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Privacy vs. Safety

9/8/2014

14 Comments

 
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Given the recent unveiling of our government’s surveillance of citizens through Wiki-leaks, do you feel that your safety is worth the cost of your privacy? Or, would you rather maintain your privacy and protect yourself as you see fit?


14 Comments
Kevin Bachman
9/8/2014 10:32:46 am

I feel that my privacy is important but, I think that safety is more important. What good is privacy, well to put it bluntly when your dead. Safety protects your privacy, If someone breaks in your house you privacy is being invaded. You cannot have privacy without safety, so safety overcomes privacy. For your own good (sound like a propaganda quote) you must see that safety can not be make sure you are secure from threats. Especially in this unforgiving world, ISIS just one of the radical groups spreading terror are in essence everywhere. But they are stronger in the middle east, and for now we are not there main target. There have been reports of recruiter for this group around the globe. and its just a matter of time tell there endless killing rises out of our own streets.

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Marc casalini
9/9/2014 11:01:55 am

I agree with Kevin here. I like my privacy as much as the next guy but being safe and also kept safe is more important. If are government cared more about are privacy then us being safe then we can say bye bye to the world. I like going to bed at night and knowing I'm safe. Especially now with all the things happening in the world. Like school shootings for example, the reason why there are cops and security guards at schools now a days is to make sure that the adult's and children in the building are safe and it keeps their parents from worrying. However I wish the schools didn't have the right to go through your phone if they need to. Its a invasion of my privacy that's when I start to get made about it. If anything we should try to have a balance between safety and privacy. Like in school when a theacher needs to go through your phone they shouldnt be allowed that's yours and you dont want people invading your privacy. I understand it could be for a safety reasson but atleast ask us first.

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Christopher Keithline
9/9/2014 03:21:17 pm

Safety is not worth the cost of your privacy. Privacy is a state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by others. I would rather maintain my privacy to secure my safety because if I am not disturbed or seen upon by others, then I find myself in a state of being secured and safe and that is what makes humanity feel secure. If everyone minds their own privacy then everyone is meant to feel safer rather than having your privacy thrown into an oblivion and therefore your safety is over with. If people mind their own business and not the business of others, everyone is going to make it out. No one will be disturbed or observed upon by anyone by any means. Many want to keep their privacy to themselves to keep safe and to also stay fit as who they are. If your safety is thrown out there, then you run the risk of abolishing your privacy. Therefore, maintaining your privacy protects you as a whole. Safety is the number one key in life to maintain yourself.

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Kaley Kempf
9/10/2014 06:16:16 pm

In my opinion, safety outweighs privacy. Though, the most important concept is to be sure the loss of privacy doesn't put your personal safety in jeopardy. For example, having information such as your address and phone number listed online opens doors for crimes to be targeted towards you. With specific information online, it's scary to think anyone could access it and just show up at your door any day. On the other hand, with the government being able to access this information with the click of a button, help will be provided right away, if safety ever becomes an issue. With a less serious example involving phones and computers, the same rules apply. If anything suspicious is going on involving you, your privacy is what's taken away to ensure other's safety. Either way the statement is viewed, one of the two needs to be risked in order to keep the other.

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Mikayla Pudelka
9/11/2014 04:02:24 am

I feel that safety is more important than privacy. There is over six hundred kids in a school; it’s hard to keep track of all the entrances and exits. Schools install cameras to help keep track of who enters and exits the buildings. Some might say that having cameras located everywhere is an invasion of privacy but really it’s to help protect the staff and children from any intruders. Theses cameras help protect the children but also take away some privacy. Another great example would be the airport security. Everyone says that the airport security is an invasions of privacy when they have to check your bags or scan you more than once, but in reality they are just protecting the hundreds of people that enter the plane. Todays 9/11 and we have to take a silence to remember the ones we lost because of a terrible terrorists attack. The airport is so strict with security to make sure that the same tragedy in 9/11 won’t happen again. Overall, having our privacy invaded sucks but it’s worth it for our safety.

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Rachel G
9/11/2014 07:56:10 am

I belive that privacy is a very important quality that everyone deserves, but I feel that saftey is more important. If you were to put saftey and privacy on a scale, saftey would definitely be the higher concerning factor. Even though people feel that their privacy is being invaded when the make phone calls, because the government can listen. Then you shouldn't be saying anything that is illegal enough to get you caught or if you were to danger someone else. Wouldn't you want to know if someone was out there trying to harm you or your love ones?I know I would, and that safety is very important. If you were to die because of a suspicious phone call and it could have been prevented if the government was listening, you would want to be protected rather then keeping your privacy. You don't have a lot of privacy anyways now that everybody is hooked on social media and tweeting where and what they are doing every second of the day. So why would it make a difference if people are trying to protect you.

