Ms Goh's GP blog

To what extent has technology had an impact on both privacy and security in your country?

Technology has a great impact on both privacy and security in my country, Singapore. Privacy is the right of an individual to be secure from unauthorised disclosure of information about oneself that is contained in documents. Security is the state of being free from dangers and the precautions against theft, espionage or other dangers. In Singapore, technology is an essential part of people’s lives. Be it to work, play or travel, technology is an integral part of them all. Therefore, technology will definitely affect one’s privacy and security in one way or another.
One of the ways in which technology has had an impact on security in my country is that it has made crime solving faster and more efficient. Technology has invented new methods of investigations and procedures that helped to solve crime cases at a much higher efficiency and also to prevent crimes from happening. Such technology includes the DNA database, computer forensics, and many more. The DNA database used by law enforcement agencies to identify crime suspects helps to deter people from repeating crimes as anyone who has committed crimes will have their DNA stored in the police’s database and this makes it easier to trace a repeat offender. Computer forensics has also made crime solving become more efficient and faster. This has enabled authorities to crack cases faster as well as stop them from occurring. An example is the stopping of the alleged plot by six foreign nationals to attack the Fort Dix Army base in New Jersey. This shows how efficient computer forensics is in dealing with crimes. In Singapore, we have such technology as well. Therefore, when people know that the chance of getting caught is very high, they are naturally deterred from committing a crime. This leads to lesser crimes and according to statistics, Singapore’s crime rate is less than 1% which means less than 1% of the people in Singapore are in danger of being a victim of crime. Therefore, this shows that the security in my country is enhanced due to technology as it has deterred potential criminals and made crime solving more efficient and faster.
Technology has improved the security in my country as technology such as the Biometric Identification System is used when people travel in and out of Singapore. The introduction of the biometric passports means that passports are unique to each individual person as everyone’s thumbprint is different. Since no two persons have the same thumbprint, a person cannot use another’s passport to travel. This security system restricts the space for terrorists’ movements by tightening passport controls and border surveillance. This ensures the safety of the citizens in Singapore as terrorists cannot enter or leave the country without being detected. This is because with passports being unique to each individual, the authorities can trace and check whether the person entering the country poses any threat and take the necessary actions. Therefore, before the terrorists even enter the city, they would be arrested and no harm will be done to the citizens. Hence the safety of the people is not jeopardised and the security in the country is enhanced. However, Biometric Identification System also has its drawbacks. Since a large amount of information such as personal particulars of all the people in the country are stored in a single smart card, any leakage in the transmission of information from one source to another or a successful hack into the system will cause an enormous amount of private information to be disclosed. However, given Singapore’s security systems, the chance of such mishandling of information is very low and hackers will not be drawn to hack into Singapore’s system as it is very difficult to penetrate through the firewalls that the government has put in place. Therefore, since the information of all the Singaporeans is safe, the privacy of the people remains. Also, since their personal particulars will not be disclosed, potential criminals who want to harm the people will not be able to carry out their crime as they lack the information to use for their plans. Therefore, the security and privacy of the people are not jeopardised by the Biometric Identification System. In fact, the security in the country is enhanced because people are free from danger.

Privacy and security is increasingly being passed over for sharing on Facebook as people are more interested in social interactions and are less concerned about the dangers of losing their privacy. People are lured into Facebook with the promise of fun free service and do not realise that they are paying for it by giving up loads of personal information. Facebook has changed the way it works so that much of your personal profile information including where you work, what music you like, and where you went to school, now are made public by default. This allows potential criminals who want to harm a person to obtain valuable information to use against him or her. This jeopardises the safety of the person and causes the person’s security to be compromised. Some information is even shared with companies that are special partners of Facebook, like Yelp, Pandora and Microsoft. This is because the creators of Facebook are also profit-driven. Therefore, they give the information of their users to such companies in return for money. This leads to a loss in privacy as the right of an individual to be secure from unauthorised disclosure of personal information that is contained in documents is taken away. Therefore, technology has also had a negative impact on both security and privacy in my country.

In conclusion, because technology is used in our everyday lives and is an integral part of our society, it has unambiguously affected us in one way or another. It is a two-edge sword which can be used to enhance or jeopardise the privacy and security in my country. Either way, the impact of technology on the privacy and security in Singapore is undeniably significant.

Jasmine, good job! You explored different aspects beyond what many will focus on-- computers and the Internet. :) You were also thorough. Continue with the good work.

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