The issue of security and privacy is a really sticky one that I believe has no clear answers. With the Patriot Act and the new age of global terrorism, it becomes harder and harder to decide what is okay in losing privacy and what is too much. I lean towards the security side even though it leads to me losing some privacy. My stance stems from the feeling that I don’t have anything to hide and I am okay with losing some privacy in order to increase safety for myself and others.
In the San Bernardino case, 14 people were killed and authorities search for reasons on how and why the killers did what they did. Apple refuses to unlock the phone mostly because they are worried about the precedent that it will set. They are also worried about the security risks that can come from creating a backdoor into the iPhones and other Apple devices. I feel that a possible security risk is better to have than a known security risk that happened.
One of the reasons that I am okay with some lack of privacy is that I am not doing anything wrong. As long as the information that is monitored never is released to the public, I am not as worried about the government searching through information in order to try and protect me and the country in general.
Big Brother is a valid concern and I can see how it is a little scary to give even more information to the government. However, if the information is used in a responsible manner, I think that the Big Brother concerns can be assuaged. I believe in order to make sure the information is being used in a proper manner we should create a task force that monitors how the information is being used and if it is not being abused.
I think in a lot of cases security trumps privacy. We are living in such a virtualized world and lots of information is already shared or public knowledge. I am okay with my information being looked through by the government as long as they treat it with respect and don’t release it to the public.
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