It's Better to Remain Anonymous

The issue of anonymity has not yet ended, especially for people who are placed under surveillance. It is possible that the scope will expand and include the anonymity of people in public places. The legality of using GPS devices in surveillance has triggered a controversy. This prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments and look into the possibility of expanding the range of privacy.

One of the cases that used a GPS device without warrant was that of a suspected drug dealer. The police placed the device in his car and tracked his movements for a month. Collected data was used to convict him of conspiring to sell cocaine. Because there was no valid warrant, it is possible that it was a case of unreasonable search. There is the issue of whether the police action constituted a breach of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.

Americans might be expecting an end to their anonymity if the Court upholds the decision that such kinds of searches are legal. There is no need to say that people have enjoyed the privilege of, or rather the right to, privacy. Regardless of location, people can now be placed under surveillance as others would see fit, at any time. This is based on the premise that the fact that a person is in a public place, he is no longer “private”. Also, the use of existing tracking technology is not being done to curtail privacy, but to make surveillance more effective.

In August 2010, a U.S. Court of Appeals Judge issued a contradictory opinion. According to him, a reasonable person would not want all his public movements being watched all the time. He further said that surveillance technology has improved considerably, especially with the present GPS capability. Americans are expecting that the Court would accept the Judge’s logic so that they can still enjoy the same degree of anonymity.

For example, in the past, the police used beepers to follow a car. With GPS technology, it is much easier and convenient to track a person. Today, anyone can be placed under surveillance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without the need to physically follow his or her movements. It can be expected that one day, a person’s privacy will most likely be measured in terms new surveillance limits.

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