Location-based services
Location services can be either Active or Passive. Active services allow mobile users to ask for a service based on their current location and nearby facilities - for example, to help find a cash point.
Passive services allow others to request to locate your mobile. Some parents use these to track the whereabouts of their children, however, it's risky to rely on these services. Children may be separated from their phones for a number of reasons and these services will only tell you where their phone is.
How we protect children
We worked with the other UK mobile networks in developing the industry's Code of Practice on Passive Location Services, which goes beyond the legal requirements of privacy and data protection legislation, and is aimed at stopping misuse of the service.
How the Code of Practice keeps your child safe:
- Locating another user's mobile phone requires their permission
- Only a parent or carer can open an account to locate a child
- As part of the registration process a parent/carer must verify their identity and where they live. The service will only be activated once the address given has been checked
- Services aimed at children must be marketed appropriately
- Service providers must install security measures that check consent is being sent from the mobile being located
- The child being located will receive a series of alerts to remind them that they have agreed to be located and by whom
- They can request to opt out of this service at any time by texting STOP or another designated keyword to the service provider's shortcode
See the Code of Practice on Passive Location Services.
