Nowadays, the use of phones and smart devices is part of our daily lives. Many claim that authorities should be able to monitor calls and messages made by citizens for security reasons. Others think that such data should remain private to each individual and must not be accessed without consent.
On the one hand, emerging technologies open the door to new forms of crime. Due to its nature, it is almost impossible to be detected by the corresponding authority. For this reason, having access to people’s cellphone records could be beneficial for the police. With this information, police could have further clues to detect crimes committed in the digital world. For example, the most common form of crime using new technologies is the scam. Currently, it is impossible to follow the criminal’s trace. However, this information could help to narrow down the circle of suspects and prevent future unlawful activities.
On the other hand, individual privacy is a human right that should not be violated by anyone, even if it is for society’s safety. Everyone should be entitled to have his or her own private life, which involves digital data like call and message records stored by smartphones. Besides, this information, in the wrong hands, could be used as a tool for social control. For instance, a group of people who do not follow the same political stream as the government could be easily identified and eradicated.
In conclusion, the dispute of authorities having access to data stored in personal cell phones is not easy to solve. Overall, individual privacy is at stake, whereas society’s safety is at the other side. However, my strong opinion is that these days people’s privacy is at high risk; thus, no more individual data should be shared, even if it is to the current authority.