The Violation of Our Privacy Through The Use of Smartphones

When we go out in public with our smartphones we don’t think much about our safety with privacy. To everyone privacy has its different meanings, but in this case it is the state of being free from public attention. Although everyone may feel that their privacy is protected, it may be different for each individual. I feel that my privacy isn’t a big deal and that the government will watch whenever they want because they have power over us United States citizens. Nothing is going to stop them from viewing our private information. Their data base is linked with ours so that they are able to view our private information at all times. Some say it’s for our safety and some say it’s just so they have something to keep them busy. I believe that we should just let them view our information because in the end they already have their plans for intrusion, not only that but they may be protecting us by doing so.

In the article written by Allen D. Kanner, “The Piracy of Privacy: Why Marketers Must Bare Our Souls”, the author explains that mobile phones collect data that eventually show us our common interests when we open up a web page on our phone due to the things we’ve recently searched which goes into a database in your mobile device to show you those common interests you’ve searched. He also describes how our privacy is being invaded each day through government regulation and corporations. Although he is right, Kanner should not be able to say that it needs to come to a stop because it won’t ever come to a stop. Like me, there are people out there who simply do not care about the government viewing their private information because for one, they have nothing to hide and two they just believe that it won’t come to an end.

One topic Kanner stresses is the GPS features on smartphones and how they can track someone down to the very spot of where they stand. Not only will the government be able to view anything they want, they’ll even be able to know where you are when looking at your personal information. For instance, many people have a GPS device that locates their precise location. While Kanner believes that this is wrong, some may think it can be helpful when searching for a certain destination, perhaps a mall or store. Marketers have developed apps for smartphones to help you find the nearest and quickest store to get to. As the privacy of this can be controversial, it can be beneficial for a person due to the fact that if they have a certain app on their phone they can access coupons, ads for new movies, or even ads for new products coming to the market in the store they happen to be in. In a similar situation, Kanner states that, “AisleCaster is a GPS-linked mobile phone program that offers shoppers specials based on their precise location in a supermarket or mall” (Kanner 588). Although he disagrees with the use of GPS due to privacy invasion, I believe that it can help someone not only find where they need to go, but they can also benefit from using a GPS as well.

Although the author thinks that we shouldn’t have our privacy available to the open, not many people think about their privacy due to the fact that they feel that they cannot change it. I believe that if the government already has their eye on us, they most likely won’t stop. Some disadvantages to having our privacy out in the open is that we sometimes have to think about what we post or say on the internet because some words trigger the government to watch our conversations more closely. Another article written by Alexander Higgins, “Official List Of Words Feds Monitor On Social Networking Sites”, gives examples of words that make the government authorities hone in on what kind of conversations a person is having and how it consists of a huge binder with all of the topics that may be a potential threat to a community, city, state, or even country. The binder has thirty-nine pages of words they use to determine potential threats through social media sites that they might have to watch out for in that person. That will show red flags for the person if they are actually planning on doing something with their words. The author states the examples from the binder, “The 39-page “Analyst’s Desktop Binder” used by the department’s National Operations Center includes no-brainer words like “”attack,” “epidemic” and “Al Qaeda” (with various spellings). But the list also includes words that can be interpreted as either menacing or innocent depending on the context, such as “exercise,” “drill,” “wave,” “initiative,” “relief” and “organization” (Activist Post). One wouldn’t think these words would make the government look at their personal information more carefully, but they do so because they are trying to protect us from any harm that may come our way. With that being said, I believe that we shouldn’t care that government agencies pry into our privacy because they are only trying to protect American Citizens.

In all honesty, with Kanner’s opinion being correct, I believe that the government should be able to view our private information because they are going to view it no matter what we say and they are protecting us by obtaining data so that people don’t pose threats on our country. Even if using a GPS can show our exact location, we can benefit from it because it has the function of getting us to our destination as well as giving us an opportunity to see new things and shows advertisements on the latest and greatest. Another reason why we shouldn’t mind privacy invasion is for our protection. Being protected by having the government send out red flags about certain words we might type can help the country by possibly stopping potential harm from innocent people. As a United States citizen I think our focus should be directed on our own daily lives rather than dwelling over something we simply cannot change.