In “Privacy Lost: These Phones Can Find You” in The New York Times, Laura Holson discusses the latest in cell phone technology. One can know where all of their friends, family, and co-workers are at any time. It is looked upon as a great advancement because no one will have to partake in the annoying task of opening their cell phone, dialing a number, and having to say “Where are you?” One can simply add this new service provided by Loopt and Buddy Beacon to their phone plan for about three dollars a month. Advocates say that the plan can be utilized to track employees and can be turned off for periods of time. College students could use it to find a friend to eat with or a fellow study buddy. But, those opposed to it say that it is an invasion of privacy and can cause conflicts in relationships. A man may want some along time and could turn the service off for a while, but then his spouse would want to know why, thus causing a fight over nothing. Or, an employee could turn the service off and wind up in trouble with their boss. The outcome could be disastrous.
I have to agree with the latter. This is defiantly an invasion of privacy. I would not want someone knowing my whereabouts at all times. It is basically a tracking device for everyone with the plan that has your number. Not only does it show where everyone is, but it also shows the exact distance away they are from you. Jealous ex-boy/girlfriends could follow someone around just to ruin the moment. Or, the girl that a guy gave his number to at a bar one night could wind up regretting the fact that she always knows where he is. Although someone could just block people, it is more of a hassle than it is worth. Picking up a phone and calling or text message would take a mere three seconds longer than trying to find someone’s homing beacon on a 2’’ screen, and it would allow for much more privacy. Plus, if you knew where someone was and wanted to meet them somewhere else, then you would still have to call them. This service is a novel idea, but is not for me. Would you seriously want everyone with your number to know where you are at all times?
2 comments:
I agree with Chris when he says that people sometimes just want to have some privacy. Turning off the system or blocking it could have detrimental effects on a marriage, but most wives and husbands trust each other. There are many positive reasons why this advancement in technology would be helpful. For example, what if a child got lost from a parent or was kidnapped. It would be easier for the parents to find their children. Whether or not this advancement is positive or negative does definitely depend on the situation. There are many people that would be for adding on this on to their cell phones and that is great, but also there will be people that would feel that it is a violation of their privacy rights. It depends on the person that you are talking too. I believe that this should be added onto the people's phones if they choose to pay extra for it, but they should not be forced to add it by a company or a spouse.
I definitely would not want someone knowing where I am at all times, it is an invasion of my privacy. The only way I could see this new cell phone technology working is a parent/child situation. When a child leaves the house, the parents could be able to check up on him/her to make sure they are where they are suppose to be. I cannot see a tracking device working in any other circumstance. The system could work much better if instead of knowing where a person is at all times, you could just know where places are. There are devices out there similar, but a cell phone that you could just type in where you wanted to go and find it would be very convenient. The cell phone system could be extremely dangerous if a phone got into the wrong hands. A stalker/pedaphile could use the phone to locate an innocent victim. The idea is meant to be for the good, but the people in this world can easily ruin the original intentions of the system.
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