Paranoid mommies and daddies have considered getting RFID and/or GPS tracking systems for their children.  What does this mean and how does it work?  The items readily available for kids [parents] these days are wristwatches made by Whereify or other devices by Brickhouse Security.  They are relatively cheap and can be worn by children just like a normal watch.

Some of the points Brickhouse has to say about its product include:

• Enjoy a solid sense of reassurance; receive an alert in the event an unauthorized person attempts to remove your child’s BrickHouse GPS Child Locator Watch
• IP Rating 6X; withstands rainwater, but submersion is not recommended
• Child Locator supports Google street map views of your child’s physical location

Wow!  And scary at the same time.  As a parent, I feel like I may be able to sleep a little better knowing that my son or daughter cannot be snatched from me without me being able to track them down.

As a citizen I think about all the scary uses and applications these devices have to offer “the wrong” people.  Husbands tracking wives, girlfriends tracking boyfriends, government tracking us.  Who knows.  It’s happening already.  Hopefully using technology to our advantage to allot safety where it wasn’t once possible outweighs that notions behind the ‘Big Brotherism’ of it all.