By Jamie Neben
There’s an old Beatles tune that states “everybody’s got something to hide except for me and my monkey.” I wonder how either the man or monkey would feel about simply handing over their personal information anyway, especially without their knowledge or consent. I am all for creating and using new technologies to gain efficiencies whether they are for personal, corporate, or government use. But many of them not only assist us in certain ways, they also interact with other systems that collect and store our data. As such, how does each improvement affect our expectation of privacy? How much privacy do we deserve? What kinds of records should be maintained, and who should control them? Finally, what happens when the intrusion into our lives goes further than what we agreed to?
We learned some time ago that the George W. Bush administration performed warrantless wiretapping activities following the 9/11 attacks that violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Now, a new internal government report shows evidence that the illegal actions did not stop there. The details are still classified at the moment but I, for one, will be very anxious to receive more updates when they become available. I cringe at the thought that perhaps a spy satellite peeked into my window one night after hearing “Peace Train” blaring through my speakers. Some people make the argument that catching bad guys is worth giving up a civil liberty or two. However, we must remember that our country was founded on our freedoms, and to lose them now would negate the efforts of everyone who fought and died for them.
Listening in on phone calls and rummaging through emails is small potatoes compared to RFID documents—identity documents with radio chips planted in them—that have been circulating around in the form of passports, driver’s licenses, and so forth. Sooner or later, we will all be required to carry them for one purpose or another. Never mind the potential for criminal wrongdoing to access information. What about the possibility of tracking our every move down to the square foot we stand on? That doesn’t seem like any measure of privacy to me. In fact, it reminds me of a passage in the book of Revelations about the mark of the beast. To that end, I wouldn’t be surprised if humans are someday implanted with chips upon birth. Maybe that is a far-fetched scenario, and maybe these RFID’s are only going to be used for verification like we’re told. Maybe not.
In this whole discussion, I cannot help but recall the wise words of Benjamin Franklin. He said “those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” That sentiment is as relevant today as when he spoke it. To act otherwise would make monkeys out of all of us.
This is on another level of wiretapping, and I felt like it was something needed to be pointed out for personal safty. I dont agree with the goverment wiretapping, but dont really know that it has or will ever affect me, I hope I am not naive to think so.
The upside of intrusion on our cell phone, are sensitive yet interesting. Such as the lady locked in her car for a long time when her son remembers his lost blackberry, and tells police he remembers losing his blackberry in his mothers car the day before. They tracked the car to an abandoned area, where the woman was bound and tied and left for dead in the trunk of her very own car.
I would like to have an option to put a chip in my own Autistic Sons’ arm like they do for pets, my son has ran so many times, we have never lost him for more than 30 min. but what if he suddenly decided that he was going to Stillwater and decided that he could go through the wooded area, it could take forever to find him but with some sort of tracking device implant a police officer could use a compatable device to track him saving valuable man hunt time…
As for criminals that they put on tracking bracelets, there seems to be an irony there, not sure if a criminal should be able to enjoy certain freedoms, such as the comfort of there own home, except there are many people that deserve some freedom with some sort of sensitivity to each and every case.
One more note of security cameras and wiretapping at McDonalds and other fast food places are tapping all your conversations, in fact finding several cameras everywhere have found people at gun point with person at ATMs…
Melissa Lake
Hi Melissa,
Thank you for your thoughtful response. You raise some good issues here.
I agree with you that lawful surveillance and investigation can be useful and has been proven to save lives and/or catch criminals in many instances. There’s also an expectation of security with ATMs, convenience stores, and other places, usually with signs posted, and we do not feel violated. As in the case with your son, the benefits are obvious, and such voluntary approval to monitoring isn’t anything I have a problem with—as long as there’s an agreement (and it’s honored) regarding the extent of what exactly would movements would be tracked, and how often.
My issues start when we are followed without our consent, and when we should have that expectation of privacy. Would any of us want our phone calls being listened to, our emails tracked, our library records peeked into? The fact of the matter is that the last administration broke the law, expanded its power beyond previous limits,and our civil liberties are no better for it. Once we lose those liberties, it’s much harder to get them back.
Thanks again, and hope you’ll comment often!
Jamie
Absolutely not, would I ever want my phone conversations wire tapped,library records, health records {oh wait dr. patient confidentiality is so loosely wound you never know what your signing} yikes the thought of someone else knowing my business ….
As for a responsible parent that wants her child tracked, I would only want that used if he was off missing with no way to locate him, not a daily tab on where he is and what he is doing. I have paid for different things that you can put in his clothes or on a bracelet he figures out how to take them off, plus decides to take his clothes off when he does run. Otherwise I would not want a microchip for him, but I dont even think it is legal or if they even have such programs.
Thank you for your response, I agree we deserve privacy unless we are technically in a jail cell and they have every right to know you where abouts, this is a free country and should stay so…As for cameras on parking lots, I like the idea and feel a big brother sense of someone watching over me!
Melissa Lake
Hi Melissa,
You had me until “big brother!” If you mean that property owners are looking out for our security on their premises, I suppose that’s comforting. If it means that they’re keeping tabs on us, then not so much. Have you ever read George Orwell’s book “1984?” That’s got quite a scary big brother! There’s a growing fear that it might not be so fictional anymore.
Jamie
Nope I guess I never read George Orwells book, but I have read Twilight and watched the movie twice in theators, of which they gave me a piece of paper with the movie name and date and how much popcorn we really ate in Indianapolis, Indiana, to think 2 girls of average height would be able to go to a movie without being monitored. They gage you from what bathroom you use to what trash can you threw your last towel into,,,,, if I dont convince you there how about them pay at the pumps, nobody trusts an average senior citizen to pump her own gas! c’mon LOL grampas gonna get in a gasrun when his wife really needs to smoke her joint or what not anyhow… Give us some love!
I can honestly say that I’ve never thought of some of those things in quite that way!
I am very interested in this subject as I sit here at my computer knowing that every one of my keystrokes is being monitored by cookies and other avenues of data collection. Every time I type an email, I’m becoming more aware that each one is saved-there is a history-and if so presumed, someone could come in here and uncover everything I’ve ever written to anybody. That is not to mention the tracking of specific websites, like this one? Pictures of our family are put in Facebook, My Space and other social networks. One family even had their Christmas card photo used on a billboard for a promotion in a foreign country.
Being pretty close-too close- to retirement age, it’s getting more frightening to know that our civil liberties are being stripped away, little by little. Technology is taking over the world, if it hasn’t already so that there is little recourse for those of us to cover our tracks being essential newbies in the skills necessary to do so.
Security is one thing, but to have every step we take being under scrutiny, then that’s another matter. There is always an upside to some monitoring, especially for the sake of uncovering crimes and the like, but I wouldn’t think that the majority of conversations are all that interesting.
Lynne
That’s a very astute point. It’s tough enough for the more tech-minded person to take proper caution. Just think of what personal data somebody who doesn’t know any better might be handing over for corporate and government files. That information may not be scruntized now, but it doesn’t mean it won’t later.
“We learned some time ago that the George W. Bush administration performed warrantless wiretapping activities following the 9/11 attacks that violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.”
I doubt you can cite the specific statutory provisions which were violated. I doubt even more that you can make the case that those wiretaps were inconsistent with his oath of office, which overrides statutes whenever there is a perceived conflict between the two.