10:52pm UK, Wednesday October 08, 2003

Parents worried about the whereabouts of their children could soon rest easy, thanks to the latest mobile phone technology. 

ChildLocate claims to be the first service to offer parents a discreet and secure way of locating a child without disturbing them or making them feel under constant surveillance.

Keeping tabs on your child

For a monthly subscription, parents can locate their children's whereabouts by accessing a webpage, which then shows the child's location on a map, or by using a mobile phone, which indicates the area by text.

The service can be used for mobile phones currently using the Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange and o2 networks.

The company says stringent security and privacy features are built into the system to prevent unauthorised people from using it.

The child is in full control of his or her privacy and is notified on a regular basis who has permission to locate him.

Jon Magnusson, managing director of MobileLocate, said: "We follow a strict privacy management code of practice which was developed with input from major child protection agencies and the main UK mobile operators and we are confident that we offer the safest service available today."

The ChildLocate service works best in urban areas where it is accurate from 50 to 500 metres, but less so in rural areas.