The Industrial Revolution spurred a complete change in the production of material goods and who has access to these goods. Many new technologies are oftentimes unavailable and expensive. GPS technology was at one point a rarity and was only obtainable by wealthy people and industries. Similar to what happened to a number of material goods in the Industrial Revolution, GPS has become affordable and available to the general public. It has even become included in many electronics that one would purchase without thinking of whether or not a GPS was included like cellular phones. Often times, upgraded and modern goods like motor vehicles are including GPS as a basic feature. With the lowered prices and increased availability, the federal government and military have become one of the largest consumers of global positioning systems. With the use of GPS, they are able to map the globe with geological surveys and also apply the knowledge gained from GPS to military reconnaissance. With the widespread accessibility to global positioning systems, law enforcement has been able to increase their efficiency and ability to track criminals and suspects, which I discussed in my previous post. Now that so many Americans have their own personal GPS and law enforcement has the ability to track people through this, personal privacy has once more been called into question. Where does the line get drawn on who it is legal to track and how can Americans and law enforcement come to a rational conclusion that can both keep society safe and maintain our right to privacy?
I really enjoyed your post on GPS technology. It was short and straight to the point. It is crazy how this was once a tool for the upper class people of our society, but with creative minds at work, almost everyone has access to this useful tool. You bring up a good point about protection and privacy. It is definitely a great tool for the Government to have to track down criminals, but in a sense, our privacy is definitely being invaded. For example, my boyfriend was telling me that he and are are able to sync up our phones and see where each other are throughout the day through GPS. Although this isn't a problem for myself, i can see this as becoming an issue for many people in the future (just thought i would share). :)
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