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BIG MOTHER IS WATCHING

Would you put a tracking device on your husband? Natasha Loder did. "James Bond meets urban domesticity. Overprotective, moi?"  ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, Winter 2008

Like every mother, I’m keen to know what my family gets up to all day. Did my husband arrive at work on time? And was he late home this evening because his train was delayed, or did he just stay too late at the office? Then there is my toddler to worry about. Where does our nanny take him? Is he getting enough fresh air or trips to the library? Thankfully, such pressing questions can now be answered using handy GPS locators. James Bond meets urban domesticity. Overprotective, moi?

I’ve got two locators. They are called Zoombaks, and each is the size of a pager. They can be bought relatively cheaply in America or Britain ($199 or £99), but there is a monthly subscription fee (from $9.99 or £9.99). Our nanny takes to hers like a duck to water, but I wonder whether my husband is slightly grumpy when I give him his. My whole empire can now be monitored from a web page, which I can check from the office, or even on my mobile.

To find out where the Zoombak is, you have to ping it from your computer or mobile, and wait for it to tell you where it is. At my desk, all through the day, there is the irresistible urge to check up on my little flock. The most useful feature is that it will let you set up zones, and it will text or e-mail you when it goes in or out of them. It’s like electronic tripwire.

All week, my mobile received a flurry of little text messages as my family went about its business: leaving home, arriving at work, arriving at the library, leaving the park. Then my husband foiled my plans somewhat by travelling abroad at short notice. He vanished off my grid as he arrived at Heathrow: the Zoombak doesn’t work indoors, or, as yet, in mainland Europe.

Overall, there was a great deal of comfort in knowing that my husband and son were where they were supposed to be. But, equally, there was niggling doubt when they were not. One day, my phone registered my son leaving the house, so I tracked him down to a local green spot. From my office, as darkness fell, there was no news and his locator couldn’t be found. The text to say they were home failed to arrive, presumably because of network congestion. I could have called, but that isn’t really the point.

The system can be hit-and-miss in the centre of London, with its tall buildings and underground lines, which make it difficult for the satellites to spot the Zoombak. But in certain situations, if children are out and about on their own in parks, on bikes, travelling to school or hiking, it seems a great idea. Ditto for cars, dogs, or family members taking a long trip. But for simple morbid curiosity, believe me when I say there is such a thing as knowing too much.

Picture credit: Katie Edwards

(Natasha Loder is a Science and Technology correspondent for The Economist.)