E-911: Is the emergency 911 trace an invasion of privacy?

A detailed Summary of E-911: Is the emergency 911 trace an invasion of privacy?

Technology is making new advances everyday. The new widespread technology this year seems to be a "product" called E-911. Did you know that when a 911 operator answers your emergency call, he or she can trace your call and pin point your location in a matter of seconds?

Many questions arise about this new advance. What is E-911? How does it work? Who is paying for it? Who has access to it? All of these questions have answers but the number one question seems to be this: Is our privacy being invaded by E-911 or is this indeed an advance that will help all mankind?

911 is a service that has been around for years. Provided by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission, 911 is a service that provides emergency assistance to those that need it. This is a simple service to begin with that allowed the 911 dispatcher to ID the number you are calling from and match an address to the phone number. Basically, this service could trace your call so help could get to you faster. 911 was/is phase one and was only available for home telephones. In 1999, phase two of 911 had begun to make its way around the world. E-911 or Enhanced 911 is a new version of 911 that allows dispatcher to not only traces your call, but is also able to pin point y

our location in a matter of seconds. This phase focuses primarily on wireless phone meaning cellular phone or mobile phones. "The wireless Enhanced 911(E911) rules seek to improve the effectiveness and reliability of wireless 911 service by providing 911 dispatchers with additional information on wireless 911 calls" (Enhanced 1).

"The government is using this new technology for good and bad. It all depends on what they need at the time. When things get tense in the world of politics, we will use this technology to record a conversation that could blackmail a government official just so the U.S. can get what it wants. Back when we were watching Panama closely, we would listen in on phone conversation that the President had with his mistress. He was married of course. This came in handy when he didn't want to cooperate with U.S. government officials. That is only one example though. Right now we are using this technology to monitor drug traffic in other countries.

E911 has many advantages to its program. The number one advantage for the E911 and the obvious number one use for this program is the locating ability of this program. Being able to locate a victim not only saves but it saves time. This E911 program pinpoints the telephone location on a map. From this map, the dispatcher is able to tell the fire and rescue squads what roads they need to take in order to get to the location of the emergency. It used to be that fire and rescue squads had to study maps of the area in order to know where they are going. Sometimes they would have to map out their directions to the emergency site while they were on the way to where they were going. Having this technology saves so much time. Rather then having to guess, fire and rescue can use this technology and go directly to the emergency site without error. Imagine that you are responding to an E911 call. You are following the directions of your dispatcher and he or she tells you to make one of your turns. Once you turn you notice there is a traffic block for a blown tire. You explain to your dispatcher the situation and he or she quickly directs you on an alternate route. What is you didn't have that technology available. Think of the lives that could be lost because you were delayed in getting to the emergency site.

True, there are many advantages to the E911 technology but there are also many disadvantages to this newly advanced program. The number one concern about the E911 and is the number one disadvantage to E911 is the invasion of privacy. It has been proven that the invasion of privacy does not outweigh the benefits. "The government has contracted this program so it must be ok." (House 3) This is said to be an advantage and disadvantag

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Approximate Word count = 1828
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Technology