If you're a TikTok user here in India, you're probably getting a lot of Bollywood-based memes.
But in the US, teens are filling users' feeds with memes about some app called Life360. It's not even an app they use, but one their parents do... a lot.
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Life360 is one of those niche apps that only a parent can like. No, it's not an extra-lame social network, or some sort of casual game. It's actually an app that lets you track someone to a violating degree.
It's a location-sharing app aimed at families, ideally so people can find their kids or spouses in case of an emergency, or if they can't get in touch with them for a worrying amount of time. It works similar to "Find My Device" feature offered by Apple and Google. You can share your location with family, and check on other synced contacts with the app
However, it also has a few additional features. For instance, the app lets you see how much smartphone battery someone in your "circle" has, how fast they might be driving, and much more.
This kind of technology is enabling an escalation of "helicopter parenting" like never before. In decades past, parents could only track their kids' doings based on chats with their teachers, neighbours, and their friend's parents. It's necessary of course, you need to keep a bit of an eye on them.?
When computers became a common household item, parents started monitoring how they were using them, sometimes just checking their browsing history and sometimes standing over their shoulder. With cell phones, and smartphones after, they took to checking kids' camera rolls, messages, even their social media. In fact, you're more likely to have experienced this yourself as an Indian kid.
Now, doing all of these things, and the additional stuff offered by Life360, might make you feel better as parent. Maybe you're more secure in your child''s safety when you can rigidly police them. But it raises uncomfortable questions about a kid's autonomy and right to some basic privacy. After all, teens don't want to hang around with their folks all the time, and they certainly don't want them always looking over their shoulder either.
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At last count at the end of 2018, Life360 had around 18 million monthly active users. It's not like these apps are foolproof either. Some of the most popular clips on TikTok involve instructions about how to spoof Life360, which involve turning off a variety of the smartphone's settings.
One could argue in fact, that teens are always going to try and get away with stuff. The more rigid your policing, the more inventive their solutions will become. And sometimes, like in the case of Life360, those solutions could leave them cut off from help when they really need it.
And there's the fact that having such pervasive surveillance measures make it that much easier for kids to be stalked and harassed by someone that manages to steal access.
And these are all questions parents themselves have to think about, because the apps won't. Companies like Life360 are, at the end of the day, a business after all. And business aren't likely to hamper their own growth over questions of ethics or morality, right?