#life360 — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #life360, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: August 28, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: The psychology of why people share their smartphone location data with friends and family
URL: https://www.psypost.org/why-people-share-their-smartphone-location-data-with-friends-and-family/
People frequently track the real-time geographic movements of their close friends and family members through smartphone applications. A new survey of adults reveals that users most often share their whereabouts with romantic partners to manage practical logistics, while relying on the technology to monitor the physical safety of their parents and siblings. The findings were published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
Modern smartphones come equipped with a variety of tools that allow users to continuously broadcast their exact physical location to others. Features like Apple’s Find My, Google Maps, and dedicated tracking programs such as Life360 are increasingly common fixtures in daily life. Past research on this technology has often focused on specific risks, such as digital stalking or a loss of trust in romantic relationships. Other studies have examined how parents use these applications to monitor their adolescent children.
Yet little data exists regarding the broader social networks of location sharing. Researchers wanted to understand the full scope of who receives this access and the specific motivations driving these digital disclosures. Brian G. Ogolsky, a researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and his colleagues sought to categorize the everyday habits of smartphone users. They grounded their work in communication privacy management theory, which suggests that people constantly negotiate the boundaries between personal privacy and social disclosure.
By treating geographic coordinates as a form of private information, the researchers aimed to map the changing norms of digital intimacy. Traditionally, social scientists have viewed privacy management as an active choice, where a person decides to reveal specific details in a specific moment. Smartphone tracking, however, creates a continuous and ambient stream of data. The research team wanted to know how people navigate this distinct type of constant revelation.
To gather the data, Ogolsky and his team recruited 203 adults between the ages of 19 and 59. The participants were required to own a smartphone and currently share their location with at least one person. During an online survey, participants opened their tracking applications and counted the total number of people who could see their movements. They then categorized their relationships with each person on the list.
Participants also answered open-ended questions detailing why they initially allowed access and why they continued to do so over time. The research team manually categorized the written responses, coding them into dozens of specific themes before collapsing them into four primary categories. This qualitative approach allowed the researchers to preserve the respondents’ own descriptions of their social behaviors.
The survey revealed that participants broadcast their location to an average of nearly four people. However, the majority of the respondents shared their whereabouts with just one or two individuals, indicating that people maintain tight privacy boundaries even with ambient technology. Romantic partners were the most common recipients of this information, selected by over 62 percent of the respondents. Friends and siblings were the next most common categories, followed by mothers, fathers, and children.
When analyzing the motivations for broadcasting physical movements, the researchers identified safety as the most frequently cited reason across the entire survey. Participants described using the technology to gain peace of mind and to ensure they could receive help in an emergency. They also mentioned safety in the context of developmental transitions, such as tracking a teenager who recently started driving or monitoring an aging parent who might face cognitive decline. The researchers noted that this type of safety is entirely passive, as it relies on the other person choosing to check the application when assistance is needed.
The second major category of motivation was practicality. People used location data to navigate the logistics of daily life, such as checking if a partner had left work or timing a dinner preparation. This allowed them to stay informed without needing to send a text message or make a phone call to ask for an estimated time of arrival. In this specific group of participants, staying informed of a partner’s movements was usually described as an issue of efficiency rather than an attempt to exert control.
A third category involved casual reasons for keeping tracking features active. Many participants cited sheer indifference, noting that they had forgotten the application was running or simply had no reason to turn it off. Some tracking applications enable location sharing by default, meaning users might accidentally broadcast their data continuously. Other respondents described using the technology purely for entertainment, with one participant noting that they “find it funny to check each other’s location and send texts about it.”
The final category involved relationship processes. In these instances, participants viewed the act of revealing their location as a way to maintain closeness or build trust. Some individuals used the continuous stream of geographic data to demonstrate transparency in a romantic partnership, offering explanations such as, “Because I’m fine with it. I have nothing to hide.” A small number of respondents reported sharing their location due to direct pressure from a partner or a cultural expectation that roommates should automatically know each other’s whereabouts.
