What do tracking apps and Santa Claus have in common?
Answer: they see you when you’re sleeping and know when you’re awake.
All over social media, there are countless memes, TikToks and Instagram Reels that show people using Find My to track cheating boyfriends and find out how far away from the restaurant you really are. Tracking apps have taken over our world. One of my coworkers told me she used Snap Map to find out that someone she didn’t like was touring her school. When I asked her what she did about it, she told me she stayed off campus that whole day. My friends all huddled around one of our dorm rooms at the beginning of the semester and synced our phones to Find My.
My world has been taken over by location tracking apps — and if any of this sounds familiar to you, yours might’ve as well.
As of 2023, 70% of Generation Z use Find My, an Apple phone service that allows users to track other Apple devices. The number of people using tracking apps like Find My has grown since 2017, when Snap Map and Google location sharing originated.
Phone trackers use Global Positioning Systems, or GPS, that use satellite-based navigation to provide locations from anywhere on Earth. What’s more, it isn’t always your friends watching you move from place to place. But when does this become invasive?
To be honest, I find it a little creepy when I hear someone say, “It looks like Bethany is at home. We should go see her.”
Heads up to anyone named Bethany: Your friends are coming to your house to see you.
But to anyone not named Bethany: Maybe it’s a little strange to watch someone stalk another in such a shameless and socially acceptable way. Imagine what Joe Goldberg from “You” could have done if he had access to Find My?
These thoughts haven’t just gone through my head — I’ve talked to numerous other Northeastern students who’ve thought the same. Some mentioned that for close friends and family, the app is useful, but quickly followed up with how odd it is that their location is available for anyone to see.
That’s where the line needs to be drawn. Checking your friends’ location for safety is different from obsessing over it like a form of social media.
Another concern with tracking apps is data privacy. Giving apps access to your location may mean it will be used elsewhere. Some apps might look at traffic patterns, then give you ads that relate to places you’ve frequented. Nevertheless, that’s a lot of data going who knows where — and who knows what they are doing with it.
Still, tracking apps can be useful. Despite the many Blue Light stations around campus and constant NUPD presence, students still want to make sure their friends are all safe and accounted for. And for those going out late at night, some forget to text when they’ve gotten home safe. When I asked around, students mentioned that the primary reason they downloaded tracking apps was initially for safety, but quickly those reasons changed.
Tracking apps are evolving: Instagram now has a new feature that can track your location. But the constant surveillance is a little unsettling. Our search history, location, phone and texts can be tracked and sold from company to company, all in secret.
So, as the holiday season comes up, maybe ask Santa and tracking apps to stop following your location. Privacy is an important part of our lives, and it should remain that way. Just know that you don’t need to be aware of what your friends are doing all the time.
Fear of missing out happens to us all, but don’t let that stop you from binge watching Stranger Things season five alone on your couch. Because, if it gives you any consolation, you can be assured that I will be doing just that, no tracking necessary.
Sophie Kabeli is a first year public relations major. Sophie can be reached at [email protected].
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