The AirTag Infinitum: Why Tracking Your Parent Like a Lost Set of Keys Is an Ethical Failure
Slipping a tracker into a purse feels like safety, but surveillance is just a cheap substitute for fixing a hazardous home.
By Neil D'Monte, Palmelle Editorial Team · Reviewed by Neil D'Monte · 7 min read · 2026-07-17
Your phone buzzes at 2:14 PM with a notification that your 78-year-old mother has left her driveway. You watch a little blue dot crawl down Elm Street, feeling a temporary wash of relief that quickly sours into something else. We have turned tracking our parents into a casual utility, slipping AirTags into shoe insoles and reducing a human being to the status of a misplaced set of car keys.
