Privacy

Image by Baylen Whitfield

Written by Baylen Whitfield. Media by Baylen Whitfield.


Image by Baylen Whitfield
Image by Baylen Whitfield

Do you know that you’re almost never not being watched? Are you aware that your location is constantly being tracked by your cellphone’s data, that in order to seek suspicious foreigners, President Obama’s NSA reads some “private” emails and text messages sent abroad, that the FBI has drones that spy on U.S citizens from the sky in order to try to track and limit crimes, or that even certain street lights equipped with proximity sensors monitor your activities and conversations through their built in cameras and speakers? No matter what we do, it seems as though we never make it completely off the grid or out of the sights of our governments.

Nowadays security and technology are becoming so advanced that we hardly have any privacy. Interestingly enough, our governments, pioneers of technology, as well as our peers, normally all claim that these technological advances, security systems, and privacy laws are not only making our lives much easier, but safer too. I agree, many technological advances, security systems, and privacy laws have made life easier, safer, and even more enjoyable for most of us but where do we draw the line and say enough is enough? Here are several more surprising ways the government is, or are possibly, keeping tabs on you through technology and the use of privacy and security laws.

 

  1. Our License Plates

Numerous towns have introduced cameras and are making an effort to get serious about traffic violations. At the point when a photograph is taken of a tag, the photograph and ticket are sent to the owner of the vehicle’s home. Normally a hundred dollar ticket, the individual has a certain amount of time to pay before penalties are added.

 

  1. Public Surveillance

Many urban areas have introduced surveillance cameras in their open territories, as well as alleyways and underground at subway stations, to try and prevent crimes. But innocent, law-abiding citizens also get recorded. Most of these people have no idea they are being watched.

 

  1. Phone Records

NSA had gathered Verizon’s cellphone records from many unknowing citizens of the United States. The Guardian reported that the government was doing this “indiscriminately and in bulk — regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.”

 

  1. Observing Your Activity… From your Household Appliances
Image by Baylen Whitfield
Image by Baylen Whitfield

Just about everything, even those things we least expect have Wi-Fi these days. One of these things we hardly expect is our refrigerator. With technology becoming more advanced, even our household appliances become Wi-Fi enabled. As joyful as it may seem for us, it’s also useful for government officials, who want to watch “sneaky” Americans. Director of the CIA David Petraeus said, “Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters.”

 

5 Through Our Televisions

According to the Huffington Post, “There is technology that’s built-in to so-called ‘smart’ TVs, which would allow the cable company (or potentially the government) to watch you through your television.” To date, however, it is not being used for that purpose.

 

Image by Baylen Whitfield
Image by Baylen Whitfield

Although there are more ways the government spies on us, those are just a few of the more shocking ways. All these ways that the government can watch us and access our information may seem enjoyable and provide us with a sense of security but I am concerned as to where all this will stop. Will this be as far as our security and privacy laws go, or will we be soon implanted with microchips at birth harvesting all of our information? Will things soon get so ridiculously out of hand and we’ll be walking around completely controlled by our government with microchips that are placed in our brains? I guess we won’t know until the day comes.

 

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