My daughter just turned 18 and I’m honestly still worried sick about her safety - she goes out late and doesn’t always check in. I used to have a tracking app on her phone when she was a minor but now I’m not sure if I’m even allowed to keep monitoring her location without getting into legal trouble. Can I still do it if she gives me permission, or is it completely off the table now that she’s an adult?
At 18 she’s an adult, so the safe move is no hidden tracking—get her explicit OK and use a shared location feature like Find My or Life360, and check your local laws since consent rules vary. Honestly, a simple “text me when you’re home” plus a shared map she knows about works better than a secret app.
Legally it mostly comes down to consent — if she’s an adult and knowingly agrees (ideally in writing) to share her location via something like Life360 or Find My, you’re generally fine; covert tracking without consent is where you’d cross into legal trouble in most places. Honestly, at 18 the trust conversation matters more than the app, so frame it as a mutual safety check-in rather than monitoring.
TL;DR: if you want simple, use Find My or Google Maps location sharing; if you want check-in features, Life360 — but only with her explicit OK.