Blog Post #7 - Privacy, Online & Off

 Technology in our Daily Lives

Ah, technology. It's such a beautiful aspect of our daily lives! We take our phones everywhere we go. We drive our cars, use our computers, and so much more. It's so amazing how much technology helps us...and watches us. Yes, that's right. Technology might just be your worst enemy.  

License Plate Readers

Ever seen one of these before? If you haven't, you might want to pay close attention. These are license plate readers. They are little devices used by the police department to snap a picture of your license plate as you go about your day. They are able to track everywhere you've been by your car, not just your phone. Most people know that the government already tracks us through our phone. But what most people don't know is that they track you through so much more. In a TedTalk, Catherine Crump discussed how the government is always watching us and even has pictures of people going about their every day lives. The police department keeps and stores this information in case they need it some day. Talk about a serious invasion of privacy!

Does this mean we are never safe? Are private moments really private? Turns out the answer is most likely no, nothing we do is ever private. The government has way too much information about our personal identities to potentially use against us in the future. According to a TedTalk by Christopher Soghoian, the government is mad that they have had difficulty invading our privacy through companies embedding encryptions that block personal information from being accessed. However, government officials believe that all texts, phone calls, emails, etc, should be available to the government at all time. Will we ever have privacy?

Fortunately, I haven't been contacted by the government due to them invading my privacy. However, this impacts me, my friends, and my family by making us all feel uncomfortable. After learning this information, I feel very uneasy about the government watching my every move. It makes me wonder, am I really living? 

What Should the Government do? What can We do?

In my opinion, I don't think the government should have access to invading our privacy to this extent. Nobody should be monitoring people like this unless there is an impending reason. But now I'm wondering if there is really anything we can do to put a s
top to this.  The government can always lie to us and say they aren't tracking us when they actually are. The only thing I can think of doing is putting up fire walls and encryptions. Who knows, maybe one day the world will change.