Parents love these apps. So do violent criminals
One of the most popular tracking apps is Life360, which allows users to invite family and friends to have their location shown live on a private map. Its use has surged in Australia from 1.9 million monthly active users in the June quarter of 2023 to 2.7 million in the same period the following year. Another is Snap Map, which lets selected friends see the user's location.
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Research from the eSafety Commissioner, involving a survey of 2000 adults, shows the extent to which this has become normalised. It found men (one in five) were more likely than women (one in 10) to agree that constantly texting to ask who their partner was with or what they were doing was usually a sign of care.
Men were also more likely (26.3 per cent) than women (11.8 per cent) to think that wanting their partner to be constantly available to respond to texts, calls or video chat was a sign of care in a partnership.
Almost 14 per cent of the 2000 survey participants said using a location-sharing app to track an intimate partner whenever they wanted to would be reasonable, but that jumped to almost 19 per cent for 18- to 24-year-olds.
'When this is happening to young people in, say, their first relationships, I don't think they would self-identify as being a victim survivor of coercive control or domestic violence,' said Inman Grant.
Griffith University student Maria Atienzar-Prieto has researched technology-facilitated coercive control in relationships for her PhD thesis, and held focus groups with young people who had used location sharing apps in relationships.
She, too, found most young people misinterpreted following a partner via a tracking app as a protective behaviour, and a sign of care and trust. Often, they had been tracked as teens by their parents.
'One of the findings that really highlighted how this behaviour was normalised, was that the behaviour starts in the family home,' Atienzar-Prieto said. '[They said], 'I felt very comfortable using this app with my friends and partners because my parents tracked me while I was growing up.' Parents need to be aware of the associated risks that can come with this type of technology.'
The focus groups told Atienzar-Prieto that location sharing was regarded as a demonstration of commitment in young relationships, so if someone in the relationship tried to stop sharing it can be seen as a sign of distrust or a breach of dating etiquette.
'A lot willingly opt in because everyone around them does it – their family, their friends, it's very easy to opt in,' she said. 'But when a young person doesn't want to share their location, opting out is very difficult.'
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Some children track their parents too. One discussion on a Facebook mother's group talked about young people finding the tracking of their parents reassuring, after hearing a group of teens discussing it on a train. 'I get notifications that Mum has left home, or Mum has returned home,' one said. 'I don't know how to turn it off, but I actually like it.'
Yet even when used as a safety precaution, tracking apps don't necessarily work. Audrey Griffin used such an app, and reportedly sent friends details of her location when she walked home in the early hours of Sunday, March 23. Her friends lost track of her at around 3am and reported her disappearance to police. She was allegedly murdered by a stranger that night.
'A lot of the girls and young women mention, 'Well, I feel safer, if I'm going alone – I would prefer someone knowing where my location is',' said Atienzar-Prieto. 'That can also create a false sense of safety.'
Inman Grant urged parents to discuss boundaries around surveillance and tracking apps with their children, and to never watch them without their knowledge. 'To say, 'I'm turning this on because I'm concerned about your safety and need to know where you are',' she said.
'Where it becomes problematic is when a child is being monitored, called several times at school, followed after school. We don't want this sense of being surveilled or monitored to be normalised as they start to embark on intimate and romantic relationships.'
