Cell Phone Tracking: Appropriate or Atrocious?

   On November 16th, 2011 a student of Southern State Community College in Sardina, Ohio was kidnapped by a man. Although she couldn't see where she was being taken to, one call to 911 saved her life.   The police department was able to track her cellphone signals using GPS. Being able to track cell phones can be useful to the Government to help keep track of terrorist issues and drug dealings. In the article Are You Being Tracked?  by: Patricia Smith she says "police say tracking is a valuable weapon in emergencies like child abduction and suicide calls." I see stories about families who have lost a child to a kidnapper and just the thought of being able to help reunite is amazing. "It's pretty valuable simply because there are so many people who have cell phones" says Roxann Ryan (criminal analysis with Iowas state intelligence branch. Almost every teen has a cell phone as do adults which makes tracking people so much easier.
       
    Don't be fooled though, if you need to send out a signal to the persons phone, you need the approval of the company. Congress is considering bills to restrict cell phone tracking usage because it violated the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment protects against "unreasonable searches and seizures." The reason why Congress is considering this idea is because during the time the Amendments were written, there wasn't technology like there is today and there is no way that the Framers could imagine cell phones or GPS. "A judge can require police to get a warrant before obtaining cell phone records" Smith says. Even though it's important for police to gather all the information, it's still a violation of the Fourth Amendment. "After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, President George W. Bush authorized the government to eavesdrop on phone calls and monitor the e-mails of terrorism suspects without obtaining warrants" Smith also says. It's understandable because obviously if they're a suspect, they aren't going to want the Government poking around in their business.

   Honestly, I think that the fact that the Government could go through someones cell phone records is creepy. I understand that it may be helpful to the situation, it's a violation of the rights of the person. One thing that was going through my mind while reading this article is: if there are so many requirements for being able to get into someones phone records, why does the Government use it as a device? If congress is looking to change the Amendments to protect the people, then why does the Government allow warrants? Some things people want to keep private and I understand that, but I think is they really had something to hide they would figure out a way to block signals to their technology. In conclusion, I think that although it's helpful for the Governments investigations, it's a violation of our rights as a human and should not be allowed.