Subjecting Ourselves: Grindr and Privacy

As our access to technology increases, we become more connected to others through our devices.  Some new apps that are arriving, such as Grindr, are connecting people more people with a specific goal.  Grindr is an app on iPhone and android that allows men who are gay, bisexual, or bi-curious to see what other users are around and contact them.  The most unique feature of Grindr is that it actually tells you the distance away other users are.  Many concerns have been made about how are we going to protect our privacy as technology increases.  David Brin writes "But accountablility is no side benefit.  It is the one fundamental ingredient on which liberty thrives.  Without the accoutability that derives from openess - enforceable upon even the mightiest individuals and institutions - how can freedom survive" (Brin 332).

The main concern that David Brin has with the expansion of technology is that it will be used against us because we will not be able to be trusted by any institution.  I argue that we are the ones that sacrifice our freedom because we trust technology and its users.  In the article "Child Molesters Moving to Grindr to Find Underage Victims", underage children are using Grindr as a way any other user would.  While the article argues that the blame of this crime rests with the parents, it rests with the idea that we can trust technology and its users.  We trust that people are honest on the internet, and even that we should meet them in person.  In a way, we have created easier ways for hate and sexual crimes to be committed.  Grindr has also been linked with hate crimes as people are able to track the location of the users and locate them if they have a picture on their profile.  The problem of booming technology is not entirely arisen from the fact that it will become easier to monitor users.  It is the simple fact that we trust the booming technology.  We are the enablers of our loss of privacy; we are willing to subject ourselves to invasion of privacy.

As our technology booms, will we be as trustworthy of technology? When we continue to connect with the world, we will give up our privacy.  Our privacy will be gone as we become more trustworthy of each other.