Hey all,
I’m looking for something that can track location of my preschooler who starts new school soon. He’s too young to get a smartphone, so I have to rule out app based solutions I guess.
My initial research found virtually nothing. One candidate is GeoZilla, which sells nice devices and their pivacy policy looks okayish regarding location data, but it still relies on their servers of course. Another option would be an iWatch, which again puts trust into 3rd party, and the device is quite expensive for a small kid.
Any privacy-oriented trackers out there that I’m missing. Maybe there are some smartphone alternatives that can have cell connectivity and GPS and apps installed, but with much simpler interface?
Update: Thanks everyone! I got GeoZilla tag for now. The app doesn’t require personal information, which is good. However, it’s annoyingly reminds to enable location for itself to track “me”, which I don’t need at all. Garmin came as a strong second, mainly due to my child age. Garmin devices are not for very young kids, I believe. And it costs more than GeoZilla. I still have some time to think if I really want this, though. It’s not too late to return GeoZilla tag
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Unfortunately most of the cheap trackers (airtags, tiles, etc) rely on networks of Bluetooth sniffing users, so less ubiquitous varieties will necessarily be less effective.
Even as privacy enthusiasts, my family and I have opted for Garmin products. Reliability in backwoods and off road situations is more important than privacy, and that calculation may apply to you even in urban settings given its a child you’re talking about. It’s a drag that you have to choose, but so it goes.
I’ve heard good opinions about Garmin before, but that was in context of navigation and fitness tracking. Would it work for my use case, tracking a family member?
Honestly I don’t know, but worth adding to your list to look into I imagine. I know they have children’s products, but I haven’t had occasion to poke into that myself. You’re still giving someone your (and your kid’s) data, but if what you’re looking for is an alternative to the Bluetooth tracking and mesh, and to Apple/Google, then solid GPS in comsumer devices seems like a good alternative product category to investigate.
Do let us know which way you go with this. It’s annoying that you can’t track your kid privately, I’d just never really thought about it before. Interested to see where you land!