Oswego missing-child case shows why devices are becoming popular with parents

When 3-year-old Ryan Flake went missing from his Oswego Township home last week, family, law enforcement and neighbors mobilized into search teams with flashlights and all-terrain vehicles.

These armies of volunteers and professionals scoured back yards and ponds, woods and cornfields, not relenting during a late-night thunderstorm.

But what if, father Read Flake later wondered, his toddler were wearing some type of global-positioning system or tracking device that could have pinpointed his location on a computer screen?

Well, the little blond-haired boy likely would have been found much sooner than 12 hours later, speculated David Dulany, assistant professor of business/information technology at Aurora University.

Read Flake, deeply thankful for his child's safe return, said the family is now considering purchasing a GPS unit for kids because "we don't want to go through that again." And Dulany doesn't blame the father of six children, ages 13 years to 7 months.

"If I was those parents, I would be doing exactly the same thing, looking at those options," Dulany said. "It makes perfect sense to me."

In fact, using GPS units or locators -- not just for tracking children, but also teens, dogs and Alzheimer's patients -- is a growing trend which, not surprisingly, is accompanied by growing public concern about privacy.

Most GPS personal locators work in the following way:

The device the person carries contains a GPS receiver, which transmits data by satellite or over a cell-phone network. The location data can then be accessed on a Web site or transmitted to a control system, which contacts the appropriate people, such as parents or relatives.

Depending on the system, the person's current and past locations can be seen in real time on a map on a secure Web site.

Dulany said he is aware of concerns about parents using GPS locators in vehicles or cell phones on their children and privacy issues. But he noted parents have a right to protect their kids.

"If kids knew they were being watched ... maybe they would drive safer, and that would be a good thing," he said.

And when it comes to someone as young as Ryan, Dulany said, "that little boy wouldn't know the difference."

One of the newest personal locators, expected to be available in the United States in September, is PocketFinder, by Location Based Technologies out of California.

The wireless device, about the size of an Oreo cookie, uses satellite and GPS technology and allows people to view the location of their device at any time and any location on detailed maps, according to the product's Web site.

Among PocketFinder's unique features is its battery life of five to seven days, its extreme durability and the option to create zones which, when entered by a person carrying the device, will send out alerts via cell phone and telephone calls, text messages or e-mails, said Jason Schneider, the company's lead trainer.

"You wouldn't have that child missing 12 hours during a thunderstorm," Schneider said.

GPS locator devices tend to cost from around $100 up to $600, and there is usually a monthly user fee.

PocketFinder costs about $129, according to the product's Web site.

"In business," Dulany said, "we always look at, does the benefit outweigh the cost? It seems (GPS tracking for kids) would be an obvious benefit."

He said, "It gives parents peace of mind."