“My mom just wants to know where I am”: Estonian pre-teens’ perspectives on intimate surveillance by parents

ABSTRACT

Inspired by the communication privacy management theory the aim of our study was to explore pre-teens’ viewpoints and experiences related to their parents’ usage of child-tracking technologies. Relying on Q methodology and semi-structured individual interviews with 8- to 13-year-old Estonian pre-teens (n = 20) who were aware of parental tracking, we will present perspectives for understanding children’s viewpoints on intimate surveillance. Three participant perspectives emerged: Compliant Child, Autonomous Child, and Privacy-Sensitive Child. Although children in our sample viewed parents as their confidants and did not consider such tracking to breach their privacy boundaries, they expected these boundaries to be negotiated and collectively set within a family.

IMPACT SUMMARY

Prior State of Knowledge: Intimate surveillance of children has become a normalized part of present-day parenting practices. The use of tracking technologies can limit children’s experiences and have negative consequences for children’s privacy as well as parent-child relations.

Novel Contributions: Empirical research on tracking technologies seldom focuses on the opinions and experiences of tracking technology users, nor on the views children have of these practices. The current study does both, using Q methodology as a novel means for capturing children’s subjective perspectives.

Practical Implications: Our findings have implications for parents considering use of tracking technologies, encouraging a move toward a family climate more supportive of child autonomy.

KEYWORDS:

• Communication privacy management
• intimate surveillance
• pre-teens
• tracking technologies
• transcendent parenting
• Q methodology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Marit Sukk

Marit Sukk is a doctoral student at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu. Her research interests include parental mediation, digital parenting, and children’s privacy. She is a member of the EU Kids Online network.

Andra Siibak

Andra Siibak, is a Professor of Media Studies at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu, Estonia. Her main field of research has to do with the opportunities and risks surrounding internet use, datafication of childhood, new media audiences and privacy. Her forthcoming monograph “Datafied Childhoods: Data Practices and Imaginaries in Children’s Lives”, co-authored with Giovanna Macheroni, will be published by Peter Lang in October 2021.