Parent Tech – How Surveillance and Security Has Moved from Defense and Spying to the Home Front

November 6, 2014 – Today’s guest blogger is Alison Stanton. For the past 14 years she has been a freelance writer and editor. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona and enjoys writing about a range of subject matter from health and business to interior design. Telling stories related to her by the interesting people she meets is one of her most enjoyable pursuits.

In today’s posting she writes about advances in security and surveillance technology that have moved from the world of spying and the military to the home environment giving parents greater awareness and peace of mind about what their children are up to.

As always readers comments are welcome. Let me know if you would like to see more articles like this posted at 21st Century Tech blog.

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As parents, we want what is best for our children. From making sure they eat healthy meals and get enough sleep to knowing who their friends are and what they are up to — at least most of the time. Keeping aware of what’s going on with our kids is an important part of parenting.

Once they are old enough to start walking or driving to school and other places on their own, it can be a bit more challenging to keep tabs on what they are doing. While we might not feel right picking up their smartphones and reading their personal texts, we should definitely take steps to prevent teens from texting while driving, and make sure they are walking home after school instead of heading to a friend’s house without permission.

Interestingly, some of the technology we can use to help monitor from afar got its start in some pretty impressive environs. GPS technology, first developed in the 1960s for both military and intelligence use, can be used in more places than your automobile or to locate where you are and where you are going on your smartphone. The camera in that smartphone,  originally invented for NASA spacecraft in the 1960s, now lets users see with whom they are talking, let alone lets your children take endless selfies. We use this technology today without thinking about its origin and it can help us keep tabs on our children without being seen as “spying.”

And if the features on the smartphone aren’t enough consider these additional gadgets and apps:

Trax24

There are plenty of ways to keep a virtual eye on our children without seeming too overprotective. Trax24 is a device that can easily be carried in a backpack. It features GPS technology that can see where a child is at all times. The device also features an SOS call for help button that when activated opens a one-way microphone. It can also alert parents if a teenage driver exceeds the speed limit when driving. For children who walk home from school on their own, a Trax24 can give parents peace of mind.

LifeLock

LifeLock provides identity protection. Children are as vulnerable to identity theft as adults. Providing a LifeLock account for your child in an age where online banking and credit card transactions have become the norm, can ensure that a child’s financial future will not be subject to hacking and theft. LifeLock plans start at $9.99 U.S. and go as high as $29.99 monthly. Each plan offers a $1 million U.S. service guarantee ensuring your child is protected against a lost wallet, stolen credit cards, and online breaches from hackers and phishers.

Canary

Canary, originally developed by the military for logistics and personnel tracking, now can be used to alert parents when their teenager is texting or calling using a smartphone while driving. The application can be downloaded to a smartphone. It uses GPS to track vehicle position. It can tell how fast the vehicle is moving when the phone is engaged. It tracks where your child is at all times. And it sends alerts to a parent’s smartphone when a child is exhibiting dangerous driving habits or heading to an area that is considered unsafe or off limits. Canary isn’t designed to switch off the child’s smartphone or stop the vehicle. Instead it assembles a report card that parents can then discuss with their teenager to modify and ensure responsible behavior behind the wheel.