Friday, October 16, 2020

Apple Watch With Family Setup

Dan Seifert:

The most interesting thing is Apple’s new Family Setup service, which lets parents provision an Apple Watch for their kids to use. They can choose what apps and services their kids can access, who they can call or send messages to, and track their location through GPS. Even if you’re not a parent, the new Family Setup service is interesting because it gives us an idea of what a truly standalone Apple Watch could be.

For the past few weeks, I’ve strapped an Apple Watch SE to my eight-year-old child to see what the new Family Setup service is like to use in the real world (or at least as real of an experience as I can get in the middle of pandemic lockdown). Here’s what I’ve learned.

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I'm still bummed/annoyed that the segment that introduced this feature seemed tot say nothing at all about consent. A privacy-focused company needs to emphasize that kids, too, deserve privacy.

Parents grant consent on behalf of children as they are generally seen to be acting in the best interests of the child.
It's an ethical minefield but what else can you do?

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