My sister's kid asked me why my phone knows we're at the park

I was watching my 7 year old nephew last week at Miller Park, and he pointed at my phone screen. It had popped up a thing about park hours and parking. He just asked, 'How does it know we're here?' I gave him the simple 'location services' talk, but his next question got me. He said, 'So it knows where I am too?' He wasn't scared, just curious. It hit me that his whole life will be tracked from the jump, and he won't even know a time before it. I turned my location off for most apps right then, but it felt like a tiny fix for a huge thing. How do you even start to explain this stuff to a kid without making them paranoid?

2 comments

2 Comments

jones.angela15d ago

That's the weird part... trying to explain it just shows how normal it's become. Maybe start by asking what he thinks, so it's a talk and not a scary lesson.

diana15515d ago

Yeah, that's a good point from @jones.angela. Starting with a question like "What do you already know about this?" can really open things up. It lets you see where they're at instead of just talking at them. Like, if a kid has heard some weird stuff from friends, you can clear that up first. Makes the whole thing feel more like a chat between people who trust each other.