Mom Slammed for Tracking Husband's Location and Exposing His 'Lies'

A mom has been slammed for tracking her husband's location using an app, even though it revealed that he was lying to her.

The disgruntled wife shared her findings to Mumsnet, under the username Ireallyshouldntbesurprised, as she revealed her other half often lies about "tiny" and "big" things.

"Each time he's caught in a lie, I remind him of just how much I detest being lied to, he apologises and we attempt to move on—but it of course nibbles away at my trust each and every time," she said.

Her post, shared on Thursday, detailed how she caught him out again, as she explained he had a big meeting in London, from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.

She said: "I checked our tracking app that we have on our phones shortly after lunchtime, to see that DH wasn't where I thought he would be (the HQ office), but was instead, in some random bar in a different area of London.

"I messaged DH an hour or so later, asking him how he was getting on etc. He told me it was fine but a bit boring. I then asked him if his meeting was being held in the usual place and he stopped replying."

She confronted him when he got home, without revealing what she knew, saying: "He got in this evening and I asked him what time the meeting ended up finishing, and if it'd been held at the HQ, to which I was told 'yep, normal place, we finished up around half 4, was supposed to be 5 but they rushed through a couple bits so we could duck out a tiny bit early'.

"Now, I can see from our app that he left the building where the meetings are held shortly after 2pm and was in a bar from then, until he left to get the train at around 5:30pm. When I asked him if he'd stayed and had any drinks, he told me that 'once the meeting was finished, they left the HQ and he had one quick pint before getting the train.'

"I also asked him if the blokes from work were staying 'out out' for drinks after the meeting, and he told me they were apparently heading to a certain bar in Shoreditch. Well, I checked the app, and lo and behold, that bar that his colleagues were supposedly heading to 'after' DH had left, was in the fact, the bar DH had been sitting in for three hours."

She debated confronting him, saying: "I haven't yet told DH that I know he's bare face lied to me, but I am seething. He knows my stance on lying.

"It's the lying. I can't stand it. I don't care that the meeting finished early. I don't care that he sunk a couple pints in the midday sun. What I do care about is the fact he seemingly thinks so little of me, that lying about stupid s*** is like a second nature to him."

Despite uncovering his lies, her post, which can be read here, attracted criticism for tracking him, while also urging her to ditch him.

Commenting on the post, which amassed more than 200 responses, MolliciousIntent said: "When you get to the point where you're stalking your husband using GPS, your marriage is over."

Caaarrrl asked: "Why do you have a tracking app for your husband? That's not normal and maybe if there is so little trust between you, the relationship is over."

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz wrote: "How many times does he have to lie, then you tell him you hate lying, and he lies again, before you just end it?"

Stichintime pointed out: "Once you have to track your husband for whatever reason (unless medical, e.g fits or sudden onset amnesia) your marriage is over. It's not healthy at all. Why should you spend your time and energy tracking and confronting him?"

IsAnyoneActuallyListening replied: "The fact that you've got a tracking app says such a lot—your relationship is worthless and pointless as there's no trust."

DisforDarkChocolate replied: "The thing is, you say he knows your stance being lied too. What he knows is that he lies and you put up with it."

Although Brookstar said: "Lots of people are missing the point. It's not that unusual to have tracking apps these days. We use them and I even have friends in my 'circle' ..... the issue is the lies. I couldn't be in a relationship with a compulsive liar."

In response to the backlash, the mom-of-3 explained why they have the apps, saying: "We got them because I like him to know where I am if I go out on nights out alone in case anything should happen to me, and he rides a motorbike and has frequently got lost late at night down country lanes and has even broken down in the middle of nowhere with low phone battery."

The chart below, provided by Statista, shows much information is shared by apps.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Tracking friends and family has become more popular in recent years, with an explosion of apps including Find My Friend, Couple Tracker and Flexispy.

In the U.K., recent government guidance covering domestic abuse highlighted tracking apps.

Focusing on teenage relationships, the consultation outcome published earlier this month said: "For teenagers in particular, this abuse can often occur through technology. For instance, technology may be used to harass and control victims, including social media, or location-based tracking apps such as Find My Friends."

Meanwhile Apple's Air Tags, initially intended to allow users to quickly locate items such as keys or wallets, has seen people use it to track people by placing the tag among their belongings or on their car.

In response, Apple issued a statement in February saying: "...we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products. Unwanted tracking has long been a societal problem, and we took this concern seriously in the design of AirTag."