A portion of the population prefers to allow the government to have access to all mobile phone call ecords and messages for the enhancement of the citizens’ safety, while others consider this as a direct violation of privacy that should not be accessible without consent. This essay aims to present both perspectives regarding the issue as well as presenting a valid take.
Considering that globalization becomes increasingly prominent, it is highly probable that illegal activities and terrorist attacks are previously meditated by people from all over the globe through information exchange via electronic mediums as it is nearly impossible to utilize convential means of communication in a completely modernized world. For example, the evidence leading to the conviction of the orchestrators of the attack on the twin tower includes electronic messages discussing such plans. If the government were to be given complete access to all devices, innocent lives could have been saved!
On the other hand, several people are concered with the violation of privacy that such governemntal rights poses. Access to personal, yet mostly unnecessary informations could be obtained without consent, which opens up the possibility of misdemeanours in using the data, namely the illegal trade of personal data. The current state of the world highly values personal information as through such knowledge, customizable products could be served to potential customers, catering to their personal likings making such transactions all the more likely.
As in all things, all actions will have its pros and cons. Although privacy concerns will rise if the governments were given full access, when considering the dangers involve human lives, should not humanity be the primary concern instead of personal will?