Should Canadians Use Surveillance software to protect themselves?


Surveillance technologies are becoming increasingly popular. There has been a lot of talk recently about privacy issues that can rise from the use of technology. Notably, with Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony in Congress, many have come to question issues Facebook’s privacy security.

This brings up a conversation based on the topic ethics and privacy, it seems appropriate to present a question: when is it ever ethical to use surveillance applications? Is there ever a time, when it is granted?

Arguably, if the person is acting in good faith and using surveillance technology to protect themselves against. For example, one could use a software like Blue-Serieswhich enables you to spy your own computer to see if anyone is using while your away.

However, many will criticize the technology for allowing some the tool to spy on others. But I will argue that the blame should not be put on the technology, but on the people who use it in bad faith.

So it’s hard to put blame on the technology or the makers of such technology, since it could be used legitimately: to protect your child, or to keep track of your own phone. In reality, one could think of many ways in which the technology can be used legitimately: to protect your child, or to keep track of your own phone are just some of the examples.

However, one could argue that some users of the technology aren’t using the application in good faith and are in fact using the application to invade someone else’s privacy. 

Humans in nature are curious beings. I personally and very honestly, find the idea of being able to spy someone’s call and texts very appealing. Say I had doubts that I was being cheated on, I would like to have proof.

But that is the problem. People should be given the ability to keep their private matters, private. I believe that technologies made to surveil, are to put it simply, not playing fair game. People should be able to use technology freely rather being scared of being spied upon. A person should be able to decide which parts of their personal life they want to make public.

So fellow Canadians, join in the comment box below and let me know what you think about this topic. If you have any comments or questions, don’t hesitate to ask in the comment section. You can always opt to send me an email here.