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ABC News
27-05-2025
- ABC News
Location-Sharing Apps
JOE BARONIO, REPORTER: Do you have any location-sharing apps on your phone right now? PERSON: Snapchat and Find My. PERSON: I have Life360 and Snapchat has my location. PERSON: I've got Snapchat and sort of like iPhone, Find It. PERSON: Snapchat, Find My and Life360. PERSON: Snapchat and I have Find My Phone. PERSON: Life360 right now and Google Maps sharing. Yeah, a lot of young people have some kind of location-sharing app on their devices, whether it's to keep up with friends or for parents and family to keep an eye on you. PERSON: I use location-sharing apps so that my parents can track me, so they know that I'm safe. PERSON: Oh, because my Mum makes me. PERSON: Yeah, just to find my mates. PERSON: For Snapchat I think it's more like a cultural thing, you like to see where everyone is. PERSON: I'm driving so my Mum just likes to know like where I'm at and like if I'm going the speed limit. PERSON: Yeah, I think like with going out and us being, you know, the age that we are, there's a lot of uni, a lot of travelling, so just, you know, gives a bit of comfort for myself, my parents. But, while many of these apps sell themselves on safety, there is a potential dark side. JULIE INMAN GRANT, ESAFETY COMMISSIONER: We've been talking about coercive control for a long time in the context of family, domestic and sexual violence, but we were starting to see indications that coercive control from a technology perspective was starting to creep into the romantic and intimate relationships of young people. Coercive control is when someone tries to control another through manipulation, pressure and fear, and a recent study from the eSafety Commissioner looked into the normalisation of tech-based coercive control in more than 2,000 Aussie adults aged 18 to 75, including the use of location-sharing apps. It found that about one in five of 18 to 24-year-old participants expect to be able to track a partner using these apps, and that it may stem from childhood experience. JULIE INMAN GRANT: Young people's lives are inextricably intertwined with technology. They're meeting each other online. You know, they're checking out where their friends are on Snap Maps. I mean it's, it, it is part of their daily lives. PERSON: I think it's being accepted so much more now with Snapchat and stuff. PERSON: I wouldn't say normalised. I think it's definitely, like I've had conversations with many of my friends being like, 'Do you wanna show your location?' 'Yeah, sure, whatever.' PERSON: I think 100% it's normalised and I think for some people it might even be an expectation, like I'll even message my friend here and be like, 'Why is your location not on? Where are you?' So, do you think that more people in the future are going to expect to, to track loved ones? PERSON: Yep, as is growing right now, I'm sure the trend's gonna stay the same. That is a big concern for the eSafety Commissioner, who says that particularly for young people who've grown up with this tech, it can be difficult to work out the line between love and care, and dangerous controlling behaviour, which doesn't stop with location-sharing apps. JULIE INMAN GRANT: There were two examples where we saw some concerning trends and that is that almost one in four said that it was reasonable to expect to have a partner's codes or passwords for their personal devices, and, and we also found that more than one in eight agree that constantly texting a partner to check who they're with or what they're doing is usually a sign of care in a relationship rather than a manifestation of control. PERSON: With it being such a new concept, it's so hard to understand because you know we're all trying to learn about. PERSON: When they start, like doing it all the time, getting super insecure, always asking questions. I think that's when the line starts to draw. PERSON: Yeah I think it's a bit of like a hard line to draw, but I think if you're constantly getting a message like I would say more than five times a day really saying, 'oh where are you?' like I think if it's a constant like situation that's arising, I think that's when you have to re-evaluate if it's beneficial for you or not. PERSON: If it's your first relationship, it's been just like a couple of days, a couple of weeks, you, that's a huge expectation to you know, and why are you firstly looking at someone's location? Why are you wondering that much about them? JULIE INMAN GRANT: We've seen families heated out of their homes where the former partner turns it up to 45 degrees, or every time the family turns on their smart TV, there are menacing messages. And then there are more high-tech versions like drones over safe houses, cars that are now largely electronic, that can stall when it goes more than a kilometre away from the family home. We've even seen a cat feeder with a video tracking a person's movements and who is coming into the household. But even stuff like this, this one really gets me, is the whole idea of let's send a grand gesture, I will send a beautiful meal on Uber Eats to my partner to check that she's where she says she is. So, it can be tied up in a grand gesture, but it can also be used in a way that is meant to check on a person's whereabouts in a very covert way. Of course, we can't forget that the main reason location-sharing apps were created is safety, and that is still what they're mainly used for. But, if you find yourself feeling unsure or uncomfortable about location-sharing, experts like the eSafety Commissioner say to trust your gut and set digital boundaries, and if things get really uncomfortable make sure to reach out to the Kids Helpline, Headspace, or talk to a trusted adult. JULIE INMAN GRANT: I don't want to sound like Commissioner gloom and doom. You know, all of this is a balance, right? We want young people to be vigilant, you know, I guess armed but not alarmed. And we, we don't want this to be so normalised that, you know, it changes sort of the fabric of the, the kind of relationships that we're in. PERSON: Make sure you trust the people you share your location with. PERSON: Just really important that it's all you know, consensual and that it's all safe. PERSON: And if they don't know, or they don't give consent, then absolutely not. PERSON: If you have that trust within you two, awesome. But it's also another aspect of trust. PERSON: It's all about communication, and if you're communicating properly, I don't think there's a need to. PERSON: Especially in a modern world, you don't have a lot of privacy, and that just adds to it, you know, it's just a constant sort of feeling of surveillance. PERSON: Yeah, I'd say take whatever you, whatever privacy you can get really.
