I See You Nice and Clear | Teen Ink

I See You Nice and Clear

February 19, 2015
By NoNameNikanor27 BRONZE, Williamsport, Pennsylvania
NoNameNikanor27 BRONZE, Williamsport, Pennsylvania
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

I see you nice and clear
Have you ever had the feeling that someone is watching your every move, and gathering information on you, like a spy? Do you want people stealing and looking at your personal information? Well too bad. It’s not avoidable, because stores are spying on you to for the best way possible. I do not support, nor go against the thought on spying, but I am arguing against both of the extreme positions on this issue, and instead think that the right answer, has to combine the good points on both sides. I am arguing for a compromised position of allowing some surveillance and data collection, and restricting its use to protect the public.
    Stores like KMart, Walmart, Sears, and Target, have all gotten access to your personal information, and can watch us without us knowing. Some advocates argue that this is an outrage, and they should stop doing this immediately. However, there are just as many positive reasons to take your information, as there are downsides. Cited from ConsumerReports.org, and cnet.com, a good thing about using personal information and spying on you, is that when you are looking for a game, but it is too expensive, and you get a notification on your phone saying you can get the game you are looking at with a discount, it’ll be less expensive, and you could probably afford it.
    A downside to this is that perhaps, when the store takes your personal information, and looks at your recent purchases, if you are doing a Chemistry project, and are using some of the chemicals that could be used in a bomb as well, you could be falsely accused of something. Having a record because you were falsely accused of something is not good,  because it could affect your future critically, and could be a danger to your life. For example, if you have a criminal record, you are not allowed to vote. If you have your rights taken away from you, for something you didn’t do, that is bad. I know you can have a case about whether you did it or not, but sometimes, you don’t get the results you were looking for.
    Opponents to my position can say that all stores should never spy on you, or even use your personal information. Others also say, that they should have full security on everything for maximum protection. I think these people are wrong. I strongly believe that some security is needed in order to run a successful business. People will also argue that when stores have your personal information, your information can be leaked into the public, accidental or not. All I have to say is, oh well. This world has problems that we cannot solve, no matter how hard we try. If your information were to be open to the public, it wouldn’t matter. Every day in life, as long as we use the thing we call technology, your information is out there to the public. Social media, online stores, websites, games, phones, whatever exists on the internet, can be found easily as long as technology still exists.
    Now there are some bad things to getting your information out to the public, because of a store. For example, there might be other ways to get your personal information, but if stores leaked your personal info into the public, it is easier for people to find your information. But for your information, your critical information is always open to the public, no matter what you do.
When you connect to a public wi-fi or walk in a store, and your phone connects to the wi-fi automatically, the store is taking your information. (Sources from Fox4kc.com and lifehacker.com) What the store does is, when you connect to the wi-fi, it has access to most of your information your phone has saved, and can present, especially the info used and created on your phone while you are connected to the wi-fi. For example, when you go to a store and decide to download something on their wifi, just know that people are collecting your information at the same time.
When you look at a perfectly innocent mannequin to see the clothes it is representing, you don’t expect cameras to be hidden, do you? Well according to ConsumerReports.org, and lifehacker.com, high definition cameras are found in the tiny eyes of the mannequin, and are very incredible. They can tell your age, your gender, your ethnic group, etc. Some shoppers say that these cameras are great, because the cameras find things you’ll most likely need to buy. Others argue that they are bad, or insulting, because recommending items because you are in a certain ethnic group, would be considered prejudice, racist, or just simply very annoying.
When you weigh all the evidence, you conclude that erasing security one hundred percent, and using it to the maximum power, isn’t the answer. The answer is taking all the pros on each side of the argument, and putting them into one separate and new stance. So unless you want stores to not be able to provide the things you love, and like to buy, keep some security, but not to it’s maximum potential.



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