I get a lot of emails from PR companies about new products and technology. I ignore most of them since they have little to do with The Mac Observer‘s beat. However, this one caught my eye. It’s a new tracking device called Tracer from Databytes.

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Tracer From Databytes

I was sent some examples of uses in the email:

• Covertly locate vehicles, assets, and inventory
• Silently locate kiddos, teens, spouses, and elderly persons
• Put the Tracer on your dog or horse and “Geo-fence” your yard.  When Fido gets out, you will get a text
• Keep track of little ones at amusement parks, the beach and on their walks to school

Tracer doesn’t use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, meaning it doesn’t need to connect to your phone at all. The company says it has a battery life of up to a year, and it’s “extremely durable and waterproof.”

This reminds me dystopian technology from a book called Sycamore. SPOILER: In it, there’s a microchip you can implant in your kids to track them, with the intention of keeping them safe. But eventually. the technology becomes mandatory, and kids are tracked until they become adults.

In the wrong hands, many technologies can be dangerous. But some technology makes it easy to be dangerous. Sure, you could put this on your kid to track them when they go down to the local park. But as I said in the headline, some violent guy could stick these all over his girlfriend’s possessions.

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