For jealous boyfriends and parents who need
help
AT&T is offering a new service that allows parents who are
worried that their precious little snowflakes might get a bit lost, or stalkers
can track loved ones using their phones.
Dubbed FamilyMaps, the service
allows people to track the location of any mobile phone on AT&T's network
from a mobile phone or PC. The person being tracked receives a text message
informing him or her that he or she is being watched. Users can either track
someone in real time by viewing the location on a map or they can set up the
service to send them text message alerts or e-mails with location information.
The big idea is that a parent may get an alert each day that his child made
it home from school. A jealous girlfriend looking to keep tabs on her boyfriend
could set up the service to notify her if her boyfriend happens to wander into a
bar or over to his ex-girlfriend's place.
It is only possible to track phones
that are part of their family plans so you will not be able to tell what your
ex-girlfriend is doing. Unless you masking taped a phone with the tracking gear
underneath her car [you have thought about this too much. Ed].
It uses
satellite GPS technology and cell tower triangulation to pin-point the location
of the phone. The service is not supported on prepaid or AT&T Go Phones. And
the service costs $9.99 for two phones and $14.99 for up to five phones.