Takeaways For Week No. 6

1. 

There are so many different ways that you can track people or be tracked now with modern technology. The scary part about this is that it is very difficult to avoid when some of the methods of tracking use your phone or car which in this modern era are objects that you almost need to have with you to function.

2.

In using all of these tracking methods and in court cases regarding them the U.S. courts have to decide if the tracking breaks the "unreasonable search" portion of the 4th amendment. This leads to so many different scenarios because the context of every case and search method is different.

3.

The 4th amendment only protects U.S. citizens from government searches. This opens the door for potential searches from 3rd party organizations that can gather data without you knowing and sell it to the government and you can't do much about it.

4.

Utah has laws set about the usage of automatic license plate reading technologies.

• Only applies to the government
• Collection is banned except for toll collection, enforcing traffic laws, and public safety concerns
• Data is a protected record
• Data can be preserved no more than 90 days
• The Utah government can not access private data without a warrant

5. 

The University of Utah has its own ALPR laws separate and more strict from that of the State's

• Used only for parking management
• Info only retained 24 hours and stored on the laptop of the ALPR
• Info not shared with others, in or out of the University
• May not sell data for marketing
• Access limited to drivers and supervisors
• Tracking movement not allowed
• Password protected data
• Quarterly audits must be completed
• Sanctions for non-complience

6.

The national government requires a warrant for Sting Rays, but not all states do.

Personal Observation:

Knowing how many ways there are to track people and gather data through one form or another terrifies me because you never know if you're being watched. Especially since they can follow your car or phone which people use almost everyday. However, it is nice to read a few articles and know that even if it isn't the most ethical thing some of this technology is making a huge difference in protecting the public and tracking down criminals. It is also good to know that the government does recognize this as a privacy concern and is slowly making steps towards creating laws to protect the general public from unreasonable and unwanted following.