If someone you loved asked you to wear a GPS ankle bracelet so they could watch your every move on a map, you'd probably say no. But when the same idea comes wrapped in a friendly app icon and marketed as "family safety," millions of people say yes without a second thought. That app is Life360, and it has over 66 million monthly active users. But is it actually keeping anyone safe, or is it just making people feel watched?
This isn't a hit piece. Life360 does have features that some families find genuinely useful. But it's worth examining what the app actually does, the privacy controversies it has faced, and whether constant location tracking is really the best approach to personal safety.
What Life360 Actually Does
At its core, Life360 is a real-time location sharing app. Once you join a "Circle" (usually your family), every member can see where every other member is, at all times. The app also provides:
- Continuous location history — a timeline showing everywhere you've been throughout the day
- Driving reports — speed tracking, hard braking detection, and phone usage while driving
- Place alerts — notifications when someone arrives at or leaves a specific location
- Crash detection — automatic alerts if the app detects a car accident
- SOS button — a panic button that shares your location with your Circle
The crash detection and SOS features are genuine safety tools. But they represent a small fraction of what the app does. The vast majority of Life360's functionality is built around one thing: knowing where people are, all the time.
The Privacy Concerns Are Real
In December 2021, The Markup published an investigation revealing that Life360 was one of the largest sources of raw location data sold to data brokers. The company was selling precise location data from tens of millions of users to approximately a dozen data brokers, who could then resell that data to virtually anyone.
Following the investigation and significant public backlash, Life360 announced it would stop selling precise location data to brokers. That was a positive step. But the episode revealed something important about the app's business model: when your product collects granular location data on millions of people around the clock, that data becomes an asset with enormous commercial value.
Even setting aside the data broker issue, there are everyday privacy concerns:
- Relationship dynamics — therapists and relationship counselors have noted that constant location sharing can enable controlling behavior in relationships
- Teen autonomy — the American Psychological Association has published research suggesting that excessive monitoring can undermine adolescent development and trust
- Stalking risk — if someone gains access to your Life360 account, they have a complete map of your daily routines, favorite locations, and real-time whereabouts
- False sense of security — knowing where someone is on a map doesn't mean they're safe. A blinking dot can't tell you if someone is in distress
Surveillance Is Not the Same as Safety
This is the core distinction that often gets lost in the conversation. Surveillance means watching someone continuously, whether or not anything is wrong. Safety means having a plan for when something goes wrong.
Think about it this way: a security camera pointed at your front door 24/7 is surveillance. A smoke detector that sits quietly until there's a fire is a safety system. Both have their place, but they serve fundamentally different purposes.
Constant location tracking tells you where someone is. It doesn't tell you:
- Whether they're okay
- Whether they need help
- Whether they're conscious
- What to do if something is wrong
- Who to contact in an emergency
A person can be in terrible danger while their dot sits perfectly still on a map. And a person can be perfectly fine while their dot does something unexpected. Location data without context is just... data.
What a Real Safety Approach Looks Like
Genuine personal safety doesn't require anyone to broadcast their location every second of every day. What it does require is a system that activates when it matters and connects the right people with the right information at the right time.
A thoughtful safety system should:
- Respect your privacy by default — no one needs to know you went to the grocery store at 10pm or stopped at a friend's house on the way home
- Require active participation — you check in because you choose to, not because you're being passively monitored
- Only alert people when something is actually wrong — a missed check-in is a meaningful signal; a change in driving route is not
- Provide actionable information — not just a dot on a map, but who to call, what medical conditions to mention, and what steps to take
- Work for adults, not just families with kids — solo hikers, people living alone, seniors aging in place, and online daters all have safety needs that location tracking doesn't address
How the Check-In Model Works Differently
The check-in approach to safety flips the surveillance model on its head. Instead of tracking you all the time and hoping someone notices if something looks off, a check-in system asks one simple question on a schedule you set: Are you okay?
If you answer, everything continues as normal. No data is shared, no location is broadcast, and no one is watching your movements. But if you don't answer — if you miss your check-in — that silence becomes a signal. Your designated emergency contacts are notified through multiple channels, and they receive the information they actually need to help.
This is the approach that StillSafe was built around. You set your check-in schedule. You name your emergency contacts. If you miss a check-in, StillSafe reaches out to your contacts via email, text message, and even AI-powered voice calls to make sure someone follows up. No location tracking. No constant monitoring. Just a simple daily confirmation that you're okay, and a reliable escalation system if you're not.
It's the difference between someone watching over your shoulder all day and someone who knocks on your door when they haven't heard from you in a while. Both come from a place of caring, but only one respects your autonomy.
When Location Sharing Makes Sense
To be fair, there are situations where real-time location sharing is genuinely useful:
- Young children who can't advocate for themselves yet
- Coordinating logistics like pickup times or meeting points
- Active emergencies where search and rescue teams need to find someone
- Consensual sharing during specific activities, like a solo hike with a defined route
The key word in each case is context. Sharing your location during a backcountry hike is a smart safety decision. Sharing your location every moment of every day, forever, is something else entirely.
Choosing What's Right for You
If you're currently using Life360 and it works for your family, that's a valid choice. But it's worth asking a few questions:
- Does everyone in the Circle genuinely consent to being tracked, or is there social pressure to participate?
- Has the constant location data actually helped in a safety situation, or does it mostly fuel anxiety and check-ups?
- Would a simpler system — one that only activates when someone might be in trouble — provide the same peace of mind with less intrusion?
Safety shouldn't require giving up your privacy. And privacy shouldn't mean giving up safety. The best tools find the balance between the two, keeping you connected to the people who care about you without putting your entire life on a map.
If you're looking for an approach that prioritizes both, StillSafe's free plan lets you set up daily check-ins with one emergency contact — no tracking, no location sharing, and no data sold to anyone. Because safety should be something you choose, not something that watches you.