Phone tapping or phone hacking as it is more commonly referred to, is more prevalent than ever in the United Kingdom at present, with stories all over the newspapers of MP’s phone services being tapped, and in turn the latest public scandals, being exposed. With identify theft running at an all time high, being secure in every sphere of communication is at the top of many people’s priorities.
In recent news, two British Tabloid journalists who worked for ‘The News of The World’ were arrested for phone-hacking of the highest count. The two men, who have not been named yet, went as far as phone-hacking the actual government and Royal family! Although many of their usually victims were movie-stars, pop-stars, professional athletes, and minor celebrities, tapping the government and royal family was a step too far. One of the men has already spent time in Jail for illegally gaining access to Prince Williams email a few years ago, which brings into question why he would even think of doing it again. Which relates to the case of Andy Coulson, Cameron’s Chief Spin Doctor, who ended up having to resign over being the Editor of the News of the World during 2007, when this breach in royal privacy came to light.
Where is the line drawn on people’s privacy and knowing important information? How much should the public know about celebrities personal lives? And should we really be endorsing such a culture that violates people’s private lives and personal information in such a way? Again this concern is highlighted, but now a lot closer to home for most people. With the introduction of GPS and navigation systems on a lot of peoples phones, scary stories of boyfriends tracking their girlfriends whereabouts (and vice-a-versa) have become commonplace. Even when your phones turned off, most popular models submit a tracking signal and therefore act like a bugging device, which all in all isn’t that romantic! So, when you adoring over half says he or she is just going down the shops for a pint of milk, you’ll be able to ensure there doing exactly that!
Is this really what we want? For us all to be just a bunch of paranoid, quivering, twitching, nervous, on edge freaks…bugging and tracking are own partners to make sure there going where they say there going! Is this just another example of us abusing technology and going too far?
Again it is really how you use such new technologies, as it’s not all bad. Things such as VOIP phone plans (Voice Over Internet Services) are again gaining a lot more popularity with more and more people having family overseas. They enable the person to see the other person they’re talking to, and really recreate the sense that you’re actually in the same room. This is great for people travelling around from place to place that don’t always get to go home very often, especially those people with families. Not that it really accounts for missing some of those ‘special moments’ but it can help suffice that ‘working away’ parent.
Of course be vigilant when using all these new technologies and advances on your new phone, but at the same time don’t let them over run you with paranoia and mistrust in your families or partners!
