We have a nervous relationship with the wonders we have made. Digital technology is so wondrous that even when it is helpful we worry that it could do us harm. Our Sunday Insight feature today describes applications that let mothers watch their babies asleep in another room, receive alerts if their infants stray outside a set range, check that their children have arrived at school and keep tabs on their teenagers' movements.
Read more:
• Big mother is watching you, everywhere
• How secure is your baby monitor? Home hackers spy on private lives
• Virtual leash among curios at baby show
Mobile phones are not only tracking devices, they are banking devices through which a parent can monitor pocket money, and other apps can report a young driver's speed, braking and distance. How long before they can give an anxious parent a running report on the driver's reactions to conditions, breath-alcohol level, numbers in the car? At home, many parents already take advantage of apps that let them monitor their child's internet use, sending alerts if anything in their online conversations or the sites they visit is undesirable.
What parent would not welcome the benefits these applications bring? At the same time many, like our feature writer Susan Edmunds, will worry that the apps enable them to watch children too closely and ask themselves, at what point does a young person's privacy become as important as their safety?
The age will vary for each child, obviously. The more sensible and careful their nature, the sooner their privacy can be respected. But those with more worrying inclinations will probably be quicker to demand their privacy. Parents probably have to accept it, since for every helpful app there is bound to be a disabling one available, if not now then soon.
