Essay

“Increased use of science and technology to fight crime is an infringement on personal privacy.” To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Nowadays there is a dramatic increase in serious crime. In order to limit or, at least, reduce the crime rates, it is hard to refuse the importance of science and technology. No matter if it is a closed-circuit television (CCTV), DNA database or biometric system, all of them help reduce crime. However, the increased use of science and technology to fight crime has been accompanied by an increase in an infringement on personal privacy. The effects of development in technology to fight crime can be both positive and negative. On one side, according to the Home Office website, some people may consider that an increasingly wide range of sophisticated information systems and hi-tech communications, forensic science, and other technologies help detect or curb crime. Such technologies result in safety and convenience in lives. Such technologies also help police to save time and money in investigating particular case. However, other people may argue that the expansion and development of this technology might cause damage to privacy rights. According to the Privacy Act,(www.opsi.gov.uk , 1998) people must respect the rights of other people and individuals have the right of their own privacy. Therefore, in this essay, first, I would like to illustrate the benefits of increased use of science and technology in reducing crime. Then I will suggest that these technologies may trespass to human’s liberty.


Although there are a number of arguments that claim the new technologies affect to the private right, it is very necessary to our society to protect our life from criminals. There are a lot of advantages of using of scientific knowledge to investigate and establish facts for legal purposes for example use biometric systems(face, finger, iris to name but a few) to identify of an offender, CCTV help the police save time to catch the murder and reduce crime. According to the Privacy International (1997), since the Scotland government install of a £130,000 closed circuit TV system in Airdrie, crime drop to 75 per cent. Mobile phones can help fight crime. According to CBS News (2004), a woman in Oklahoma could save her life by dialing her boyfriend, who notified 911. Then the criminal was caught to prison. As a result of these examples, people are much safer in their lives. I highly believe that the increase use of technology and the progress in science are extremely important for all citizens.

References:

CBS News (2004), “Woman Saved By Cell Phone”, viewed 9 August 2008, <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/14/earlyshow/living/main611812.shtml>.

Home Office, “Police science and technology”, viewed 7 August 2008, <http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/using-science/police-science-tech/>.

Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) 1998, “Privacy Policy”, Human Rights Act 1998, viewed 7 August 2008,
<http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/ukpga_19980042_en_1>.

Privacy International 1997, “Can CCTV reduce crime?”, viewed 1 August 2008, <http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-61925&als[theme]=Video%20Surveillance&headline=CCTV%20Frequently%20Asked%20Questions#footnotes>.