In the last 15 years the advancement in technology has made storing and sharing information so easy that a toddler could figure it out, with just a few taps of a screen you can send crucial documents to a device anywhere in the world. According to a study conducted in November of 2016, 77% of Americans above the age of 18 own some sort of smart device and 92% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 (PEW Research Center). With millennials becoming so reliant on this technology with all of their information and communications, it is crucial that the laws are in place to protect the information that is stored on these devices and in the cloud. In recent years there has people have started to become aware to the fact that the laws that are currently in place have not adapted to the way technology has progressed, this has resulted in a number of grey areas when it comes to the enforcement of some of these laws. In the area of this country that is known as Silicon Valley the creation of new technologies is quite fluid, with each day comes a better faster and cheaper way to access data share information and more importantly new ways to protect that information, because this industry is so fluid the ability to predict what technology will be like in five to ten years down the road is a very difficult thing to do. Due to the fact that we don’t know what the technology will be like, making laws to go hand in hand with future technology is even more difficult than what it appears to be. In addition to technology making it difficult for law makers technology can also help law makers prepare for what might be the next wave of technological advancements by working with key players in Silicon Valley they can gain a better understanding of where technology is heading. In recent years the government has come under fire for trying to force companies like apple to open devices while knowingly compromising the information of all of their customers at risk. American citizens have the civil right to privacy and deserve assurance from the government that there are things that they do not and should not have access to. As American citizens we have the right to privacy but to what extent does the government have the right to gain access to our devices and personal information? 

As technology progresses the country needs to progress with it and not just as a culture but how technology is enforced and looked at in the eyes of the law. The concessions’ with in the government and all around the country is that the laws need to modernized because of technological advancements, but how they are to be modernized is the biggest issue. Obviously the government wants the new laws to favor them making it easier to access devices if need be. In a statement by FBI director James Comey, Comey said that he doesn’t want a “back door” into software and devices instead he wants a transparent “front door” that will operate with transparency, however a transparent front door can prove to be detrimental to our national security if accessed by the wrong people(Kerry). In April of 2016 a bill was proposed that would allow judges to force tech companies to give law enforcement access to encrypted devices, this bill was a result of the legal battle between the FBI and Apple over an iPhone connected to the San Bernardino terror attack(Brown).  The current situation between the government and tech companies is one that is quite complicated, on one side is the government who is “trying” to protect the country from future terror attacks and on the other side is the tech companies who are looking out for the safety and security of their customers. The current laws in place do not address such an issue which is why the need to be updated, the biggest issue in the San Bernardino case was the grey area of whether or not the government has the authority to force a company like apple to open an encrypted device. With new technology being developed every signal day the pressure is on law makers to come up with a solution that will protect the citizens of the United state as well as their personal information. 

The phrase “over the line” is one that has recently been associated with what the FBI is doing regarding access to encrypted data and the ability to have access to the data of millions of Americans. In 2014 a Virginia judge ruled that law enforcement can force an individual with a fingerprint sensor on their smart device to open the individuals’ device. This is allowed by the us government because they do not look at a fingerprint as incriminating evidence unlike giving someone a passcode(Waddell). The way the current US law is written local courts are allowed to authorize law enforcement to use brute force to access a device, but with apples new software after a number of incorrect attempts all of the information on the device will be erased therefore removing the ability to use brute force on a number of apple devices, Samsung and the majority of smartphone companies have followed suit, putting law enforcement and the government in a very challenging situation. 

In terms of companies going over the line in certain situations there has been a lot of recent developments that show how a lot of phone apps have been collecting data and selling it to other companies that in turn market certain products. This is all going on behind our backs and without our knowledge or approval. One app that is guilty of this is angry birds the popular game, they went and collected data from devices that the game was downloaded onto without the knowledge of the user its self (Hettrich). This raised a lot of read flags for a lot of people but did it do enough? I do not think so and neither does a lot of the people concerned with this issue. What needs to happen is stricter regulations on what can and cannot be taken and what information is being used needs to be under the concert of the user of the device. Our personal information is just that personal I do not want to see ads relating to something I just bought in the store on my twitter time line. In an article written by business insider a man discovered that his teen daughter was pregnant after receiving coupons in the mail for baby clothes and cribs, this was a result of tracking purchases the daughter has made and sending her coupons that went along with the items she has bought (Lubin). This is not right once you start getting into people personal lives based on purchases instead of target markets than something needs to change and I do believe that their should be even more restrictions on what companies can track and what they cannot. 

The world we live in today is one where we are paranoid about every little thing and it is for a good reason. Based on the examples listed above I do belie that their needs to be stricter regulations on everything from government access to add tracking we rely on our smart devices too much to just have anyone be able to have access to our data, search history and purchases especially those made in store. I understand that the government is trying to protect us but they are loosing our support by always wanting a way to see what we’re doing at all times, we are a free country and the right to privacy is in fact a basic human right so why aren’t we guaranteed that right why do we always have to be worried about who has access to our personal information. Its no way to live especially in the United States of America.


