Mobile tracking technology has a host of benefits for your family and your business. Anyone who’s lost their phone or tablet understand the gravity of the situation. Your recent contacts, images, videos, and perhaps your sensitive documents, are gone.
Downloading a third-party tracking app to your device before its misplaced or stolen assists you in recovering the device before it falls into the wrong hands.
Table of Contents
1] Tracking Tech Explained
Third-party tracking apps work using Global Positioning Systems (GPS,) to locate the exact whereabouts of the device in question. The app bounces a signal off a satellite and the mobile network towers to triangulate the location of your smartphone or tablet. The app presents you with the current position of your device, as well as its location history.
2] Free Services Vs. Third-Party Apps
There are free tracking apps available for Android and iOS devices. Android users can download the “Find My Device” app from the Google Play store. The app has impressive functionality. If you lose your device, log into your Google account on any internet-enabled device and type “find my device” into the search bar.
The app opens Google Maps and presents you with the current position of your phone, as well as the location history for the previous 24-hours.
If you’ve misplaced your phone at home, you can select an option to call your phone. Google will oblige and ring your phone.
Should your phone be stolen, or you misplaced it while you were out running errands, you have the option to lock the device and display a reward message on the screen. If all else fails, choose the backup option and then wipe your phone clean of all data.
The iOS “Find My iPhone” app works in much the same manner as the Android version. However, there’s no need to download an app, as the phone has the feature as part of its standard settings. You can find your lost iPhone by logging into your iCloud account and select the “Find My iPhone” option from your list of settings.
3] Keep Your Family Safe
A third-party tracking app like GPS-Handy Orten is an effective means to protect your family and keep them safe. The app lets you load all their phones onto a ring-fenced private network. You can check their whereabouts at any time of day. The app delivers data on their last communication through the device, as well as how much battery life they have left.
Receive automatic notifications from the app when your family arrives at locations, you’ll never have to worry about them sending you a text to say they’re safe.
4] Tracking Tech for Business
Tracking technology assists business owners in keeping tabs on their employees and their assets. If you employ a driver, a tracking app will let you know if they turn off their route for personal business. The app also sends you reports on driver behavior. You’ll know if your employee speeds, brakes hard, or uses their device while driving.
Tracking apps also allow you to monitor employee communications. Monitor all of their texts, as well as their call history and browser activity from within the app. This feature is especially useful for business owners concerned with their employees handing over sensitive company data to their competitors.
Certain spy tracking apps allow you to complete these types of monitoring activities in secret, without your employee’s knowledge or consent.
In Conclusion – Is Privacy a Concern?
Using tracking technology presents a moral dilemma. In the case of your business, your employees may feel that you don’t trust them if you trace their location and data. Your children or spouse may think that you’re an overprotective parent or partner.
It may make sense to use covert tracking apps on your employee’s devices to ensure that they aren’t misusing company assets, or sending sensitive data to the competition. After all, you pay their salaries and provide them with company devices. Therefore, you have a right to know what they’re doing with your time, assets, and data.
However, your family members may not feel the same way. They might view your actions as offensive and an invasion of their privacy. If they catch you using covert apps to spy on them, you risk losing their trust altogether.