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By Roy Furchgott~New York Times
AT&T is introducing FamilyMap, a service that lets people with shared billing track where the phones on their plan are at any given moment. The intrusion on privacy is free for the first 30 days.
FamilyMap is aimed at families (duh), letting Mom and Dad track the kids to make sure they arrive safely at soccer practice, or have made it to Grandma’s house. Or maybe that Dad or Mom hasn’t stopped off for a cocktail on the way home.
The service has a scheduling feature, so Mom and Dad can get alerts at predetermined times by text or e-mail, say 4 p.m., to see if Buddy and Sis are home yet.
The maps can be viewed on any AT&T postpaid phone or they can be viewed on a computer. After the free 30-day trail is over, the cost is $10 a month for up to two phones, or $15 for up to five phones.
The principal account owner − whoever pays the bill − controls the privacy settings. It can be set up so each phone gets an alert whenever its location is checked. But it can also be set so there is only one alert, when FamilyMap is first activated. There are periodic reminders that the phone is on the plan, so it isn’t a total Orwellian nightmare.
FamilyMap can be customized by adding photos that make it easy to see who is at which location, and favorite locations can be marked and named on the map.
I’m not sure if the Ministry of Truth counts as a favorite location.
