• Question: GPS is a great way to navigate, find stolen items and monitor military missiles, but it can also be used to track things, in some cases people. What I want to know is what are other peoples opinions on this? For example, its hard to imagine a world without GPS seeing as we rely on it so much, but its not all good. If a person or their belonging are fitted with a receiver, then it is possible to know their location at all times. But who can access this information? Companies? The police? Criminals? yes there are benefits but there are also issues with it too, I mean, would you feel comfortable knowing that someone could be tracking you? its as bad as giving away your bank details to a stranger! What do you think might happen in the future, will it get to the point when everyone is being tracked? And not to mention the commotion it would cause if it stopped working or if it was hacked...

    Asked by 07stoombs to Alexander, Josh, Serena, Simone, Stuart on 20 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Josh Makepeace

      Josh Makepeace answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      That’s a well thought-through question, 07stoombs. It’s a great example of a situation where we have to balance the benefits of a technology with the potential for it to be misused. Have you been reading about the US government tracking people’s emails and internet use? I’d be interested to hear what you think about that.

      I think privacy generally is going to be a huge issue in our lifetimes. Lots of things we really enjoy having (the internet is the big one) compromise our privacy while they’re doing the things we love them for! So you might love the convenience of getting a map on your smartphone, but then you leave yourself open to being tracked by GPS. It’s a tough issue – we see lots of cases where people have personal information stolen over the internet.

      I don’t like the idea of being tracked, but then I’m also not about to stop using my phone or the internet. I’m not sure I’ve given you any answers, I just keep thinking of more questions!!

Comments

  • Photo: 07stoombs

    07stoombs commented on :

    Well at the moment I don’t exactly use any websites that would bother me if the government could see, most of them are probably science related! But I can see how it could make people worry when buying things online. I guess its a tricky subject which doesn’t really have an answer. thanks anyway 🙂