News.com.au
18-05-2025
- News.com.au
Hot Money Monday: Life360 rockets 25pc in a week, but is the market dreaming too big?
Life360 pops 25% on record results Ad biz gets love, but maybe too much Morningstar analyst says hype might be running too hot It's been a bonza week for Life360 (ASX:360) investors. The San Francisco-based family safety tech company shot up more than 25% last week, riding a wave of bullish sentiment after posting record-breaking March quarter results. For a business once known as a simple family locator app born out of the post-Hurricane Katrina chaos, this is quite the victory lap. The company, now trading on both the NASDAQ and ASX and capped at $4.5bn, has morphed into a global digital concierge for family life. It does location tracking, crash alerts, pet monitoring, teen driver stats, and more. In the last quarter just reported, it added 4.1 million new users, bringing total monthly active users to a whopping 83.7 million across 170 countries. Not bad for a business that started with the humble goal of helping families stay connected during emergencies. Quarterly revenue surged 32% to US$103.6 million, with subscription income up 37%. But what really turned heads was the near doubling of 'Other Revenue,' which includes its budding advertising business. It came in at $12.8 million for the quarter, up from $6.5 million in the same period a year ago. That's what really sparked the rally, but not everyone's convinced it will last. Getting carried away? Morningstar analyst Roy Van Keulen, who's been keeping a close eye on Life360's numbers, welcomed the strong start but poured a bit of cold water on the hype. That ad growth is exciting, sure, but Van Keulen sees warning lights flickering beneath the surface. His team had already penciled in a long-term drop in App Store commission fees after recent US rulings against Apple's stranglehold on payment systems. And that's a big win for app developers like Life360, whose Apple-related fees have been a major cost line. Still, Van Keulen thinks the Street's getting a little carried away. "Life360 screens as materially overvalued now, as the market appears to be overestimating the advertising growth opportunity," he said. Put simply, the ad dream might not match reality. Ads not quite hitting the mark Yes, Life360's pitch is that it can serve up super-relevant, location-based ads. Imagine landing at LAX airport and instantly seeing a pop-up offer for an Uber ride. That's useful. But how often does that happen? 'We believe the market is overly excited by advertising revenue growth,' Van Keulen said. 'The company's pitch to investors and advertisers is it is uniquely capable of providing contextually relevant advertising inventory in its app, especially for location-relevant ads. "However, we see few relevant use cases for this type of data.' Van Keulen reckons that while some travel-related ads might stick, most of the time, they'll just be white noise. A café promo popping up on your kid's safety app? Not exactly a sure-fire conversion. More critically, he adds, 'We are yet to see growth from targeted ads show up in revenue." "While year-on-year 'other revenue' grew impressively, there was a sequential decline, despite targeted ads being ramped up.' So why the investor euphoria? Part of it comes down to confidence from the top. CEO Chris Hulls is talking up Life360 as an everyday essential in uncertain times. 'In a more cautious consumer spending environment, our performance reflects both the resilience of our business model and the growing demand for our services that keep families safe, connected, and provide peace of mind,' Hulls said in the company's earnings release. Still, Van Keulen has his feet planted on the ground. Even with upgraded forecasts, Morningstar doesn't see Life360's advertising business becoming a reliable money spinner anytime soon. 'Our forecasts assume Life360's average advertising revenue per monthly active user, or MAU, will remain near the bottom end of the range compared with a peer group of consumer apps.' What's the takeaway? Life360's core business – subscriptions that help keep families connected and safe – is in top shape. It's proving resilient, sticky, and nicely profitable. But don't get too starry-eyed about the advertising side just yet. "These use cases are niche and not everyday use cases where targeted ads can deliver a lot of revenue," Van Keulen said. The stock may have sprinted ahead of itself, he added.
