The Tracking of Humans

             Now more than ever humans are under a constant eye of surveillance. While it may not seem like it, the harsh reality is that your local police and even the federal government have a considerable amount of data on what you have been up to. This was made possible through the use of two new technologies. First, we have license plate trackers. These can be found on cop cars, on telephone poles, and just about anywhere else. These cameras spot, photograph, and log every time they see your car. This means that basically everywhere you drive, the police can pinpoint your location. Furthermore, police can also use cellphone towers to find you as well. By cross-referencing how far away you are from each cell phone tower your phone is near, they are able to track your location.

         While this may not seem like a big deal, it really is. The important thing to understand is that the police are not deleting this information. As storing data has become cheaper police are no longer forced to delete non-relevant data. So, they are not just keeping data about criminals and their activity, they are keeping data about everyone “just in case”.

             The scary thing is, you have no idea what information they have about you, or how an officer of the law may use it. For example, let us say you are a recovered alcoholic with no history of crimes. As a result of this, you attend AA meetings weekly just to keep up with your sobriety. In this hypothetical scenario, the local cops have taken notice of this and are keeping an extra eye on you. When you drive at night, you frequently get pulled over because cops are in suspicion of you drinking and driving. It could even be worse. Let us say you are a Muslim in a predominantly Christian town. All it takes is one racist cop to notice you attend a mosque every week and you could be getting harrassed every time you leave your house. This is the problem with government agencies owning data like this. While the information may not be incriminating, who knows what the people in control will use it for.