Parents and caregivers keeping a close eye on their children's activity have a new tool at their disposal, as Snapchat launches its new location alerts for monitored accounts.
The new feature, part of the platforms' teen safety-focused Family Center, will harness the app's popular Snap Map to alert parents when their teens are on the move — making its social map more akin to popular apps like Life360 and Find My.
Location sharing is currently available to all users via the Snap Map, but the new tool allows parents to request their teen's live location at any moment, as well as share their own. Parents and caregivers can select up to three designated locations and receive alerts when members arrive or depart from those spots on the Snap Map. Account supervisors will also be able to see minor users' location sharing activity in Family Center — teens can only share locations with people in their friends lists.
The platform has steadily expanded its internal safety controls for young users — a response to ongoing concerns about youth safety and mental health on the platform, as the app hooks new users with Gen AI tools and even integrated shopping.
In 2022, Snapchat launched Family Center, a monitoring tool that allows parents to view a minor users' interactions, make reports on their behalf, and limit screen time, similar to (but more limited than) parental monitoring apps like Bark. In 2023, the platform expanded this initiative to include safeguards against unwanted contact from stranger accounts and limit search discovery for teen users. It also blocks location sharing and defaults to the strictest content settings for minor accounts.
But it's problems have continued. Last month, the company was accused of allowing sextortion and grooming to proliferate on its app, part of a wave of lawsuits against social media platforms allegedly marketing their services to younger audiences despite knowing they are at risk. According to a lawsuit filed against Snapchat, the platform reportedly failed to accurately verify ages of users, address safety reports, or warn new users about the threat of sexual predation.