The researchers then compared the reasons for sharing against the specific types of relationships. The motivations shifted depending on the person receiving the data. For romantic partners and friends, practical reasons dominated the decision to keep tracking applications active. These individuals likely spend a large portion of their time together and need efficient ways to coordinate shared schedules.
By contrast, safety was the primary driver for giving access to family members. Parents, children, and extended family members were granted access primarily to alleviate worries about physical well-being. Because adult children often live far away from their aging parents or extended family, location tracking provides a way to maintain a sense of connection and security across long physical distances.
The study relied on a specific demographic sample that was largely white, heterosexual, and highly educated. Because all participants already used tracking software, the results do not capture the perspectives of people who actively avoid the technology due to privacy concerns. The researchers also did not directly ask participants about intimate partner violence. This omission might have resulted in an underreporting of digital surveillance, controlling behaviors, or a lack of trust.
Future research will need to explore how digital boundaries change as tracking algorithms become more deeply integrated into daily life. Scientists also hope to investigate whether relying on passive digital tracking replaces traditional conversations, and how skipping basic logistical check-ins might alter interpersonal communication.
The study, “Near, Far, Wherever You Are: With Whom and Why Do People Use Location Sharing in Relationships,” was authored by Brian G. Ogolsky, Matthew Rivas-Koehl, Evaline Y. Li, Ghada Kawas, Emily J. Charvat, Christopher R. Maniotes and Jennifer L. Hardesty.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/why-people-share-their-smartphone-location-data-with-friends-and-family/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #LocationSharing #DigitalPrivacy #FindMy #Life360 #SmartphoneTracking #RelationshipDynamics #SafetyFirst #PracticalTracking #PrivacyManagement #AmbientDisclosure
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Jamie Oliver Cooks Up Funny Midlife Crisis Microdrama Series With Life360 https://www.diningandcooking.com/chefs/2974/ #BabyTeeth #CelebrityChef #CelebrityChefs #JamieOliver #Life360
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Uber and Life360 want to make teen rides easier to track and manage
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://nerds.xyz/2026/02/uber-life360-teen-ride-integration/
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#Apple 's people location sharing on #FindMy is actually pretty nice - it's so simple to setup. If you have old parents for instance, it's nice to just get on the app on their #iPhone, share location (indefinitely) to your number, and then you can just check out where they are from the Find My app on your phone at any time, rather than make them remember to always start a live location sharing on #WhatsApp or wtv. I reckon it might not take as much battery life too, as I imagine it only pings for its location when you're looking for it.
That being said, if you do wish to set up notifications for this location tracking, it's gonna be painful and not worth it lol - for that, you're best left with #Life360 which you could easily set up certain 'zones' i.e. home, workplace, etc. and you'll always be notified if anyone in your circle's left or arrived a zone, and even nicer, even if it's not a pre-defined zone - it'll still tell you if they've stopped or left from a location. If you don't need this tho, Find My is the way to go. -
Using TypeScript to Obtain One of the Rarest License Plates
https://www.jack.bio/blog/licenseplate
#ycombinator #Life360 #API_reverse_engineering #driving_leaderboard #speed_leaderboard #viral_project #TikTok #programming #Python #Next_js #web_app #data_visualization #hacking #job_offer #side_project -
Ich besitze eine App namens "Life360", in der ich denn Standort meiner Familie ansehen kann. Diese bietet sich eine Chat Funktion und das wurde mir als Antwort vorgeschlagen.
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Life360, the 'family safety' app, is now venturing into pet tech with a new GPS tracker for your cats and dogs. Because who *doesn't* want a full location history of Mittens' midnight escapades? Just imagine the debugging logs if it malfunctions!
What's the most absurd thing you'd track with this?
#PetTech #GPS #Life360 #TechNews
https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/22/life360-ventures-into-pet-tech-with-the-launch-of-a-new-GPS-tracker/ -
Tile trackers plagued by weak security, researchers warn
#Life360
https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/09/tile-trackers-plagued-by-weak-security-researchers-warn -
Tile trackers plagued by weak security, researchers warn https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/09/tile-trackers-plagued-by-weak-security-researchers-warn #unencrypted #Privacy #Life360 #News #Tile
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Cancelled our subscription to #life360 today after they increased the subscription by an additional two quid per month. There is no point in paying for it considering all of the same (useful) functionality exists natively in #HomeAssistant ! Another win for the Open Home! That’s going to save me almost a hundred euros per year (which is insane to pay for an app we use a couple of times a week!)
