Would You Use a Tracker on a Loved one ?
 

Apple just announced a new tracking device called AirTag which is the size of a coin, can be attached to almost any item and allows an Apple user the ability to track the exact location of the AirTag and the item it's attached to.

The next time my mother-in-law stays with us here in The Villages and since The Villages is so large and confusing, I strongly suggested to my wife to attach the Apple tracking device to her mother since her mother is in her 70's. In the past, I used to slip an old I-Phone inside my golf cart when my mother-in-law traveled by herself and used the location finder app to at least track the golf cart when she traveled solo.

My wife believes this is an invasion of privacy and I believe its a safety issue.
Any suggestion to convince my wife ?

Only with their permission. Ask her, she might appreciate your concern about her well-being!

You haven't mentioned your relationship with your mother-in-law. If you are on good terms, I would suggest having an open conversation with her to discuss your concerns. If done with compassion, she would probably welcome the tracker. However, if it comes out afterwards that you were tracking her without her permission, it could be a pretty cold house for a while. BTW, being in your 70s does not automatically make you incompetent to find your way around the villages. Being an outsider at any age makes The Villages a bit daunting.

A good paper map goes a long way to learning the highways and byways of The Villages. The Villages GPS app would also be helpful.

A very personal and familial subject that one can only offer an opinion of what they specifically would do......

It is all about safety and well being of a loved one...(has nothing to do with invading privacy).

There are a heck of a lot of residents here in their mid 70's including me and I sure don't feel like I need a tracking device to find me.

An open discussion might be in order.

We all have Life360 on our phones.
It saves a lot of phone calls.
Nice to see where the kids are at.

Tracking Devices
 

Mary and I are in our Mid 70s and I think the "Tracking Device" is a nice addition to the "Name Tags" we wear in the house so we don't get "Confused". Len

Not to disrespect anyone in their 70's, but my mother-in-law is like most and "starting" to become confused more easily and I just worry. I do have a tracking device for my dog and I honestly believe that my dog appreciates my concern for her.

Not to sound like a bad husband, but the moment my wife starts to become confused, I plan on doing this for her and I hope she would do the same for me when the time comes.

Without approval of the human being tracked, stalking is still stalking, regardless of the contrived reasoning.

It’s not about age as everyone one is so up in arms about. Good for you that you can take care of yourself at 90, and have all of your abilities to do so.
This tracker Is about the well being of a person who wanders, and really can’t find their way home, and doesn’t have any Id on them.

Yes it happens in TV, even at 50, 60, 70 and up.
In our old neighborhood, had a mother visiting, 68, she took the golf cart out for a ride, not telling anyone she left. When kids found her gone report made, the hunt began. Three hours later she had no idea how to get back, and wouldn’t ask for help, too proud to admit she was lost. She was found by a neighbor who Recognize the cart, and called her children.

Is that an evasion of privacy, if she had a tracker and could have been found in an hour? I don’t think so, I think it’s just protecting the well-being of your loved ones, but others may have different thoughts than what I do.

We have many people here that are in some forms of dementia, and denial, and do not agree that there are issues. Family keeping them safe, is much better than having law-enforcement looking for them.

Wish they would put it in our IPHONES, I can never find my wife in the grocery store.

Why the fuss?
I would use it. It's your golf cart. Keeping track of it, whoever is driving it, is basicaly good security.
I would also tell the MiL that she is safe if she gets lost, as the golf cart has a tracker on it.
Tracked vehicles usually get a better rate of insurance.
Win! Win!

Love the idea for hubby and myself, I can’t remember how often we couldn’t find each other at Macy’s when we were traveling all over the country. Our phones used to be useless sometimes too.

As far as safety of mother in law, I’d ask her first, what she thought of the idea. If she has dementia already that is a different story.

But if it’s not about invading privacy they can be told they are being tracked.

You really need to understand how the soon to be released AirTags work. These devices are not the same as having a GPS unit on a person or object.

Would you like a tracker put on you at all times? The mother-in-law was found and it’s no big deal. You can bet this tracker would be used by more than that family. This is the beginning of total loss of privacy.

You might want to fully read this.


Apple Airtags Might Be Great For Theft Prone Cars, BUT...

I think the question is a sad reflection on marriage in this country.

There is NOTHING my wife and I don't share. Including all our Apple devices in Find My, so we can keep track of each other.

Why be married if you don't want your spouse to know where you are all the time. Not for spying, but for concern for their safety.

BTW, if you own a smart phone and your wife owns a smart phone, then you can already do what the air tag offers. Of course, everyone is going to freak out now, Because "APPLE"!

Hmmm, we’re married a long time but we don’t find it necessary to “keep track of each other”. Dementia in any form would be a necessary evil but I don’t want to know from which store my spouse is buying a present for me.

My point was and is, there is nothing this tracker does that you could not do previously with a smart phone or devices available online.

It is NEWS because it is Apple.

And, I did not say we track each other ALL THE TIME. I recently returned from Ecuador, while there I traveled between several cities and my wife, who stayed here, was able to keep track of where I was, just in case. During those travels I encountered several roads washed out, several landslides, etc. If I have been washed off the road, my wife could have let the authorities know where I was. It provided her with peace of mind that I was okay.

Technology can be good or evil.

