The other day I wanted to see how long it would take me to get from my house to a store across town, so I logged into the family computer and pulled up Google Maps. I typed in the address of my desired location and found that it would take 22 minutes. That’s odd, I thought. It’s only a few miles away. I looked more closely at the map and found that my “starting” location actually wasn’t my house, but my husband’s workplace. A little blue dot pulsed up and down on the screen and I realized that blue dot was my husband’s location, or more accurately, my husband’s phone’s location.
Truth be told, I was a little unsettled. For the first time in a while I was reminded that technology, in all its greatness, simplicity and convenience, can be a little weird. Over the last several years I’ve been more aware of the ways in which I have voluntarily given away my privacy via technology, including posting my location on Facebook, participating in one of those trendy DNA kit services, using a GPS-based fitness app that shows the beginning and end location of my workouts and more recently using my face and thumb to unlock my phone. Every so often I forget about these things and go about my day, using the technology as I have grown accustomed. But then there are these moments that make me stop and think—why am I choosing to give up so much of my privacy?
The thing is, I do understand that having all of this technology is just plain convenient. From a civilian standpoint, I can see how new technologies are changing even the most simple tasks in our lives. The popular Amazon Alexa “virtual assistant” can already unlock a smart lock—no more getting up off the couch to unlock your door! Meanwhile, the Nest camera has a Talk and Listen feature that lets you communicate with people even when you’re away from your house—you can scare off a potential burglar or check up on your kids. Plus, many of us unlock our phones with our faces now, so when will it be “normal” for us to use facial recognition to unlock our homes or start our vehicles? Don’t be surprised to learn this technology is already in the works.
With this in mind, I wonder how law enforcement will be affected in the future? Civilians are now freely giving their information to giant tech companies. How does law enforcement fit in? On page 20 you’ll find an article about license plate readers, a technology that has been controversial in our industry. When the technology first came out, many people were (and some still are) concerned about law enforcement agencies “tracking” civilians’ whereabouts. This has stopped some agencies from adopting the technology in the past. As civilians become more accepting of having their information public, however, I wonder if this will this change how they view technology used by law enforcement, including LPRs, UAVs and facial recognition. What do you think? Let me know your thoughts. Send me an email at [email protected].
Stay safe, readers.
Adrienne
