Today I will be discussing two important issues in the cyber world, location tracking and cell phone privacy.
For those of you who don't know, the issue of personal privacy has become more prevalent and discussed today than it has ever been in human history. Before electricity and the invention of cameras, humans relied on people's testimonies and written records as evidence in court cases. Nowadays, there are likely to be multiple technological pieces of evidence used against or in defense of an individual in a court case, such as video tapes, e-mails or text messages, and files saved on a computer. The world we live in is very public and our personal privacy is limited compared to a hundred years ago.
There are three main aspects of privacy according to Sara Baase, a respected computer scientist and author. They are as follows: -Freedom from intrusion.
-Control of information about oneself.
- Freedom from surveillance.
These core aspects drive my arguments for the following 2 paragraphs
1) Why I believe tracking chips in humans is unlawful and ethically wrong.
2) Why I believe pre-paid cell phones should remain legal, despite some people using them for in illegal activities.
I understand why veterinarians and farmers use computer chips to track and trace animals, so that if they are lost they can be found easily through human action. However, I do not see humans as wild animals who wander off without reason. Nor do I see any human as property of another human. If we were to start putting computer chips into humans, it would be degrading that human to the level of a lost Iphone with Apple-care or a stolen car with Nstar. If a person chooses to go somewhere, they should not fear that anyone with their chip number can immediately find them. I see it more as a responsibility of the parent to keep their child safe and out of dangerous situations. Although I am opposed to a forceful chip into the body, I am totally okay with parents putting a tracker on their child's phone, ipod, shoe, or even clothes. Just not into the skin.
I would not support a bill in congress that required children to have a chip implanted in their skin. The government and everyone else would be able to have 24/7 surveillance on you and there would be no freedom from intrusion in your own life. The way I see it, parents should never have 100% control of where their child goes or 100% knowledge of what the child is doing. Kids need some freedom because they will not always have their parents to protect them in life. Also who would pay for all of these chips? Where would the information be stored? It is not a reasonable idea with millions of babies being born in the US? And removing the chips from dead bodies? YUCK!
The United States government, FBI, CIA, or whoever can access all of your text messages and phone calls if you use a smart phone or have a contract with Verizon, ATT, Sprint, etc. Skilled hackers also potentially have access to this information. If I were a person with a lot on the line and important decisions to make without conversations becoming publicly accessible, I would want the right to a secure line or a pre-paid phone.
Some people drink and then they drive, does that mean alcohol should be illegal? No.
So if people buy pre paid phones and then they use the phone to make drug deals, does that mean the phone should be illegal? No. There are plenty of people who drink and who choose not to drive. There are plenty of people who use prepaid phones, because they are cheap and do not require a contract, then choose not to sell drugs with it. The precursor to a crime should not be illegal, the crime itself is illegal and those who break the law will pay the consequence when they are caught.
The government already knows SO MUCH about us in their databases, it is my personal belief that implanted microchips and elimination of pre-paid phones would infringe on our right to privacy. This is the United States government in 2013, not the communist government in East Germany in the 1940's.