You could text when an update was necessary.:smiley:

You are so right. Hubby and I are the same, we even asked for the same Apple ID but Apple wants control over our personal information. And make more money by selling separate phones, iPads etc. We’re used to a family phone like a landline etc. I am waiting for Apple to try to sell personal TVs you can only turn on with your finger print or Face ID so each person will need their own. Don’t put it passed them.....

By the way, nice to see you on TOTV again.

Use Find My Phone which I believe is on all phones already. I use Tile for my keys, purse and phone. Love it! Frame your discussion that the person will also be able to find their things also and they may love it too!

Unless your mother-in-law sneaks off to secret assignations or spends her days drinking in cheap bars, I think she would welcome this, but you do need to tell her first. There are plenty of places where people can lose their bearings in various villages. It would be nice for her to know that if she doesn’t come home, you will be able to track the cart with ease. If she has dementia and wanders off, she may need one on a bracelet or necklace. Perhaps they will soon be implantable. If you keep it in your golf cart all the time, perhaps you wouldn’t even need to tell her, and then after your own long night of drinking and dancing in the square, it will be easier for you to find your cart with the help of your iPhone. That is, if you haven’t lost your iPhone.

Yes. I would use a tracker on a senior adult that was having problems that I was concerned about (health issues). Especially I didn’t live near them. But only for their health and safety.

Not needed, simple google set-up and you can track your phones.

Yet.

Good for cell phone, but what if they don’t take it with them or the loose it?

If you use only if she is lost or beyond late but to watch where is at all the time would be a “big no”
Maybe have a talk with mom what you are doing is for her safety.

cheating husband/wife? excellent idea

There have been several tracking devices on market for years. What big deal about Apple? O it cost more, so that must make it better? It’s personnel choice, going on forum asking like last place to ask. That question for family discussion.

You trust apple tracker.....anything from apple is not trustworthy

Good insight to how it work

Apple'''s AirTag is a $29 coin-sized tracker that helps you find lost things

Use your phone
 

My wife walks early in the morning, there is an app available called “Life360” it does track by the phone number, we have it installed on both our phones, she can press Help on it and it will loudly let me know so I can go and get her. Also it tracks all stops, since we have been married for 57 years now we have nothing to hide from one another.

Trackers are used in TV all the time, some issued by the Sheriffs Department. Because it’s not in your house, means your not in a situation to make these decisions. We have 6 residents in our neighborhood, who are lucid one minute and no clue the next. 3 week ago one walked into a neighbors home sat down in the living room and watched TV.
Privacy is no longer in the equation when it happens in your household. When you have to make this decision your thoughts may or may not change, in the meantime I’m glad your household is whole and has no issues. I am guessing if your mother in law was gone for 3 plus hours you would be ok with it.

I believe that ANY tracking device that you buy is already being tracked by the manufacturer. It's just like buying a new fishing lure. The first thing the lure caught was YOU.
Using a tracking device on an elderly person without permission is both a security precaution and an invasion of privacy.
Our privacy is being invaded every day, and it's up to us to be vigilant. If it doesn't bother you don't worry about it. If it does, then be aware of it's presence and what form it takes.
I have absolutely nothing to hide or be ashamed of, yet I object to being tracked.....whether by location or by purchases. Because it's all about control.
When someone/something is out to get you, it's good and necessary to be paranoid.

The Airtags aren’t stealth at all, and alert the criminal who steals the car that they being tracked, and even makes a sound to identify the location of the Airtag, to assist the criminal to quickly find the Airtag. That makes it totally worthless to use to track a vehicle if it’s stolen. Perhaps Apple thinks it’s more important to assist and protect criminals than honest citizens.

The Tile could track a stolen car in a stealth manner. But the Tile would be dependent on other Tile users than anonymously assist in the tracking in a stealth manner.

There’s a YouTube video that tests using the Tile to protect a stolen bicycle. They attached a Tile to a bicycle and left the bicycle in a place where it could be stolen. It took about one week for the stolen bicycle to be found, until another random Tile user happened to pass near the stolen bicycle.

Using Tile is a cheap way to track a stolen car, but not very effective. If you need to be able to track a stolen car more reliably, then you’d need to attach a real GPS tracking device to that car, and pay for the GPS tracking monthly subscription cost.

They do make GPS tracking devices for medium to large dogs that could be used to track humans. Those GPS tracking devices could be placed in a jacket pocket, but wouldn’t be very stealth.

Another idea would be to give the elderly person with memory problems an iWatch. They could use the iWatch as a watch, and you could use their iWatch to track them. The situations where there are Silver Alerts for missing elderly people could have quickly be ended without issuing a Silver Alert, if the elderly person had been wearing an iWatch that could be tracked.

The privacy issues might be a concern. But millions of people are currently being spied on and tracked now by cellphone applications by companies like Google and Facebook, without your knowledge or consent. Those companies might also be eavesdropping on your conversations when you are talking, when not making phone calls. So, right now, most people don’t really have privacy.

That’s the way to do it. Track the cart not the person. No matter who is driving it, you will know where it is. Whether MiL, thief or anyone visiting.

How about just having an adult conversation and tell her you are worried about her getting lost and tell her your ideas instead of sneaking a tracking device on her. Id be pretty annoyed if someoen did that to me