Cell Phones and Privacy

I can think of very few legitimate uses for prepaid cell phones, except that they cost less than most cell phone plans and subsequent phones. In movies and TV shows the bad guy always buys a prepaid phone so the cops don’t know who he is talking to. Many people are on a budget and have a hard time affording fancy cell phones, so prepaid phones are an important option. I don’t agree that the use of prepaid cell phones should be made illegal or that the government should make people register so they can be tracked. People deserve to have this low cost option and not be forced to register to the government to use it. Even if prepaid cell phones were made illegal or controlled in some way by the government criminals would find a way around this.

Location Tracking

Location tracking or implanting chips inside of young people’s bodies so parents can know where they are is a very controversial topic. Some of the privacy issues from this proposed technology are that people could know where you are at any point in time; I believe that even young people deserve a right to privacy. I believe that with any law or regulation you need to look at the costs and benefits of the decision and there effect on the larger population. Many people worry about this information getting into the wrong hands, just think if a tech smart predator was able to gain the location of young boys and girls by hacking into some computer program. The other side of the issue is thinking of how this information could be used to benefit people like in the event of an accident or if someone gets lost. As far as parents having the right to choose whether to implant their child with this chip, I believe they have the right to do so, as far as teenagers go once you turn 18 the decision to keep the chip or remove it should be given to the person wearing the chip not the parents. This is the same with other situations as well like needing your parents’ consent or other things that children cannot due on their own. I would not support any government law that made it mandatory to insert these chips into our children; I believe this decision is best made by that child’s parents not some government bureaucrat. I believe that this technology should be made available but not made mandatory by the government people who think the benefits outweigh the costs and vice versa should be the only ones making these decisions. 

Living in a Networked World CS-408

Living in a networked world is a class offered at UNH that teaches students about the impacts of the internet and other new technology on our society. The class examines key issues that have arisen from the use of the internet and other computer technology for example privacy. How ever the internet does have its benefits and many people believe that the benefits out-weight the costs.