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By Harriette Halepis

Source acquired via Calgary Herald, April 23, 2010, Canada – There’s a new GPS tracking device on the market called the Amber Alert GPS. This device works like most other GPS devices in that it can track the whereabouts of a person at all times. Only, the Amber Alert GPS is also a listening tool that was devised to make it easier for parents to keep track of their children.

GPS & Child Safety

The Amber Alert GPS can easily fit into a backpack, lunchbox, or other carrying device, and it can be activated via cell phone when a parent wants to listen to a child’s conversation. While innovative, the Amber Alert GPS has caused the B.C. Civil Liberties Association to question whether or not this GPS device breaches an important bond between a parent and a child.

The Association argues that the GPS device could cause children to mistrust parents, and this would be detrimental. Further, the device also allows anyone to listen to a child’s conversation at any time – without a child’s knowledge. Critics of the Amber Alert GPS worry that children could be harmed if this device were to get into the wrong hands. After all, 90% of child abusers are not strangers. While many people are advocating against the Amber Alert system, the company that manufactures this device insists that it is safe.

According to the manufacturer, the Amber Alert GPS was originally developed for parents of autistic children. Since autistic children often wander away from home, attaching a GPS tracker to an article of clothing or placing one inside of a lunchbox is a good way to keep track of a child who may decide to wander. While this device does allow parents to keep track of autistic kids, the device could also be used for the wrong purpose.

Some people have begun using the Amber Alert GPS to listen-in on conversations between elderly people, and to follow and listen to others. This, says the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, is a clear violation of privacy. The Amber Alert GPS will be reviewed (along with other devices) by Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart on April 29^th.