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Lawsuit: #Allstate used #GasBuddy and other apps to quietly #track driving behavior
#Texas has sued #insurance provider Allstate, alleging that the firm and its data broker subsidiary used data from apps like GasBuddy, #Routely , and #Life360 to quietly track drivers and adjust or cancel their policies.
#privacy #surveillance #databroker -
Lawsuit: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to quietly track driving behavior
Texas has sued insurance provider Allstate, alleging that the firm and its data broker subsidiary used data from apps like #GasBuddy, #Routely, and #Life360 to quietly track drivers and adjust or cancel their policies.
#Allstate and Arity, a “mobility data and analytics” firm founded by Allstate in 2016, collected “trillions of miles worth of location data” from more than 45 million people, then used that data to adjust rates, according to Texas’ lawsuit.
Texas’ lawsuit claims that Arity incentivized—through “generous bonus incentives”—apps like GasBuddy, a gas price-tracking app, and Life360, which is intended to keep tabs on family members’ location, to “increas[e] the size of their dataset.” The suit also cites Allstate as gathering direct car use data from Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram vehicles.
Ars Technica / https://archive.fo/jKGnk #Privacy #DataPrivacy
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Tiles. They go on your roof — or they can be used to find lost or stolen items. It’s the latter kind of Tile I’m testing in my latest review, with some quite mixed results…
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Lilbits: Furi FLX1 Linux smartphone, Tile’s new Bluetooth trackers, and Haiki OS R1 Beta 5
The Furi FLX1 is a $499 smartphone from with a 6.6 inch FHD+ 120 Hz IPS LCD display, a MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 50MP primary camera. Basically it has the specs of a mid-range Android phone, but instead of Android this phone ships with a Linux-based operating system called Furi OS.
First introduced earlier this year, the phone had limited support […]
https://liliputing.com/?p=171854
#beos #bluetoothTracker #furiFlx1 #furiLabs #furilabs #haiku #haikuOs #halium #internetArchive #life360 #lilbits #linuxsmartphones #mobileLinux #smartphones #tile #waybackMachine
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Ok in my partner and I's search for a good (enough) #Life360 alternative for real time, constant location sharing, we've decided to try out #Apple's #FindMy and #Google's #GoogleMaps. Both of them were ridiculously complicated to setup and severely limited compared to what they're potentially replacing - in different ways.
Find My:
For whatever reason, for days after we had set up location sharing for each other, neither of us could actually detect our location on the app. More surprisingly, eventually, my device was able to pick up my partner's location but not vice versa. Weird but Apple's Find My has always been crappy and unreliable since its existence so I shouldn't be surprised.
Setting up location-based notifications is ridiculously tedious and... disgusting how stupid and redundant it is: 1) You need to search for the location manually 2) You need to choose ONLY ONE trigger for the notification i.e. when they leave, arrive, or when they're not there. If you need more than one trigger, you gotta repeat this manual process again and again, including searching for the location because there's no clean/unified way of saving + labeling locations and reusing them.
As if that wasn't enough, each notification you added will need the other party to approve it first which is fine if it was the way you'd expect Apple should do it i.e. the other party receive a notification of the request where they can approve/deny immediately after the request was made BUT NO. The other party will only receive the request notification after the trigger occurs i.e. when they start driving away from a location or arrive at a location, etc. So fucking weird, makes me wonder what fucking idiots do they have working at Apple.
All in all, garbage - don't use it. I've a bunch of Apple devices and AirTags I have available on Find My and I actually, genuinely never expect to be able to locate them should they ever get lost because I'm incredibly aware how unreliable that piece of crap is.
