What's wrong with NIKE IPOD?:
http://news.com.com/NikeiPod+raises+RFID+privacy+concerns/2100-1029_3-6143606.html
Someone's watching while you drive:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2004-12-27-auto-blackbox_x.htm
Who'd you call?:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.htm
I know where you are:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/20/world-tracker-turns-anyone-into-a-cellphone-spy/
http://news.com.com/NikeiPod+raises+RFID+privacy+concerns/2100-1029_3-6143606.html
Someone's watching while you drive:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2004-12-27-auto-blackbox_x.htm
Who'd you call?:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.htm
I know where you are:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/20/world-tracker-turns-anyone-into-a-cellphone-spy/
18 comments:
I'm not sure how I feel about that. At first I thought it was fine if used for research, as long as some sort of law stopped the information from being a valid source of evidence in a trial. Especially with the car information. But as I thought about it, if you were going 100 miles an hour in a 65 zone and you kill someone, but no one knows you were speeding, you shouldn't just get away with it. It does violate the right to privacy, but if someone was killed, the right to life was also violated.
I think a lot of todays technology can be considered a double edge sword. In one aspect people dont want their privacy to be intruded, but they want to find all the terrosits. People dont want their phones to be traced, but if their kid goes missing they want to find them and activate the service. I dont think the gov or any company has the right to shut down these ideas altogether because i think they can be useful for certain things. They need to be modified and perfected before put into use.
Okay, so that was very interesting. I guess it's never bothered me that they use cell phones to track people. I already knew that. And I already knew that Bush gave the OK to eavesdrop on international communication. I don't have anything to hid so I'm not to worried about anything.
The first news article, however, did bother me. It's great that the car companies want to collect data that could help them create safer vehicles. But I don't think they should be mandatory. I mean, I don't want to get in trouble today for how I drove yesterday...
The article about the recording devices in cars was especially interesting me. However, I'm straddling the fence as to whether I think it is a good idea or not. On one hand, it would give the exact details of an accident. If drivers knew they would be caught driving over the speed limit, they would take a lot more precaution on the road. This is turn would save a lot of lives. It boils down to trusting people to do the right thing. Has the world gotten to the point that we need to record drivers in order to know who is telling the truth in a car accident?? On the other hand, the devices should not be installed in a person's car without their knowing. Since it is not a legal requirement, and it can get you into serous legal trouble, drivers should have the right to chose whether they want a tracking device in their vehicle because it could be self-incrimination.
Well the Nike I-pod thing to me is fine. It is your choice to use these devices and who wouldn't want some kind of tracking device on them if they were going for a walk at night. I think being about to attach a tracking device to yourself if you want to like that is a great idea and should make us feel safer about being alone in certain situations. Also with the cars that can record like the last 5 seconds before a crash is a good idea to me too because that can help us figure who's really to blame for vehicle crashes. However when you get into the phone call data and the google gps I think that's a little far. Where are destroying our right of personal space and privacy. The worst thing is anyone can do this. That's scary.
These articles are very interesting. I have heard about these issues before, but some not to the extent these articles went. Yes, I think it is scary what the government can do, but I also think that the government should be able to do so IF it really is only for security. After all, if you aren't doing anything illegal, what do you have to worry about; and if you are, I think others would prefer the government know. I do think it's scary how easy it is to create such devices, as that means scary stalkers and such can use this technology. If anything, I think there needs to be laws or features so that ONLY the government can access/create such features. I don't like the idea of parents tracking kids, but if they are underage, I suppose it's legal, but I do think the kid has the right to know. I for one would not be happy to find out my parents were doing that behind my back.
I find these articles very interesting because they all have to do with the new technologies that we have come up with recently and they also talk about how these technologies are monitoring people more these days. I am personally a big advocate for furthering technology to make our lives better, but when it gets too invading our privacy as such with the monitoring people's calls.I feel like it is wrong to stalk people with the new technology we have these days because that is people's own business. I mean sure it's great to monitor and make sure your children are safe but i think that is too much invasion and paranoia that convinces people that they should be able to monitor what they say and where they are. Also this is new technology people have been able to live without the GPS systems and have been perfectly fine and lived to tell their stories. Overall i think the technology is not being used in a good way because its unfair to monitor someone without their own consent.
I think that the Nike transmitter is dangerous, not because the government officials will come and watch your every move and calorie burned. I believe that this transmitter gives stalkers and rapists a new high tech way to follow you. They can basically tell where you came from, pinpoint your house...creepy. I totally like the idea of the "black" boxes in cars, this really helps ensure that justice is served. I believe that these boxes should only be used five seconds before a crash, and on nothing else...well that is except for habitual drunk drivers, it would be nice to see what is going on with them in case we need to take any further action. I just really think that these black boxes will protect us and serve justice that may not have been served.
