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Surveillance Culture Brought To the Masses, Courtesy of Verizon (consumerist.com)
kheldan writes: Verizon is now offering a way to secretly track your family members' whereabouts and driving habits with your smartphone: "Do you have a teen driver in your household and want to know every time they get a little overzealous with the accelerator? Or maybe you're pretty sure your spouse's frequent trips to 'the office' are not so innocent? If so, then an upcoming update for Verizon's 'hum' in-car smart device might be just what you're looking for.' The new 'features' added will allow you to receive alerts if the target vehicle leaves a predetermined area, drives faster than a preset level, its location, and keeps a history of all the above for later review.
We already lost the battle; Verizon already has this data. The consumer might as well 'benefit' from it too. Cat isn't going back in the bag.
My kid is approaching driving age and frankly I'd love to know that he's doing what he says he's going to do with *my* car. It's the classic, "trust, but verify" situation.
It's all coming together, nice and neat. Do they bother putting a real 'off' button on phones anymore? Since you can't remove the battery, how do you know?
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
No, you're a jerk, plain and simple. If you trust your kid so little that you have to put him on an electronic leash, then maybe you shouldn't let him drive AT ALL. Oh and by the way if you can't trust him then it's probably YOUR FAULT for failing as a parent, YOU created a kid that can't be trusted.
WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!
LOL, a teenager, leaving their phone at home? That's hilarious.
Oh, and this is an in-car device as I read TFA ... this isn't bugging the kid's phone, it's bugging the entire car.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
you don't trust them and always monitor them. if you want to borrow my $30,000 a year toy with legal implications if you hurt someone, then i have a right to monitor how you use it
Is your kid's use of this app with or without their consent? If you negotiate "I will let you use my car under the condition that you run this app so I can find out where you are in an emergency" and the kid agrees to the condition, that seems fine in my opinion. If you secretly put this app on their phone, I think the kid would be right to feel angry about your lack of trust in them when they find out.
Yes, being a stupid rebellious little shit is an integral part of maturing. It shouldn't be taken as a sign of poor parenting, but it should be allowed to exist.
How different would you be, now an adult, if you were monitored 24/7 by the average helicopter parent of today with this level of surveillance? Do you believe it would have improved the result?
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