Cell phone monitoring has created a lot of hullaballoo over the recent past, especially since it has been revealed by many U.S. authorities that some phones are being tracked without warrants. Some people agree with the law-enforcing authorities’ “for the greater good” stance, while a major chunk is clamoring for an end to this blatant breach of privacy. The California Bill might eventually turn the tide in favor of the latter, but there are incidents which highlight the importance of technology, and its possible use in eradicating crime from our society.
Robbery case in Ottawa County
Cases such as the one in Ottawa County emphasize the immense utility that technology can have for police. In Georgetown Township, the police hunted down two teenagers – both 16 – suspected of robbery, simply by tracking the cell phone that they had allegedly stolen. Both suspects are now being held in the Ottawa County Youth Home.
According to police reports, a 49-year-old woman was the victim of the suspects’ robbery attempt, which they conjured up by a typical thug move. On Saturday, 14th of April, one of the two teenagers went up to the lady and asked her for a cigarette near 12th Avenue and Taylor Street. When she replied that she didn’t smoke, the other teen struck her with something sharp and heavy on the head. As a result she fell to the ground, suffered wounds and cuts, and was unconscious for a while. The robbers then took the lady’s phone and fled
After being informed, the police managed to track the cell phone on the very same day thanks to its GPS (Global Positioning System). The GPS pointed towards a house on Delaware Street SE in Grand Rapids and the sheriff’s deputies and Grand Rapids police duly went there and arrested the culprits and took them to the Ottawa County Youth Home afterwards.
Polarized opinions
While there wouldn’t be a single entity who’d question the usage of technology in this particular case, the unchecked use of tracking devices continues to divide opinions like a knife through butter. In this case it might have worked wonders, but if the police have the resources to track every single phone in the country and don’t even need a warrant to spy on their movements, then let us bid adieu to privacy. There doesn’t seem to be any ‘check and balance’ – something that the U.S. constitution takes pride in – on cell phone tracking on the part of the lawmaking authorities. And worse, there isn’t any judicial check on this cell phone monitoring either.
The solution
The use of technology to counter crime is both important and necessary. However, there is a fine line between ensuring safety and breaching privacy and the debate can be shelved forever if that line can be traced and highlighted. That can be done by creating a system whereby the police needs warrants and probable causes before they can access personal information of a particular person. The logical way of doing this would be ensuring that there is a judicial check to decide whether or not a matter deserves a tracking warrant or not. This way we’d all feel secure, and at the same time rest assured of our privacy – which at the end of the day is what our constitution and the lawmaking authorities promise us.
Author bio:
Natalia David, a blogger by profession an author significantly contributes towards PC and cell phone security, iPhone tracker and parental control software. If you want to know more about Natalia you can follow her on twitter @NataliaDavid4