this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2025
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[–] rustyricotta@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 hours ago

Putting aside how much of a red flag that is,

Is there any foss self-hosted version of these location sharing services?

[–] VisionScout@lemmy.wtf 13 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

‘If I switch it off, my girlfriend might think I’m cheating’ - then fuck your girlfriend. How can you be in a relationship without trust?

I feel like this shit would end badly for everyone.

Remember how people used to lie and say they were sleeping over at their friend's house or going to so and sos so they wouldn't have to say where they were. Now I guess they can hand their phone to their friend at school/bus and tell them to take it home and carry their watch/tablet/laptop that they can get/respond to texts without the tracking location being on with that device.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

This article constantly reloads and alternates between showing and hiding some warning about my privacy lol. Unreadable.

My wife and I have it on Google Maps. I can't remember why, but we've had it for years. I think my wife worries if I'm safe sometimes. I think I check it less than once a year. I checked it once to see if they were on their way home once, that's about it.

[–] meliaesc@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

I check ours frequently just to see when he'll be home from work, because I leave for my job when he gets home due to young kids.

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 5 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

My best friend drove me to work the other day. We missed a turn and had to take a detour. Not two blocks after that missed turn, his girlfriend calls him asking where he's going lmao

I would be willing to share locations because I worry about people and don't want them to worry about me, but I'll toss this phone in a Blendtec blender before I install an application that gives some creep in fuckin Dayton Ohio my and my girlfriend's GPS coordinates 24/7. Tasker does the job well enough anyhow

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I'll toss this phone in a Blendtec blender

Oof, iSmoke. Don't breathe this!

I think they did an iPhone, I know for a fact they did an iPad.

[–] jhymesba@lemmy.world 15 points 14 hours ago

My wife and I have location sharing enabled in case something happens to one of us. We usually don't use it, but its good to have when we need to meet up at an unfamiliar place after something goes sideways for one of us.

But if your SO doesn't trust you enough to allow you private moments and would accuse you of cheating, your relationship isn't based on trust and thus is very weak.

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 10 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

It's really disturbing how everyone sees this practice through the lens of trust. Can you really think of no other reasons? Absurd.

[–] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 6 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

"I trust you enough to let you monitor me at all times. :)"

"I don't trust you enough not to. (:"

[–] rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world 26 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Immature crap like this makes me very grateful to be a grownup married to a grownup.

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[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 4 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Meanwhile, I often work with immediate risk of death or injury and, by law, I can not be equipped with a panic button for rescue purposes, as it is deemed unlawful surveillance of the worker.

I am supposed to warn in advance what work I will be doing and agree on a reasonable time window for it to be done safely, before having to call in again to say I am not yet dead and if the task is done or not.

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I think I would make an exception to that law for a panic button or other emergency device that only transmits when activated, like a ship's EPIRB or an aircraft's ELT.

[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 1 points 53 minutes ago

It's strange. Apparently it is one of those situations where the possibilty of something very useful being easily abused by companies to spy on their people is too great.

[–] SonOfAntenora@lemmy.world 9 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

a common way to keep tabs on friends, family and romantic partners so I allow the app to alert him each time I reach my front door. In a disappointingly heteronormative and retrograde move, I’m more interested in knowing when he goes out – where’s he off to now? – and set up my own notifications accordingly. Having grown up with the internet, gen Z are, generally, more comfortable sharing their data online; Snapchat, the social media platform notoriously most popular with younger users, has long incorporated location sharing with its Snap Maps feature.

Does anyone even have a private moment at all? Also if I were to cheat I'd leave my phone in a very specific spot if I can. Faux location services may work, but mostly switching to a feature phone seems to be secret trick that shuts down these app fueled nightmare.

Oh, sorry, the battery is down I had to switch to my old phone for a moment! When did we stop having private moments and thoughts? I like tech when it aides me, but recently it has been feeding off my personal time and even some order of thoughts in ways it didn't do before. It almost feels like it tries to fix and set up human emotions in ways that are forced.

Do you want technology to replace normal communication and socialisation skills? Or does it even matter to you that it is what happens now. Remember that only a few years before nobody followed you all the day, and even the internet access was relegated to a computer room. How far have we come from that?

[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Snapchat, the social media platform notoriously most popular with younger users, has long incorporated location sharing with its Snap Maps feature

Fuck me. I dont even share my first and last name with any social media site, much less my photo. My current location? The fuck is wrong with people?

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[–] pyre@lemmy.world 44 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

if you believe the only reason your partner isn't cheating is that you'd find out via location share; what the fuck is the point?

[–] piecat@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

There's always gps spoofing via debug mode too

[–] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 3 points 13 hours ago

If I was actively sharing locations with someone and theirs just abruptly vanished, I'd be concerned that something happened to them... either share or don't share.

[–] Demdaru@lemmy.world 24 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (11 children)

So we have two camps.

  1. It's a tool to be used and it's a good thing to exists and I have it enabled forever

  2. Keep a gun pointed at it at all occasions and even if you use it, do so with heavy restrictions

I trust my partner and my partner trusts me but the idea of stalking her via app is mindboggling and, honestly, disgusting to me. Like a dog on a leash, always observed, always controlled. That's some mind disease shit going on. Trust your partner dammit. Ya all have issues.

On the other hand though being violently agaisnt it cuz "oh my god privacy" is also funny. The recipent is your partner. Setting it up for some specific use case shouldn't be a bother. It can be extremely usefull for example for grabbing shit in a mall - if you are not interested in going to the same shop, enable it, split, get what you need, join back, disable it.

What I am getting at is - it's a tool, but an invasive and overly controlling one. Use it how you wish but do not perceive having it on constantly as normal. It literally sounds disgusting.

Edit: For people talking about privacy - we're on lemmy. We all know how tracking works. An even if you have localisation off, your device will connect to local wifi and smart appliances to log your location anyway. So I am not really invested into discusing overall practice of having location on - only on sharing saud location.

[–] outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

The specified recipient is your partner.

But that data gets created, so it's vulnerable. Commercial aps on your phone, sketchy apps youve never heard of like facebook, google services, and potentially something from your carrier, plus the government in mosy cases, will have access, phone home, record it.

Then it gets transmitted to your partner somebody('s code) does this. Even if it's e2ee, you need a program to do that, abd the general rule with phone apps is that your data is being sold.

Then it gets to your partners phone, where it is again vulnerable to third parties their apps etc.

[–] IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz 15 points 21 hours ago

The recipent is your partner.

And provider of whatever service you use to share your location. Being a bit paranoid about your privacy in this day and age is not just fearmongering and tinfoil-hats.

It can be extremely usefull for example for grabbing shit in a mall

Or communicate in advance that it'll take 30 minutes for you to find your shit and then meet up at a cafe, by car, at lobby or whatever. Live location doesn't add anything to that, assuming it even works reliably enough inside buildings.

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[–] MashedTech@lemmy.world 6 points 17 hours ago

I have location sharing between me and my friends because... What if something happens to any of us? That's it, nothing else, I don't spy on them.

[–] Portosian@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

I've never really bothered with relationships, and everytime I see some shit like this, it validates that choice.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Ostrichgrif@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

It CC we's not uncommon honestly. From someone in their mid twenties I'd say at minimum 40% of people I know in a relationship have something like this set up and that's being generous. I've never done it and no person I've dated has pushed it but it's far from atypical

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 6 hours ago

I mean believing you're cheating if you protest.

[–] MellowYellow13@lemmy.world 51 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If you have to use these things in a relationship, then you already have a problem.

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