HeyPolo challenges traditional family tracking with new privacy-first safety features

HeyPolo, the privacy-first family safety app from the Surfshark group, announces a major expansion of its feature set, including speed monitoring, compass, low battery, arrival/departure, and emergency alerts.

VILNIUS, Lithuania, July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- At its core, HeyPolo brings together intelligent location sharing and smart safety notifications in one seamless experience, designed around a simple belief: family safety should never come at the cost of privacy.

"For families, privacy and safety go hand in hand. When people feel their privacy is genuinely respected within their family, they're far more willing to share," says Edvinas Sersniovas, CEO at HeyPolo. "And that's what actually makes everyone safer. When there's no pressure and no surveillance, there's no reason to hide. A teen who chooses to share their location is far more protected than one who's being tracked and quietly turns it off."

HeyPolo's key new features give families a complete toolkit for staying connected and protected:

• Real-time location tracker allows users to see where everyone is on a live map, with full privacy controls so each family member can choose what they share and for how long.
• Arrival/departure alerts let users get notified the moment a child arrives at school, a loved one reaches the doctor, or leaves work. Instead of texting "are you there yet?" users can simply see it on the app.
• Emergency SOS allows a user to send an SOS alert to the entire family group instantly.
• Speed monitoring gives visibility into driving safety, for example, users can check whether their children are keeping within the speed limit.
• Compass is a simple, reassuring way for family members to see the direction of their group – helpful for meetups, travel, and keeping tabs from afar where an exact address is impossible, like festivals.
• With low battery alerts users can be notified when a family member's phone is running low, so unexpected silence doesn't cause unnecessary worry.

"We believe that respecting privacy isn't a trade-off against safety – it's what unlocks it. Since our launch in March we've built so many features for the safety of families, but we are not stopping – there's some very exciting ones still on our roadmap," says Sersniovas.

As part of the Surfshark group, HeyPolo is built around three core commitments:

• Privacy – HeyPolo does not sell user data.
• Consent-based by design – families have full control over who sees what, so everyone shares on their own terms.
• Real value –  with a single subscription, you can invite your entire family, so protecting everyone is simple and affordable.

HeyPolo is available on the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store. New users can experience the app with a 30-day free trial.

ABOUT HEYPOLO

HeyPolo is a family-safety app built to give people more control over how they stay connected. Created by the team behind privacy tools like Surfshark and Incogni, it brings a more balanced approach to family safety`.

Instead of defaulting to continuous tracking, HeyPolo allows users to choose when, how, and with whom they share their location. It's designed to support real-life use — from families coordinating daily routines to staying in touch with teens, partners, and older relatives — without compromising independence.

For more information, visit heypolo.com

ABOUT SURFSHARK

Surfshark is a cybersecurity company offering products including an audited VPN, certified antivirus, data leak warning system, and a tool for generating an online identity. Recognized as a leading VPN by CNET and TechRadar, Surfshark has also been featured on the FT1000: Europe's Fastest Growing Companies ranking. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Surfshark has offices in Lithuania and Poland. For information on Surfshark's operations and highlights, read our Annual Wrap-up. For more research projects, visit our Research Hub.

More information: [email protected]

SOURCE Surfshark B.V.