RE: https://sakurajima.social/notes/9wywqask6l -
My partner and I have been subscribed to and using #Life360 for years to share our locations and get notifications of our whereabouts in real time but we likely won't continue after the (gratefully, early) announcement ~1-2 months ago that it was going to increase the monthly subscription price from RM11.90 to RM29.90.
Now we need to find a replacement, and the first thing that comes to mind was #Apple's #FindMy - but that thing has always been unreliable and I had serious doubts whether it'd work, and from our testing just a moment ago - it simply couldn't find our locations at all lol no matter what we did. So... pretty much unusable. Googling the issue seems to return the same complaints by a lot others on Apple's Forums and with no solution in sight.
The other alternative I've found seems to just use #GoogleMaps, though we haven't tried it yet and I'm not sure if it'd work like Life360 where in addition to seeing our locations in real time on the map, we'd get notifications when they've arrived a certain location, etc. on the app. -
Nach Erpressungsversuch bei #Life360: Daten von 443.000 Nutzern veröffentlicht | Security https://www.heise.de/news/Nach-Erpressungsversuch-bei-Life360-Daten-von-443-000-Nutzern-veroeffentlicht-9805424.html #CyberCrime #Phishing
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Family Location Tracker App Life360 Breach: 443,000 Users’ Data Leaked https://hackread.com/family-location-tracker-app-life360-breach-data-leak/ #Cybersecurity #Vulnerability #CyberAttacks #CyberAttack #databreach #Security #security #Life360
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Location Tracker Firm Tile Hit by Data Breach, Hackers Access Internal Tools https://hackread.com/location-tracker-tile-data-breach-hackers/ #Cybersecurity #Vulnerability #HackingNews #CyberAttack #databreach #Security #Life360 #Ransom #Tile
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Your Favorite #Apps Know How You Drive, And They're Snitching To Your #Insurer
Have your rates gone up recently? Blame these apps
The #smartphone apps collecting #driver data may not be obvious at first glance. One, #Life360, is used by parents to keep track of their children. #MyRadar offers weather forecasts. #GasBuddy helps people save on fuel costs.
https://jalopnik.com/your-favorite-apps-know-how-you-drive-and-theyre-snitc-1851537854 #insurance #privacy #surveillance -
Life360 Targeted in Extortion Attempt, Customer Data Exposed https://thecyberexpress.com/life360-data-breach-extortion-attempt/ #TheCyberExpressNews #CybersecurityNews #Life360DataBreach #TheCyberExpress #DataBreachNews #databreachnews #FirewallDaily #Life360 #Tile
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CW: sex trafficking ment
Life360 is the “family safety app” (child phone monitoring app) so invasive that it was user by sex traffickers to monitor and control victims. The app was working as intended, since parents used it to control children in a similar fashion. Tile, also used abusively, was bought by Life360. They now sell location data to cops.
After news broke about sex traffickers using Life360, nothing much changed at the company. Now there’s a data breach of Tile.
Hacker Accesses Internal ‘Tile’ Tool That Provides Location Data to Cops.
I wonder what these people tell themselves to sleep at night.
#Life360 #Tile
RE: https://mstdn.social/@cyberfeed/112608904572427994 -
https://www.404media.co/hacker-accesses-internal-tile-tool-that-provides-location-data-to-cops/
and
https://www.howtogeek.com/tile-just-had-a-security-breach/
A hacker exploited a tool used by Law Enforcement to respond to requests for Tile Tracker info, and made off with customer data including Names, Addresses, Emails & Phone numbers.
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Remember when law enforcement wanted (and still wants) a back door into private communications.
This is why we shouldn't give it to them.
Life360 confirms a hacker stole Tile tracker IDs and customer info
https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/12/24176889/tile-life360-customer-data-breach-hacker-extortion
#Life360 #Hacker #Tile #Trackers #Breach #Security #InfoSec #Tech
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Is Your Driving Being Secretly Scored?
The insurance industry, hungry for insights into how people drive, has turned to automakers and smartphone apps like Life360. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/09/technology/driver-scores-insurance-data-apps.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yU0.U262.Pb_FuHfOTj0a&smid=url-share #privacy #smartcar #life360
