The impact of using location-based services with a behaviour-disordered child

Abstract

In this paper we explore technologies that help parents locate their children. Parents regularly use mobile phones to stay in touch with their children, but recent developments in location-based tracking allow parents to assess the location of their child directly. Such location-based services offer new assurances, but also bring new privacy challenges. In order to explore these, we conducted a case study focussing on the way in which a family has used location-based technologies to keep track of a child with Aspergers Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This novel research shows that Location-Based Services, although usually applied to lone-worker situations, can be effectively applied to other user groups. The parents of the child were interviewed at length, and the interview was analysed using qualitative methods. The findings are discussed and considered against a current predictive model of LBS use.