The Advertiser
15-05-2025
- The Advertiser
Dark side of young people's phone habit revealed
For many young Australians, tracking a partner's every move is a normal sign of love and affection, but there is a darker side to the growing trend. Online following and monitoring has become common among family and friends but research published by the eSafety Commissioner on Thursday suggests this behaviour might be spilling over into romantic relationships. Ashton Wood, chief executive of DV Safe Phone, said the trend was concerning and could have harmful consequences. Mr Wood leads the organisation that provides free mobile phones to domestic violence victims across Australia. "In domestic violence, we see lots around technology-facilitated abuse," he told AAP. "It becomes a method of control and before the victim realises it, their partner is watching everything." Mr Wood said it was important to have a safe phone - one that was not tracked or monitored. "It's really critical if someone's in danger to have access to a device that their partner doesn't know about, that can be used without fear of being tracked or monitored," he said. The eSafety Commissioner's research found 18.6 per cent of people aged 18 to 24 expected to track their partner whenever they wanted. The study surveyed 2000 Australians aged 18 to 75, asking whether they agreed with certain harmful expectations and attitudes linked to tech-based coercive control in intimate relationships. Tracking a partner can take many forms, including using Apple's Find My app or third-party apps such as Life360, which is popular among parents. Maneesha Prakash from the Youth Advocacy Centre works with young people and delivers community legal education programs in schools. The domestic and family violence lawyer said it had become widely normalised for people to track friends, partners and loved ones through social media. "Most apps have the ability to share locations," Ms Prakash told AAP. "(Young) people don't blink twice. They think it's normal. They think it's part of somebody caring about them. "That leads to them getting into quite toxic relationships and all the flow-on effects." The prospect of tracking a partner can be a form of tech-based coercive control, which is a pattern of abusive behaviour used to control someone within a relationship. "A lot of young people find it really confronting when you talk to them about coercive control and how it's not normal behaviour to be constantly monitored," Ms Prakash said. "We are seeing quite a lot of DV behaviours stemming from coercive control that comes with locating someone." Ms Prakash said there were significant gaps in knowledge that left young people at a disadvantage. "It's important to keep having conversations around consent and coercive control in schools and at home.," she said. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 For many young Australians, tracking a partner's every move is a normal sign of love and affection, but there is a darker side to the growing trend. Online following and monitoring has become common among family and friends but research published by the eSafety Commissioner on Thursday suggests this behaviour might be spilling over into romantic relationships. Ashton Wood, chief executive of DV Safe Phone, said the trend was concerning and could have harmful consequences. Mr Wood leads the organisation that provides free mobile phones to domestic violence victims across Australia. "In domestic violence, we see lots around technology-facilitated abuse," he told AAP. "It becomes a method of control and before the victim realises it, their partner is watching everything." Mr Wood said it was important to have a safe phone - one that was not tracked or monitored. "It's really critical if someone's in danger to have access to a device that their partner doesn't know about, that can be used without fear of being tracked or monitored," he said. The eSafety Commissioner's research found 18.6 per cent of people aged 18 to 24 expected to track their partner whenever they wanted. The study surveyed 2000 Australians aged 18 to 75, asking whether they agreed with certain harmful expectations and attitudes linked to tech-based coercive control in intimate relationships. Tracking a partner can take many forms, including using Apple's Find My app or third-party apps such as Life360, which is popular among parents. Maneesha Prakash from the Youth Advocacy Centre works with young people and delivers community legal education programs in schools. The domestic and family violence lawyer said it had become widely normalised for people to track friends, partners and loved ones through social media. "Most apps have the ability to share locations," Ms Prakash told AAP. "(Young) people don't blink twice. They think it's normal. They think it's part of somebody caring about them. "That leads to them getting into quite toxic relationships and all the flow-on effects." The prospect of tracking a partner can be a form of tech-based coercive control, which is a pattern of abusive behaviour used to control someone within a relationship. "A lot of young people find it really confronting when you talk to them about coercive control and how it's not normal behaviour to be constantly monitored," Ms Prakash said. "We are seeing quite a lot of DV behaviours stemming from coercive control that comes with locating someone." Ms Prakash said there were significant gaps in knowledge that left young people at a disadvantage. "It's important to keep having conversations around consent and coercive control in schools and at home.," she said. