sick and very, very wrong. Phone companies such as at&t should not enable paranoid Parents/Girlfriends/WIVES to spy on their loved ones... why on earth would i want anyone to have acces to my pin point location at any given time of day??, what ever happened to privacy??....this sounds like a very dangerous tool in the hands of(ahem) women(no ofense), but seriously, when im over at the guy's watching the game and im supposed to be "working late"...i'd like to keep it that way

[mohamedelramly]

trust!!!! what trust? you spy on me!!!!!!!!!! lol anything to get our money.

[njosnavelin]

An awful moral idea, but you know it's gonna sell like hotcakes. It's sort of like fabric softener. You're gonna buy it, but you're not gonna tell anyone

[sziklassy]

That is sick and very, very wrong. Phone companies such as at&t should not enable paranoid Parents/Girlfriends/WIVES to spy on their loved ones... why on earth would i want anyone to have acces to my pin point location at any given time of day??, what ever happened to privacy??....this sounds like a very dangerous tool in the hands of(ahem) women(no ofense), but seriously, when im over at the guy's watching the game and im supposed to be "working late"...i'd like to keep it that way

I think you miss the point here. It is not sick and wrong, in my opinion. it is great for a parent who wants to make sure their kid isn't smoking crack behind the local walmart or fu- reproducing in the backseat of a car in a deserted parking lot. It simply shows them where they are, not spies on them (for this reason the titles is a little misleading). It's also nice if someone is injured or someplace they shouldn't be with no fault of their own. I agree that there will be paranoid people that will abuse this, but you have to realize one of the main selling points of the cell phone is safety. Mast parents I know don;t buy their kids cell phones so they can have yet another plaything.

As for your comment about working late... do you really have to lie to your wife and girlfriend about watching the game with your friends? If that's the case you have more to worry about than a service that shows the user the whereabouts of a phone.

[Dream_Team]

It simply shows them where they are, not spies on them (for this reason the titles is a little misleading).

Showing parents where their kids are without letting them know is spying.
Spying won't replace education, and the kids will end up turning off their phone, or just "forget" it at a friend's place ...

[WyldPhoenix]

That is sick and very, very wrong. Phone companies such as at&t should not enable paranoid Parents/Girlfriends/WIVES to spy on their loved ones... why on earth would i want anyone to have acces to my pin point location at any given time of day??, what ever happened to privacy??....this sounds like a very dangerous tool in the hands of(ahem) women(no ofense), but seriously, when im over at the guy's watching the game and im supposed to be "working late"...i'd like to keep it that way

Funny, you only include Girlfriends/Wives as the ones who would do the spying!

I thought that men were more paranoid about their counterparts, than woman about their men?!?!

Or is that just me?

[billchase2]

This is taking things a step too far... there's no such thing as privacy anymore.

[confucious]

Is it legal to spy on another person without their consent like this in the USA?

[PhoneLine]

No, probably not. But I'm sure the service has a nice big legal disclaimer about using it for legal purposes. For kids, yes, mom and dad have a right to know where you are cause your a minor.

For adults, well, sure a concerned spouse might want to know their significant other is safe and arrived at their desination or see that their on the highway heading home and kick that stranger out of the bedroom....

Either way, the initial text message the device gets is one way they are covering themselves, and I'm sure the companies lawyers have gone over all the little technacalities.

The service itslef is not illegal, its all how people use it.

But.....we know people

[CaptainChaos]

Is it legal to spy on another person without their consent like this in the USA?

Yes. Our government does it to us on a daily basis without our consent so surely it must be legal.

[confucious]

Our Government does things that are legal too, sometimes

[NHSKayak]

what the hell are you people ******** about. if you don't like the service, then don't frickin buy it. morons...

oh, and if i buy a cell phone for my kid, i have every damn right to know where that phone is. and no, no kid is gonna "leave it at a friend's house". they use their phones more than i do, you think they're gonna sacrifice that?

[billchase2]

what the hell are you people ******** about. if you don't like the service, then don't frickin buy it. morons...

oh, and if i buy a cell phone for my kid, i have every damn right to know where that phone is. and no, no kid is gonna "leave it at a friend's house". they use their phones more than i do, you think they're gonna sacrifice that?

Wow, you're off to a good start in these forums.

[Poseidon79]

I agree with NHSKayak All of y'all are getting upset just because AT&T is OFFERING the service. Don't get mad at the provider for selling a service and a profit opportunity for it's shareholders. Get mad at yourself for buying it... or the person spying on you.

Additionally this would be a GREAT service for businesses to know where their drivers and employees are. If you're on the clock the company has a right to know you're not at the mall or sleeping in late.

[Dream_Team]

oh, and if i buy a cell phone for my kid, i have every damn right to know where that phone is. and no, no kid is gonna "leave it at a friend's house". they use their phones more than i do, you think they're gonna sacrifice that?

If they want to smoke something without you knowing ? Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're gonna sacrifice their phones for a little privacy.

[jedinight]

i think its great!!!

[Poseidon79]

I just remembered the average age group on this forum, lol... now I know why everyone is getting pissed. Y'all are the one's who would be getting spied on!

[alek]

use findmyi.org same thing except only 2 dollars a month. I use it if i lose my phone or get it stolen.

[mallenass]

Additionally this would be a GREAT service for businesses to know where their drivers and employees are. If you're on the clock the company has a right to know you're not at the mall or sleeping in late.

Agreed....

But the matter in discussion here is not the service itself....its what it implies, this is just the beginning a "doorway" if you will for future services like this that will, undoubtedly violate our privacy...

Maybe yall dont see this as far as i do, but to me this is the beginning of something that could end up really really bad, specially with the PATRIOT ACT still standing, look it up, specifically Title II "Enhanced Surveillance Procedures" that covers all aspects of the surveillance of suspected terrorists, those suspected of engaging in computer fraud or abusefrom both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens....(abuse?, define abuse.....jailbreaking is considered abuse of the iphone OS by apple)does this enable anyone to keep me under surveilance?. its not just about the service, sure, i don't like it so all i have to do is NOT TO BUY the service, but its not so simple, what bothers me is that companies actually CAN trace any phone with GPS (e.g. iPhone) so if they want to trace you, they can, wether you like it or not. to me that's just scary. This is the early stages of, plain and simple. the end of all things secret.

P.s: i hate blackberry