I GPS tracked my wife, and it didn't feel good

 

Tuesday 23 October 2012 12:15 BST
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As new gadgets are released that make it easier to track loved ones, the New York Times's Farhad Manjoo asks if we're in for a wave of family snooping. To see how it felt, he slipped a GPS tracker into his wife's car, another into his 2-year-old's diaper bag, and one more into his parents' vehicle for good measure.

"My spying was meant only as an experiment", writes Manjoo, "but still I felt like a heel".

The sophistication of these tracking devices is impressive: "Once I sent them out into the world, I could look up the trackers online, either on the Web or through a smartphone app. They could also be configured to send me alerts based on various criteria. If my wife’s car left her office parking lot during the day or my parents’ vehicle broke the speed limit, I might get a text alert."

GPS tracking companies point out that there are many "less icky" uses for trackers, like making sure a child gets to school and back safely, or keeping tabs on adventurous dogs.

Would you put a tracker on someone you care about to put your own mind at rest?

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