Today’s parents have multiple options for keeping track of their children and teens when they’re away from them, including phone apps, car apps and AirTags. You may be among those parents who have no problem with using them because it gives you peace of mind. Or, you may be a parent who considers tracking your child – especially if they’re in their teens – a breach of privacy.
Separation and divorce can add a layer of complication to the question of whether and when to track your child. Specifically, do you have a right to electronically track them while they’re with your co-parent?
If you have concerns about where your co-parent is taking your child or whom they’re spending time with, you may feel the need to track them during the time they’re with their other parent – particularly in the early days of separate parenting when you may not yet have any custody agreement or parenting plan in place. However, there are a number of things to consider.
First, by tracking your child when they’re with your co-parent, you’re tracking your co-parent as well. Don’t assume they won’t find out. If your co-parent isn’t tech savvy enough to find and disable a tracker, your child may be. That can cause or exacerbate any animosity and distrust between you and your soon-to-be ex (and possibly your child).
Setting rules and expectations as an alternative to tracking
A better way to address concerns about your child’s whereabouts and well-being when they’re with their other parent is to develop a parenting plan as early as possible that includes provisions like how late they can be out (with or without a parent) and, if necessary, locations where it’s not safe for your co-parent to take them. However, unless your co-parent is endangering your child’s safety and well-being or taking them farther than your agreed-upon distance, courts generally won’t intervene.
In your parenting plan, you can agree that neither of you will use tracking devices – or that both of you can. It typically can’t be a one-way situation. You can also agree to provide travel itineraries to one another if you are taking your child anywhere outside the area where you live.
If you want to or are tracking your child when they’re with your co-parent because you have valid concerns about their well-being, it’s important to discuss those immediately with your legal team. If you don’t, tracking your child while they’re with your co-parent can do more harm than good as you navigate your new family dynamic.