GPS trackers for trips

[enjay]

We're looking at getting some GPS trackers/locators for when kids go off on DofE expeditions and such like. Has anyone done something similar, and what did you use? A lot of the products we've found need subscriptions so are quite expensive. Would Apple Airtags work? Obviously that's reliant on proximity of an iPhone, but in our demographic we're confident any group of kids would have at least one iPhone among them.

[ZeroHour]

Airtags and that ilk will alert the kids to the fact they are following them and they now (or soon) have the option to disable the ability to track to prevent stalking.

 

Vodafone used to/still do tags that have a subscription which I think isnt a huge amount per month (£2-£4 I think) if you can find them though.

 

Another option might be to get a child to share their location via iMessage/WhatsApp etc with a school number, yes they can revoke that but you can make it a condition they dont and they usually can be set to auto expire sharing as well.

Edited April 22, 2024 by ZeroHour

[enjay]

Airtags and that ilk will alert the kids to the fact they are following them and they now (or soon) have the option to disable the ability to track to prevent stalking.

 

The kids would know they had them anyway, but the ability to disable could is a problem. From a quick Google, it looked like you would get alerted to the "stalker" and could make the tag beep to help you find it, but not disable it. If we said "this is for your safety, please don't disable them", do you think that would help or just give them ideas?!

[enjay]

Another option might be to get a child to share their location via iMessage/WhatsApp etc with a school number, yes they can revoke that but you can make it a condition they dont and they usually can be set to auto expire sharing as well.

 

We wondered about that, but don't really want all the kids' phone numbers.

[ZeroHour]

We wondered about that, but don't really want all the kids' phone numbers.

Signal now allows aliases much like Snapchat but its still not ideal.

 

This is what Vodafone sells but they are trying to do deals with manufacturers now rather than direct: https://eshop.v.vodafone.com/uk/curve-gps-tracker

 

Its on Amazon as well: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vodafone-Tracker-Lightweight-Device-Laptop/dp/B08CRQC6KB

 

The reviews says its £2 a month for 24 months or £3 a month for 12.

Edited April 22, 2024 by ZeroHour

[enjay]

That's affordable. The reviews aren't very positive about the battery life, though, especially if we set them up to ping every 5, which I think we'd need to do for this purpose. Every 30 minutes or 2 hours would be fine if I was trying to track my bike or something which once stolen would probably stop moving fairly soon, but a bunch of kids on a hike.

[ZeroHour]

Maybe a dual approach with one of those and a couple of airtags?

[PotNoodleTech]

It's a good idea, but sounds like a bit of a health an safety / data protection nightmare - a'la when fingerprinting first came out.

 

Just make 110% for damn sure you got the parents on side with written agreement.

[enjay]

But just like with fingerprinting, if you explain the process and dispel the alarmist rumours, it should be okay. This is partly why we want to use to use our own hardware rather than ask students to enable location tracking in WhatsApp - they give the device back at the end of the trip, and that way they know we're not still tracking them.

[PotNoodleTech]

You shouldnt be needing to use a pupil phone for any school purposes so yeh use your own hardware for sure.

[Brax]

School iphone with find my enabled? I know some people use it to see where other family members are etc. Edited April 22, 2024 by Brax

[enjay]

School iphone with find my enabled? I know some people use it to see where other family members are etc.

 

We did wonder about cheap Android phones with location tracking enabled, and just lock the phone so students can't use it for anything else.

[pete]

Something like this: https://gtc.co.uk/products/spot-gen4-satellite-tracker

 

with the track progress function turned on?

[Chris_Cook]

How about something like a monimoto? The sim card isn't too expensive.

 

Or have a school phone and as others have said use the find-my-phone or google maps timeline. If you've collected their phones in, then it would encourage them to keep and return the school one.

 

Anything physical could be dropped or hidden or disabled if they are so inclined.

 

Maybe this is an excuse to get a drone to track them?

 

This is all bringing back memories of my DofE trip when we lost the map in the days before mobiles...

[mavhc]

You want to help the students stay safe when they're hiking, and they have phones, but you don't want their phone numbers?

[enjay]

You want to help the students stay safe when they're hiking, and they have phones, but you don't want their phone numbers?

 

Yes. For safeguarding reasons, we'd rather not collect student's personal phone numbers. Also, we want to be able to locate them, not call them.

[enjay]

@Chris_Cook and @pete - do you know what the monthly subscription costs? It doesn't say on their websites.

[mavhc]

Yes. For safeguarding reasons, we'd rather not collect student's personal phone numbers. Also, we want to be able to locate them, not call them.

 

Pretty sure it's better safeguarding to keep them alive rather than not know their phone numbers

[PotNoodleTech]

Pretty sure it's better safeguarding to keep them alive rather than not know their phone numbers

 

You've got a point there mav!

[enjay]

Pretty sure it's better safeguarding to keep them alive rather than not know their phone numbers

 

Agreed, but it is even better to have a way of doing both. Also, knowing their phone number wouldn't help us locate them in the same way a GPS tracker would.

[mavhc]

Their phone has gps though. They can turn on sharing their position with google maps for the duration of the hike. Remind them to bring batteries though.

[Rob_D]

How does you knowing their number keep them safe? (surely the kids need a school number to ring if everything goes sideways)

 

What about pet trackers like Pitpat https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BM4ZJLXZ/ ?

[enjay]

Their phone has gps though. They can turn on sharing their position with google maps for the duration of the hike. Remind them to bring batteries though.

 

That is an option we've considered, and may well go with. Giving them a little device and collecting it back at the end is easier though, and saves the parental concerns about whether the tracking is definitely disabled afterwards. Using their phones would remove the risk of them losing the GPS device though!

 

How battery hungry is location sharing?

[mavhc]

If parents are concerned about tracking the should have checked what their kids are doing before now. Great time for education of everyone.

 

It doesn't use battery much, it's not updating every minute (unless they're using a map app and thus have gps running anyway)

 

You'd think the parents would be more concerned about their children dying on a mountain because no one can phone them to warn them of the incoming bad weather

[MatthewL]

All good and well have something mobile data based but what if there is no signal?