French regulator warns against real-time tracking of children

The French data protection authority (CNIL) has cautioned parents against using GPS trackers and similar devices to monitor their children’s movements in real time. While such tools may appear to enhance safety, the CNIL warns they can harm a child’s development, affect trust between parents and children, and pose serious privacy risks.

Devices such as AirTags, GPS trackers, connected watches, and mobile apps allow parents to follow their children’s location at any moment. However, the CNIL notes that constant monitoring may limit a child’s independence, prevent them from learning how to assess risks, and weaken their sense of autonomy. It can also damage family relationships by replacing open dialogue with surveillance, potentially leading children to hide or censor aspects of their daily lives.

Privacy and safety concerns are another major issue. If hackers or malicious actors gain access to a child’s location data, the consequences could be dangerous. Moreover, the CNIL warns that exposing children to constant tracking could normalise surveillance, leaving them less aware of their right to privacy later in life.

The regulator recommends parents avoid real-time tracking and instead use less intrusive solutions, such as phones without internet access or basic smartwatches, to stay in contact. The CNIL also recently issued a broader reminder that sharing real-time location data, even between adults, can make people vulnerable to surveillance by advertisers, data brokers, or others with harmful intentions.

Why does it matter?

For civil society, this warning has broader significance. If children grow up believing constant monitoring is normal, the very foundations of digital rights and personal freedoms may be eroded. Civil society organisations see this as a chance to spark wider conversations about how surveillance shapes behaviour, limits autonomy, and risks turning citizens into passive subjects of control. Protecting children’s privacy today is not only about family trust, but also about preparing future generations to value privacy, resist intrusive technologies, and safeguard democratic freedoms in the digital age