Should you share your location with your spouse?

In today’s world, it’s a widespread practice to share geographic location with your contacts. We can even say that sharing location is a big step for relationship. If you frequently browse the social network or internet, it’s not difficult to find that people argue heatedly about the topic “should you share your location with your spouse”. It seems like no definite answer is available to this issue. Never mind, this guide will introduce you with both pros and cons of location sharing, then you may find your own answer.

How does location sharing work?

Before we discuss whether or not you should share location with your spouse, it’s necessary to know how it works and what exactly you are sharing. In most devices, geodata is enabled by default and it makes tagging your picture easier, by capturing the data from your phone to pinpoint your position. Thus, your contacts can know where you are.

For instance, Google Maps allows you to share your location with your spouse or friends, and vice versa. You have to enable the live location sharing by going to “location sharing” option within the Maps settings. Similarly, Apple’s location sharing feature is built into Apple Maps and Messages. You can share your current location via text messages by tapping the “i” icon and choosing “Send My Current Location.”

Potential positives of location sharing

By taking the assistance of GPS tracker, one can know someone else’s whereabouts and ensure their safety. It’s not just a matter of convenience, but also of comfort. Simply take a closer look the pros of sharing location with your spouse.

Convenience

Location sharing is especially useful for you to know your partner’s ETA. You can see his location and know estimated arrival time so you’ll know when to make dinner. It also comes in handy when you’re planning a date night and would like to surprise him.

Facilitate communication

On the other hand, location sharing helps ease communication. If you sent a text to your spouse and did not get a reply, you may want to peek at his location. You can rest assured when you find that he is located at gym or company. It helps reduce boring-ass communication between you and your partner.

Keep signficant other safe

Safety is the biggest reason why couples should share location with each other. Chances are that couples separate in somewhere crowded, one have to walk home in a sketchy area at night or you live in a high-crime area. In such cases, using a GPS tracker helps keep your spouse safe and connected. You can easily find your loved ones and help them from unwanted situations in case of emergency.

Improve relationship

If couples both enable location sharing option, it helps improve the quality of relationship. No longer you will suspect that your spouse is lying about his whereabouts. It helps get peace of mind and enhance connection. Location sharing is good as long as you set boundaries and have honest conversation about it.

Potential negatives of location sharing

Although the positives of location sharing has been hightlighted, some married people start wondering where it can go wrong. The reality is that sharing location can lead to information leakage, relationship damage and more. The following are some negatives that should be paid attention to.

Cast doubt on relationship

Having location tracking enabled can negatively affect the relationship between you and your spouse.  Knowing they can view your location at all time can trigger some nasty behaviors, like continually asking why you stop by some places for a long period of time. Also, it can be considered as “spying” or “monitoring” behavior.

In a relationship, one may feel insecure while another seek for independence. If you are the couples like this, sharing location might be a difficult task, but not a impossible one. However, it can discourage you from talking with your spouse honestly and openly.

Reveal personal information

It’s no surprising that some applications or programs gather your geodata and sell them to third-party companies for profits. They are not designed to keep the family safe and connected. If you use such applications, it will leak private data and may put your spouse at risk.

Conclusion

We’ve discussed the necessity to share your location with your spouse on this article. Location sharing brings convenience, faciliate communication and keep spouse safe while it may cast doubt on relationship and expose personal data. However, we hold the view that using a GPS location tracker does more good than its harm. But always consider the issue like whether your spouse agree to share location before you access a location tracking service.