10.2: Protecting Privacy and Individual Liberties

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“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” ~ George Bernard Shaw. Ergo if enforcement is going to demonstrate progress in light of new technologies and citizen complacency then the collaboration of private and public entities must be realized. Big brother is not government but rather those that citizens have willy-nilly provided their private information. Private companies have almost exclusively insinuated a pact of information protection between the customer and the service deliver, such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. However, at the moment a person loses her/his identity through theft they turn to the public police. Frequently the local policing entity is ill-equipped to handle the theft.

Highly trained and technologically savvy personnel are required for these types of investigation. Local police regularly find they are underfunded and without proper resources to handle the investigation. The federal law enforcement find itself under siege by the utter numbers of complaints. This is not a new dilemma we find ourselves in. At the turn of the century, auto theft and bank robbery were largely handled by federal agencies because of crossing state lines and the restricted jurisdictional boundaries of local and state law enforcement. As the states became more sophisticated in enforcement efforts, these crimes were relegated to the local jurisdiction. The same is true with computer crimes. As state and local policing efforts gain the high-tech qualifications the more of the enforcement is donned onto them. Would this be as necessary in the volume of cases had the individual been careful with their private information to begin with? Has society become so complacent that nary a thought is provided to potential outcomes? I had heard on more than one occasion that you can’t fix stupid!

Private security in these companies can track offenders and assist local law enforcement in their efforts. Public policing has rules that restrict the type of efforts they may employ. Those rules are generally found in the U.S. Constitution and State Constitutions. Private companies, not so much. However is it legal to accept illegally obtain information? If you find yourself investigating an identity theft and you call the company that the breach took place and they provide you information that you would otherwise require a search warrant to obtain the information; is it ethical to take the information?