A Case Study of Non-Adoption: The Values of Location Tracking in the Family

Abstract

A number of commercial location tracking systems exist which enable parents to monitor where their children are when outdoors. The adoption of these services and whether, through their design, they reflect parental values has not been investigated. This question was pursued with a largescale survey of 920 parents from the UK. The use of location tracking was not prevalent amongst parents and only a minority had considered using these technologies. Parents favoring location tracking described it in the context of security, peace of mind and the need to reduce uncertainty. Parents who were against location tracking described a general lack of need as they had established reliable mechanisms for security and valued trust in the family as well as children’s self-direction. Our findings show that location tracking concurrently supports and threatens parental values. By focusing on the values it undermines, we are able to suggest new directions for location systems.

Keywords: Family, children, parents, GPS, location tracking, control, privacy, security, trust, self-direction, values, adoption