The debate has started

And then the article from Computer World appeared in VG.no (Norway's larges newspaper). I am not surprised that there is a discussion around Bipper – I welcome that - but it’s a little bit of a concern that the term “monitoring” is what some journalists has focused on. Especially without having seen or tested the service. 

I don’t see how it is possible to monitor someone using Bipper. It is virtually impossible. If anyone has a need to monitor children, spouses or others, then Bipper is definitely not the solution for them. Neither does Bipper offer any kind of communication log and is definitively not monitoring the kids’ movements. Yes, we have a localization solution that enables you to locate the child by the use of so-called triangulation. This is limited to a set number of times per month, but it is by no means possible to continuously locate the child. For those who don’t want this part of the service, they simply don’t activate it.

Bipper location service is just a small part of the overall solution, and by no means the part of Bipper we consider most important. The core of Bipper is that we make it possible for parents, through a website to define what the mobile phone should be open for. Which contacts, how much and when. I personally believe that giving a child a mobile that is open to everything, believing that the mobile phone is used within the limits you have verbally told your kid, is quite irresponsible. And I’m not alone. In the last report I read more than half the parents checked the content on their kids mobile. I consider that intrusion of privacy and believe more in defining the contact circle for my children on the mobile and trust them within the limits I define. It's actually quite similar to the situation when I was young and the (family) phone was permanently located in one area and the letters came in the mailbox. My parents knew well who I communicated with, how much and what time of day. It has been difficult for today's parents to keep track of this in an era where communication takes place through completely private channels. 

Regarding localization services, it’s true that this is something I looked upon with mixed feelings. But - localization services have been offered globally for several years. Location is becoming a standard product offerings across the board – either people like it or not. Since this is the path forward, I believe that it is important to offer a service that is as safe, secure, transparent and as non-supervisory as possible. This has been the driving force in the development of Bipper’s location service. It’s up to the parents to decide if this is something they need or not. Of all of the localization services offered today Bipper is definitely the 'nicest' - if one wishes to use such a word.