Trends change, technology advances, yet teenagers always seem to stay the same. They find new ways to maintain social relevance – often by doing things older generations don’t understand. (Don’t believe me? Just try to guess what any of their slang terms mean.)

One of the latest teen trends is something that might raise a few eyebrows among parents, due to safety and privacy concerns: location tracking.

Although teens crave independence from their parents, they are voluntarily sharing their real-time whereabouts with their friends.

Popular phone tracking app Life360 recently found thatGen Z is 70% more likely than any other age group to share their location with friends. And 94% of Gen Z surveyed said their lives benefit from location sharing.

In May 2025, Snapchat announced that its location-sharing Snap Map has more than 400 million monthly active users, per TechCrunch. This influences other social media platforms, as Instagram is reportedly working on a similar Friend Map to allow users to see their friends’ locations.

Many adults, including Leigh McInnis, the executive director of Newport Healthcare, may feel wary about this trend; however, McInnis keeps an open mind.

“While my immediate instinct is related to protection of privacy and boundaries,” she told HuffPost, “I realise that this impulse is likely more related to my generational identity and discomfort with technology and tracking than the social needs and preferences of today’s teens and young adults.”

McInnis added: “I think that it is important to explore the function of a behaviour before judging it or intervening in it.”

Not sure what to think about it – or how to ensure your teen uses an app like this safely? Keep reading for expert-backed opinions to help you understand why your teens might like sharing their location, as well as tips on setting boundaries and red flags to look for.

Location sharing isn’t necessarily new

“Many of the teens I work with – including my own daughter – share their location with their friends,” said Dr. Cameron Caswell, adolescent psychologist, host of Parenting Teens with Dr. Cam podcast, and parent of a teen. “It’s a little about safety, but mostly ‘because it’s just fun to see what each other is doing.’”

One mom I worked with told me her daughter was shocked to find an ex-boyfriend still had access to her location. Of course, that explained why he kept ‘randomly’ showing up wherever she was.Dr. Cameron Caswell,........

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