Everyone wants a bit of privacy. Some people might act like they don’t need any privacy, however there is probably no one who wants all their information on the internet. The truth is, this is actually happening. The programmers of messaging applications for instance can read along with every message you send. They might say that the messages are very well-protected, yet the programmers will be able to search for certain words. For instance, if the government suspects someone of terrorism they can trace their phone number and see what they have sent to others. They can trace your calls and they can record your calls. They can also see every message you send and receive. Sometimes this can be very useful. You can trace people who want to do harm to others, but let’s be honest, what terrorist is going to send his plans to his friends via text messages.
The danger with this concept is that the government and the companies can get to know everything about you. In California, America they have an even more extreme thing. There is a kill switch to every mobile device. The government of California can actually decide to turn off all mobile devices in the entire state. Now I’m wondering, in what kind of situation would they use this? In case the Apocalypse emerges? What use would turning off all mobile devices have? Or do they want to kill all mobile traffic when there is a terrorist attack? I can’t think of a situation in which you want to kill all mobile devices. I think that this is a very bad situation and I would not like to live with the feeling that at any moment, the government could read along with my text messages and just turn off my device whenever they want to.
I don’t think that the government should be allowed to turn off phones remotely. I think that they should have the power to tap your phone calls, and read your text messages, but only if they have a valid reason to do so. If you are suspected of terrorism or murder, I think the government should be allowed to check your phone. They can’t just randomly scan all phones on the word murder, or bomb. Imagine a friend of yours being really angry and saying, I could have killed him for that. Let’s say the government sees this as a threat and starts an investigation on your friend. Obviously you will have to see the police and tell the police what had happened. Your friend probably wasn’t serious, but just very angry at that moment. Unless they think that you are a serious threat, I think that they shouldn’t be allowed to just read through all your messages.
And think about the costs. This kill-switch system probably wasn’t cheap. The government pays for this system from the money they collect from taxes. So in a way you are funding a kill switch for your phone, used by the government. Now I am not saying that we should stop paying taxes, because we can’t do without them. What I am saying is, think about what you send to your friends, and be careful with what you publicize on the internet.
Kill switch for
mobile devices