GPS Tracking Could Improve Children's Health

GPS Tracking Could Improve Children's Health

2255494312_08066d86ab_b 1.jpgIndiana University School of Medicine wants to track teenage kids, and insists that it is for their own good. In a study with a ridiculously small sample size of 15 teenage girls, researchers used GPS equipped cellphones to track the girls' every move.

The reason? Not, as we would expect, in order to pass the information on to the parents, but to identify health risks. The idea is that the cellphone would know when its owner is, say, behind the bike shed and deliver a cajoling "don't smoke" text message.

A noble aim, to be sure, but once the kids get used to this tracking, we're sure that other, less wholesome uses will be found. Targeted advertising is the most obvious, but how long until this wealth of GPS information is hacked? Leaked records of a teenager's whereabouts would be anything but good for their health.

By Charlie Sorrel EmailApril 04, 2008