How would you feel if you found out your phone was being used by intelligence agencies and possibly other parties unknown to you? That the inside of your home and everywhere you travelled was being traced and the microphone recording every word that came out of your mouth? Technology has been developed to be a powerful tool for authorities to prevent potential threats but there comes a question of the legitimacy of privacy and how it is used. The question lies on who should be in charge? Who can make ethical decisions and implement it based off of foundational values of society. There is a scene in The Dark Knight where Batman invented a high frequency generator, basically turning all phones in Gotham as microphones . Batman seems to adore his creation while Fox disapproves of it. When Fox is done bashing Batman with his lecture of the machine being immoral, Batman gave the choice to Fox to destroy it once they are done using it to stop the Joker. Batman gave Lucius that authority because he chose to trust him and he knew that he would be the right one who can step on the break after doing what was necessary. In the end, Fox destroyed the machine. You can also hear Batman saying “Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.” Fox is the rational, moral person to realize what the machine could be used for. Not only could it a threat to privacy, but it could also be a threat to our safety. Batman relied on the machine to help him locate the Joker (who at the time had multiple hostages) and, personally, I perceived him as a control freak. It is a controversial topic but I had to agree that the machine helped Batman locate the Joker and map out the environment to rescue the hostages. So, here is my question for the reader. Do you think we should have this type of technology in the hands of the government (specifically a department that specializes in surveillance) or is to dangerous as it can fall into the wrong hands?
pfcordonez is typing…
I like how you link the discussion topics back to comic books which you know well. It helps to clarify what’s at issue. I think the power is likely to be abused. So, I am skeptical of this sort of technology generally.
I think this brings up a very interesting point about how much power do we give the government when we consent to being under surveillance. We have seen many times where this does fall into the wrong hands such as credit card hackers and online hackers who steal private information. When we are aware of the amount of information that the government has access to on all of the citizens of this country, we really surrender a lot of freedoms and power to the government because it is used to control us. For example, when Facebook used peoples personal information to direct political ads toward certain people, we are under the social control of a higher power.
I agree with you, I think that this is a very controversial topic. On one side, people say they are entitled to their privacy. On the other hand, it is a useful tool to find things needed. I think I am a mix of the two, I think that having such a tool could prevent so many tragedies. However, I do believe that if you are not doing anything wrong no one should invade your privacy. Also we can see that argument in the opposite way. if a person is not doing anything wrong, why can’t their items be checked. I know growing up, I would hear stories from my friends getting their phone taken and deleting everything beforehand or changing the password. If they had nothing to hide, it would be an easy tradeoff. However, it could be seen more than that. Having privacy does not always mean you are hiding something, it could mean much more. It could mean something important to your peace. I know that having my own room private means a lot to me, I have nothing to hide, but it is somewhere that gives me peace. Having that be private means a lot. Overall, I think both sides are promising. Interesting question!
Your post kind of scared me in a way. I don’t really think about how someone could possibly hack into the microphones of our electronics and could hear everything we are talking about. I think it would take away our privacy and I think that it may be helpful in some cases like your example with Batman but I’m not sure if that is worth risking someone taking over it and possibly using it for the wrong reasons. Like say if someone thinks their friend is lying to them and they have access to their microphones and can listen in on them when they think they are in a private place, so they do and then they find out other personal information about this person that they didn’t want anyone to know. I think that that would be wrong to be able to hear what someone is talking about or doing when they are in private spaces like their home where they feel safe and feel they can do anything that they want.