AT&T launches Big-Brother-Tracking Service on Cell Phones

This is a little off base here, but it has privacy issues so here it is. If someone in your family plan of phones wants to track you, well they have it now. The trackee does get a text message too, but if Mom is after you, she can find you. The family that tracks together stays together I think.

I wonder how long this will stay in the family before it graduates to the next level up, like company provided cell phones, or ones used in the hospital and we are all in a family of some sort. Just a thought. BD

Ever wonder where you girlfriend goes after work every Thursday? What about where your dad goes during his lunch hour? Or maybe you just want to make sure Junior made it home safely from school.

AT&T just launched FamilyMaps, a service that tracks any AT&T cellphone from another phone or PC. The trackee (your child, girlfriend, elderly parent, whoever's on your family plan) gets a text message that he or she is being watched — and in real time on a map, or by text or emails with the location, you can see where they are. A scheduled service will send you location information at a certain time each day, so you can get an email when your kid makes it to band practice. The service only works on phones within a family plan. So, there's no way your boss can track you when you call in "sick" from the baseball stadium.

The difference with the AT&T services is that it doesn't require the person being tracked to run the same application, and the others have privacy settings. With FamilyMaps, the account holder controls these settings, so you could be always trackable by your family. You've got nothing to hide. Right?

AT&T launches Big-Brother-esque family tracking service | DVICE