“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.