Privacy, Technology, and the Us Constitution

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Issue Brief Assignment

Privacy, Technology, and the US Constitution

        This summer, millions of cell phone users downloaded a popular app and spent hours searching for imaginary characters.  This game, called Pokémon Go, was popular with adults, but especially teenagers and kids, many under age.  When the app downloaded, most parents did not know that the company, Niantic, created the program to access personal information off of the phone.  The user, unknowing that the company was receiving all this information, continued to play a game that compromised their privacy.  In the Constitution, the fourth amendment gives the American public the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.  How then, will the US Government continue to protect our privacy as Americans with the ever encroaching and seemingly harmless technology that, behind the scenes, is accessing our private personal information

        The founders of the US Constitution, although unaware of what life would be like in 2016, were very concerned about the issue of privacy and personal property.  According to the Tenth Amendment Center, “Prior to the Revolution, the British claimed the authority to issue Writs of Assistance allowing officials to enter private homes and businesses to search for evidence of smuggling. These general warrants authorized the holder to search anyplace for smuggled good and did not require any specification as to the place or the suspected goods. Writs of assistance never expired and were considered a valid substitute for specific search warrants. They were also transferable.”1 Fast forward to Lafayette Jefferson High School in 2016.  All students were issued a Microsoft Surface and teachers have been mandated to use the device for student classwork and homework.  As I type this paper, the camera is focused on me and in my house.  How am I assured this camera will not be taken over by technology and used to invade my privacy?  In case you think I am paranoid, there was a lawsuit by a student at Harrison High School in Philadelphia, PA, that stated that school administrators used the cameras on the student’s 1:1 device to spy on students.  Findings from the lawsuit indicated the school district had snapped images of students in their home and read their email, even contacting their parents about contents of emails.  Could my surface camera be taking my picture or spying into my home?  There is no question that the rapid pace of the evolution of technology presents with privacy issues that are directly related to the fourth amendment of the Constitution.

     In the first op-ed article from the New York times, the court case of United States vs. Jones upheld the fourth amendment and right to privacy against unlawful GPS tracking without a search warrant.  The justices debated whether technology developed in the 21st century is governed by the US Constitution that was written in 1787.  Justices agreed that although technology is ever changing, the Constitution was developed to protect the American people from their own passions and their willingness to allow rights to be taken from them in exchange for convenience.  Justice Sotomayor issued a statement disagreeing with this because she believed the Constitution was not written for today’s technological age.  The majority opinion was that the Constitution needed to govern our right to privacy, no matter the ever evolving and advancing technology.

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