AngelSense GPS Watch

Often in our world these days there is a tension between security, helping us feel safe in the world, and privacy, helping us feel like we are protected from unwanted intrusions into our personal life. The things that often can help people feel secure, also have the potential to violate our privacy. AngleSense's Angel Watch is a good example of this. Designed for kids, people with special needs, and vulnerable adults, this GPS tracking watch with a two-way microphone can bring peace of mind to a parent or guardian of a child with autism or an adult with dementia. However, such a device also has the ability to collect a whole lot of personal information on the wearer, the person using the app to monitor the tracking device, and the people in the vicinity of the device. We acknowledge these sorts of devices have a place in our world. We also think that any company that makes such a device has an big responsibly to prioritize privacy on all the personal information the can potentially collect.

Unfortunately, we do not think AngleSense prioritizes privacy. We made this determination in large part because they don't actually have a real privacy policy for this device or the app that controls the device. The only privacy information we could find for this surviellance watch was buried in a short section in their terms and conditions agreement. The short section they label "Privacy Policy" there doesn't tell us nearly enough about what specific kinds of data this smart watch collects, how they company uses, who that personal information might be shared with and for what purposes, what rights users have to access or delete this data, and what steps are taken to secure this data, and, importantly, how the company handles the collection of children's data. This fact that this information is missing is very very bad. The fact that the company didn't take the time to draft a real privacy policy indicates to us they might not take privacy of their users seriously enough, especially for a device that can track and collect so much personal information.

Also concerning is the fact that we reached out to AngelSense multiple times with our privacy and security related questions and never received any answers from them. And we also cannot confirm if AngelSense takes the appropriate security measures to meet our Minimum Security Standards.

All in all, we have grave concerns about the privacy and security of AngelSense's smart tracking watch targeted at children and vulnerable people. We recognize how such a device could bring peace of mind to the parents and guardians of special needs people. However, we must warn users that this device does not indicate to us that it takes privacy and security as seriously as it needs to for a device and app that can track and potentially collect so much very personal information. Please beware the AngelSense GPS tracking watch could very well come with *privacy not included.