Security or Privacy

@sk66rc (4250)
United States
October 24, 2008 6:25pm CST
While I was responding to another discussion about a cell phone, a question just popped in my head. Which would you prefer more, security or privacy? Reason why I ask is because I know that the government has a word recognition programs in place out there that while listening to millions & millions of conversation at once, they can recognize certain words by risk factor & can be copied & sent to homeland security to be analized for the possible threat. Just like any computer softwares, even though highly unlikely & improbable, there's always a risk with someone hacking into a system & tune into a ceratin phone number & invade someone's privacy. For example, few years back, Paris Hilton's cell phone was hacked into & some phone numbers of the celebrities were made to be known in public. http://news.cnet.com/Paris-Hiltons-cell-phone-hacked/2100-7349_3-5584691.html Who's to say this can't happen to someone who's in charge of Home Land security? If some terrorist can get a hold of a cell phone number of some important people here in U.S., or any other country, who happened to be in charge of country's security, then from there, gets into his/hers personal home address, get information of other important people's information through the content of that person's cell phone , etc, etc, you get the idea. So, are you willing give up part or most of your privacy to insure security of your home, neighborhood, city, state & ultimately, your country? Or is your privacy more important? I know there "should" be some steps out there that we can insure both but that argument aside, which is more important?
2 responses
@rowantree (1186)
• United States
25 Oct 08
Security is the most important to me. While I don't want just anyone listening in to my phone conversations, if it's the government doing so, then I don't mind a bit. I trust that they won't tell my MIL what I say about her cooking and won't think badly of me when I confess that I wasn't really sick when I didn't show up to the neighbor's jewelry party.
@jhl930 (3601)
• United States
24 Oct 08
i would rather have privacy i mean i don't understand why they want to listen to our conversations and i understand they think they will help but seriously if you are going to be a terrorist, you aren't going to get on a cell phone and tell people that you are a terrorist and what you are going to do and when you are going to do it, you would do that in person right? i just don't understand it honestly!