Have advances in modern technology expanded or contracted citizens’ conceptions of what privacy they actually enjoy? Is it still reasonable to assume that conversations on cell phones remain private? What about e-mail messages and texts? Is anything that you do or write on a social networking site such as Facebook actually private?

It is true that over the past few decades, technology has taken on a quick route toward rapid developments. Numerous innovations on a daily basis are aiding in the advancement of older models of technology. Every year, something new is spontaneously replacing an older version and this is quite evident by a mere look around ourselves in our environment. One of the major interest gathering inventions has been the internet. Ever since it was made public, it has grown a large amount of sensation among the masses. People can easily connect with their loved ones or people around the globe and work for companies abroad while taking on courses right through a virtual educational system. As such, there have always been negative and positive elements associated with the use of the internet. Being a tool to provide communication, it is a common assumption that everything said and done over the internet or through voice calls is secure and private. However, this is not the case since everything that is said over the voice calls is constantly being monitored, continuously evaluated, and checked for possible elements of threat.
The question related to whether emails, texts, or activity over social networks is private or not can be answered through the example of Edward Snowden. He brought out facts about how NSA has been spying on people for many years. Although people knew someone was listening to the information, Snowden provided revealed the extent to which the government was willing to go in order to keep a watchful eye over the people (Glenn, MacAskill, and Poitras 2013). Numerous other cases over the years have revealed more into this matter as people’s privacy has been breached several times. Although the route he took was irrational and rather too direct, it brought forth relevant insight into the number of ways the government has utilized to spy on the citizens.

Works Cited

Greenwald, Glenn, Ewen MacAskill, and Laura Poitras. “Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations.” The Guardian 9.6 (2013): 2.