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Lauren Silversey
9/11/2014 08:06:30 am

To me, privacy is very important, but comparing privacy to safety, being safe is even more important. If giving a little bit of my privacy up to be safe is the case, I find that understandable. The government has to do whatever they can to keep all the citizens safe from enemies. Most of the people who complain about having no privacy are all over social media posting about their lives anyways. Privacy, although, isn't something that should be taken advantage of. The government should only use our privacy for serious reasons to keep us safe. If they start to use our lives for less important things, then what's the point of having anything private at all? Privacy is extremely important to me, but if sacrificing it is dependent on my life, then I'm going to take that risks. There are some chances people have to be willing to take for their own safety and privacy is definitely one of them.

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Mrs. Elbakry
9/11/2014 12:36:45 pm

Well said, Lauren.

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Nick O.
9/11/2014 10:30:50 am

safety vs privacy is a very large and highly debated topic. my view on it is very stern, stubborn, and frank. i think that privacy is more important than the "protection" that the government is saying they will give. with the increase of spying going on in our own country there has not been any increase of of threat prevention. this can be shown in the recent shooting with the police officer that shot a 6 year old child nine times because he thought that he had a gun when he indeed only was holding a wii controller. among other things our spying should be focused on over seas matters instead of spying on the innocent citizens of america. i believe in the words of Benjamin Franklin that "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." I believe that taking away the privacy is taking away our liberty.

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Tim Seibert
9/11/2014 12:06:59 pm

I believe in the values of both safety and privacy. The individual should have the power to choose between safety and privacy, instead of the government or other controlling body. If the individual wants to give up their privacy in exchange for their safety, that is their choice. However, if the individual wants to keep their privacy, they should be allowed to, instead of having a government agency keep tabs on all the people all the time. Personally, I value privacy. This is why gun rights exist. So the people can defend themselves. If I am incapable of defending myself, then there is little hope that someone else can do something. I will waive my right to privacy in a few situations, though, like airport security. I understand that they actually can do something to help protect me, and will temporarily sacrifice my privacy.

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Alex Galla
9/11/2014 12:41:35 pm

I guess in my opinion safety does need to come before privacy. Its difficult to come to a conclusion about this topic because, like Chris said, it's our privacy what makes us feel secure. However what is security if it's only an illusion? I would much rather BE safe than only feel safe. If a full body scan when I'm at the airport maybe once or twice a year is what it takes to make sure that I am on an airplane that isn't going to explode, then I am willing to go through a full body scan. I want to have control over my safety, and if willingly giving up a piece of my privacy every now and then will keep me safe, then I'm going to do it. I understand that obviously I wont always be giving up my privacy willingly, but some things are just more important. Me and my family should always come first.

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Catherine
9/11/2014 01:01:16 pm

I believe that while its a luxury to have privacy its just that. A luxury. However its not the government's place to completely rid us of all privacy. And how "safe" are we if we dont have privacy. Because there are a lot of things that people say online or to each other that aren't really harmful but if someone without any other knowledge gets their hands on say a journal or blog post they may overanalyze our misinterpret the whole thing entirely and then we would no longer be safe.
So I guess the two kinds of go hand in hand and you can't have one without the other. But too much "safety" its also a bad thing because it leads to rebellions

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Father John
9/11/2014 04:03:17 pm

In this world privacy is a mere illusion. With everyone attached to their electronic devices that can reach people all around the world how could there? In today's society the? "geniuses" of tomorrow willingly post pictures of them committing illegal activities or GPSing their location through tagged pics in locations were they are clearly trespassing. I swear kids today need to be hit more or they need Jesus. I guess what i am attempting to get at is "if you have nothing to hide there's nothing to worry about." My research history doesn't read: 1984 spark notes, Metric conversions, used cars, and how to make bombs.

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Dana
9/15/2014 03:50:14 am

Safety is worth the cost of privacy, but only to a certain extent. innocent people who have never been a threat should not have their emails or texts read. The whole system of reviewing texts that contain "red flag" words such as bomb and terrorist is called for. They could contain information that will help government officials find these criminals or even stop an attack from happening in the first place.

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    English 12

    Respond to the question and/or comment on another classmate's response in at least 10 sentences. You can certainly disagree, but BE RESPECTFUL of the opinions/feelings of your classmates.

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