Am I being watched right now? This question is being asked more and more every day. In my view, society's idea of privacy has greatly changed, for the negative, as nowadays we don't know whether we are under surveillance, or in the comfort of our privacy. Every day, more scientific breakthroughs heed the way for new and improved technology, more than likely to increase safety, although is safety a good exchange for privacy?
             One-way people have sacrificed safety for privacy is through phone taps. A long time ago, nobody had these machines, but now, everyone and their mothers have them. Caller I.D. is a primitive phone tap, which allows us to see who has called and when. Anyone can purchase a little more complex version of this device, which allows him or her to hear any call within a mile radius. An even more complex phone tap, for example, one that is used by the F.B.I., can be put on anybody's phone line, which eliminates any privacy there used to be. These machines, no matter how powerful they become, criminals will still find a way to one-up any new enhancements.
             Even though privacy has changed immensely in the technological department, I do not believe that it has changed in the run of the mill home. Way back when parents tried to keep close tabs on their offspring. At present, parents still try to keep close tabs on their offspring, although now they might have a much simpler time with cellular phones, pagers, and the like. However, schools and other such buildings have significantly changed. Now, in most schools, the students must get an I.D. card and carry it around wherever they go, in case they want to borrow novels or books from the library, and what not. On every computer, students must log in under their names, allowing the professors to see whatever they have been up to, whether it be typing on Microsoft Word, and visiting an internet site, or anything. Just like school, workplaces often monitor calls, actions...