AT&T Launches New Service, FamilyMap

AT&T has announced today the release of a new service for its subscribers, the FamilyMap, which is meant to offer parents the possibility to find the location of any mobile phone included in the same FamilyTalk plan. The wireless carrier also announced that the service was offered for free for the first month, after which it would cost $9.99/month for up to two lines, and $14.99 for up to five lines.

One interesting feature of the service is that it does not apply solely to mobile phones that feature built-in GPS/aGPS capabilities, but to those without them as well, only that it will rely on triangulation of towers, a method that is not as accurate. In case the handset does not have GPS, FamilyMap will not pinpoint the exact location, but it will show the area where they are.

Another nice feature that comes along with the FamilyMap service is the ability to track lost or stolen devices. This option will indeed prove a great thing for those who misplace their mobile phones, especially when they are not cheap ones.

While some argue that this service will prove to be a great thing for parents, advocates of privacy argue that it could turn into a way of spying into other phones in the account without accessing AT&T’s OLAM system, as the service only requires users to log into the specific FamilyMap website. That would mean that one could check on the location of other phones without the users of those devices knowing a thing about it.

On the other hand, AT&T announced that it would send periodic messages to said phones to announce users that they were being watched. In case the privacy precautions are set in place, the service should become quite useful, even if it has seen a lot of controversy from its very first day of existence.