Thursday, February 21, 2013

-Day 12: Location Tracking-


            On my adventure, I have come across the topic of location tracking.  Location tracking is the idea of constantly knowing where a person, animal, or object is based on a monitoring device either in or on the subject.  For decades, humans have been tracking the movements of animals in the wild through bulky collars and tags.  Advancements in implantation devices now allow for minimally invasive procedures for tracking wild and/or endangered animals. The purposes of tracking these creatures range from mapping migration patterns, gathering statistical data on population increase and decrease, and catching poachers. 
With that said, I must make a complete turn in thought and state that by no means do I believe that tracking chips should be implanted by force, legal demand, or without consent in humans.  The option of location tracking may be beneficial to the elderly, children, or the ill. Location tracking could be done through medical bracelets that would allow one to have privacy if they wished, but these may also fall off or break causing the intended use to be nullified. The major downside to location tracking is that there is a possibility of leaks or hijacking by criminal that could cause more harm than benefit.

1 comment:

  1. I agree with you that location tracking can be beneficial. I also agree with your assessment of the legal status and the risks. However, I do not concur with the bracelet idea. If a child were to be kidnapped, all the kidnapper need do is to cut the bracelet to avoid tracking. Also, one of my arguments in favor of the "LoJacking" was tracking mischievous pre-teens who could potentially get themselves in dangerous situations. If they clipped their bracelet off, then help may never be able to find them.

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