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 For many young Australians, tracking a partner's every move is a normal sign of love and affection, but there is a darker side to the growing trend. Online following and monitoring has become common among family and friends but research published by the eSafety Commissioner on Thursday suggests this behaviour might be spilling over into romantic relationships. Ashton Wood, chief executive of DV Safe Phone, said the trend was concerning and could have harmful consequences. Mr Wood leads the organisation that provides free mobile phones to domestic violence victims across Australia. "In domestic violence, we see lots around technology-facilitated abuse," he told AAP. "It becomes a method of control and before the victim realises it, their partner is watching everything." Mr Wood said it was important to have a safe phone - one that was not tracked or monitored. "It's really critical if someone's in danger to have access to a device that their partner doesn't know about, that can be used without fear of being tracked or monitored," he said. The eSafety Commissioner's research found 18.6 per cent of people aged 18 to 24 expected to track their partner whenever they wanted. The study surveyed 2000 Australians aged 18 to 75, asking whether they agreed with certain harmful expectations and attitudes linked to tech-based coercive control in intimate relationships. Tracking a partner can take many forms, including using Apple's Find My app or third-party apps such as Life360, which is popular among parents. Maneesha Prakash from the Youth Advocacy Centre works with young people and delivers community legal education programs in schools. The domestic and family violence lawyer said it had become widely normalised for people to track friends, partners and loved ones through social media. "Most apps have the ability to share locations," Ms Prakash told AAP. "(Young) people don't blink twice. They think it's normal. They think it's part of somebody caring about them. "That leads to them getting into quite toxic relationships and all the flow-on effects." The prospect of tracking a partner can be a form of tech-based coercive control, which is a pattern of abusive behaviour used to control someone within a relationship. "A lot of young people find it really confronting when you talk to them about coercive control and how it's not normal behaviour to be constantly monitored," Ms Prakash said. "We are seeing quite a lot of DV behaviours stemming from coercive control that comes with locating someone." Ms Prakash said there were significant gaps in knowledge that left young people at a disadvantage. "It's important to keep having conversations around consent and coercive control in schools and at home.," she said. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 For many young Australians, tracking a partner's every move is a normal sign of love and affection, but there is a darker side to the growing trend. Online following and monitoring has become common among family and friends but research published by the eSafety Commissioner on Thursday suggests this behaviour might be spilling over into romantic relationships. Ashton Wood, chief executive of DV Safe Phone, said the trend was concerning and could have harmful consequences. Mr Wood leads the organisation that provides free mobile phones to domestic violence victims across Australia. "In domestic violence, we see lots around technology-facilitated abuse," he told AAP. "It becomes a method of control and before the victim realises it, their partner is watching everything." Mr Wood said it was important to have a safe phone - one that was not tracked or monitored. "It's really critical if someone's in danger to have access to a device that their partner doesn't know about, that can be used without fear of being tracked or monitored," he said. The eSafety Commissioner's research found 18.6 per cent of people aged 18 to 24 expected to track their partner whenever they wanted. The study surveyed 2000 Australians aged 18 to 75, asking whether they agreed with certain harmful expectations and attitudes linked to tech-based coercive control in intimate relationships. Tracking a partner can take many forms, including using Apple's Find My app or third-party apps such as Life360, which is popular among parents. Maneesha Prakash from the Youth Advocacy Centre works with young people and delivers community legal education programs in schools. The domestic and family violence lawyer said it had become widely normalised for people to track friends, partners and loved ones through social media. "Most apps have the ability to share locations," Ms Prakash told AAP. "(Young) people don't blink twice. They think it's normal. They think it's part of somebody caring about them. "That leads to them getting into quite toxic relationships and all the flow-on effects." The prospect of tracking a partner can be a form of tech-based coercive control, which is a pattern of abusive behaviour used to control someone within a relationship. "A lot of young people find it really confronting when you talk to them about coercive control and how it's not normal behaviour to be constantly monitored," Ms Prakash said. "We are seeing quite a lot of DV behaviours stemming from coercive control that comes with locating someone." Ms Prakash said there were significant gaps in knowledge that left young people at a disadvantage. "It's important to keep having conversations around consent and coercive control in schools and at home.," she said. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14