I don't agree with having the RFID in the Nike shoe. I feel that it is sort of an invasion of your privacy that is very important to people with a lot of importance in society. For example what if the president had a pair of these on while out jogging anyone who has access to how use the surveillance code is able to find him and do whatever they want, which may not be a bad thing.
At first it is scary to realize how easy it is for people to either watch you or keep track of you. The fact of not knowing their reasons for doing it and what they are doing with the information are the biggest worries. However, it seems as if some of these
tracking methods are for our safety. As it said in the NSA article it was to track terrorist activity, although
the government could be using it for other things
The only thing about the articles we read that really concerns me is the cell phone tracking. The rest of it is done with the public safety in mind and if you aren't doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about. People tend to complain when their rights are violated, which makes perfect sense because we are all guaranteed certain rights. However, when the government fails to protect us from harm, many get outraged and blame the government, yet don't want to give the government the means to protect them efficiently. For example, in the phone call tracking. They aren't listening to our phone calls. Unless they have reason to suspect us of something, they could care less if you talked to Sally for an hour about her new boyfriend. They aren't that interested in our lives, they're interested in our safety. People need to stop being so paranoid and get over themselves.
The cell phone tracking is a problem, though, because the public can gain access (with initial permission, of course). But there should be a way to deny tracking after it's been accepted. If you're dating a guy, it's reasonable to let him use the tracking device but once you've broken up, you don't want him to have access to that information anymore.
Let me just say that I'm a big advocate for privacy and civil liberties, and I consider myself a libertarian. With that said, I think some of this stuff is pretty scary. Why are big businesses so interested in our personal lives? I don't have a problem with big business, but if companies are going to put tracking devices in their products, it should be required that they inform customers first. That way, the customer can make an informed decision whether he or she wants to buy that particular product or not. While I highly value my freedom to do as I please, in the case of the NSA, I think that is something completely different. To some degree, the government needs to regulate certain things for national security. If the U.S. were not involved in a war right now, I think there would be no need to use wire-taps and keep phone records. But the government isn't listening in on just anyone. The government doesn't care about the heart-to-heart conversations you're having with your significant other or the fight you got in with your parents. They're looking for suspicious activity that may link someone with a terrorist. The Patriot Act was not created to "invade" on our personal rights, but to keep us safe from our enemies and ensure the future of our children. Plus, with the Patriot Act, the public was informed that the government would be monitoring terrorist activity. These businesses on the other hand who put tracking devices in their products aren't informing their customers about what they're doing.
All of these are rather disturbing if you think about it. The idea of having a massive telephone recording database of every call ever made is quite simply, enough to terrify anyone. (The Patriot Act in general is pretty ridiculous, in my opinion.) The interesting thing about all of these, I think, is that they were all created "for your own good". The calling-- to save you from terrorists, the cars-- to save you from liars, your ipod-- tell you how far and how long you've run, etc etc... But all of these can probably be done without.
I realize the government puts up a pretty good excuse for protection against terrorism. I certainly don't want to repeat September 11th. Who does? Now I normally support and trust our government's decisions. I think they're looking out for us and try to help us out the best they can. But putting that much power in one part of the government scares me. I feel it disrupts the balance of powers and is just plain unconstitutional.
I was aware of the tracking in cars, cell phones, and the Nike iPod, but not the massive national call list. The list seems superfluous and encroaching to me. All of these efforts to track people are spooky. They allow powerful institutions unwarranted control over ordinary and innocent people. With new and innovative technology constantly coming into the market, the prospect only seems to be that the government will have a more intense control.
The article we read were very interesting because of all the different types of way they use technology to tract or see how fast we are driving. I am a fan of the ERD's in the cars. It could help with a lot of unsolved accidents that are going on without proof of who was in the wrong or right. As far as the phone locater's and tracking devices from the government I think it has already been done with Nextel phones, but then again maybe not as technical.
I feel that having a black box in your car could be beneficial. However there would have to be some laws on what a police officer could charge you with or not. If they pull you over they cant charge with speeding a week ago. This black box should only be used if there is an accident. Like the examples they gave, there was justice done because of the black box. It shows reckless driving and endangerment. People feel like this could be invading their privacy but if you following the law there shouldnt be a problem.
I believe that technology is in existence to make our lives easier and safer. Whether it be allowing or requiring automakers to install "little black boxes" in our cars, or allowing the NSA to track our phones calls. The issue is what is the government going to do to make sure that this information does not fall into the wrong hands and how are they going to regulate its use. In the post 9/11 world, I have no problem with the federal government watching the call patterns of people calling other person's internationally. However, they need to have a court issued search warrant to listen to them...to be continued in the small group
I am feeling a bit more paranoid. Is free choice being severely limited by these things? I am not sure that the first two articles will really affect me and I did not read the second two articles. These breaches of privacy by technology are scary to me.
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