Mobile phones, laptops, palmtops, IPads, and desktops are gadgets that have become more of a necessity to have than a luxury. Everywhere you turn, someone is holding one. You are probably reading this from one of those gadgets. Their invention came to revolutionize, mainly the world of communication. How has this happened?
- Oversees calls have been made possible
- Lectures can easily send notes and assignments via emails
- Video calls can now be made anywhere you are
- Assignments are written and stored in laptops as opposed to books
- One can track their cars and homes through mobile phone apps
- Video games have soon replaced outdoor games
- It is easier to access rescue and health services through emergency call.
- Mobile banking has reduced trips to the ATMs, and one can make transactions anywhere and at any time
- Making it possible for people of different languages to communicate
Have you ever watched international conferences where every country representative has an earpiece? They are used to, say, translate from English to French or any other languages depending on which one the person speaks.
These are but a few positive changes that have been brought about by technology. However, for every good thing, there are a few of those who choose to take it and promote negativity. Such is the way of life, and we can only hope that, with time, we will all learn to use technology for its intended purpose.
Tech Crimes
This article may not be able to exhaust them all, but it will serve to make one alert the next time you are on your device.
Hacking
This is by far the most common crime that has emerged from tech advancements. To hack, is basically, to find a loophole in a safety device and use it to disadvantage the owner of that device. Every other day, you may hear your friend saying that their Facebook or Instagram account has been hacked. There are also serious cases where hackers access bank accounts and transfer people’s funds to themselves. Others hack into the security systems of people’s homes and cars, and the outcome is always theft.
Cyber Bullying
In the USA, this is so ramparted that almost half the teens have experienced it directly or indirectly. Cyberbullying is where someone makes it their mission to make your life miserable through threats from phones that cannot be traced. They do well to cover up their tracks by hiding their identity. By being able to access the IP addresses of your devices, they find ways of hacking into your camera and they can switch it on and off at will. Can you imagine some stranger texting you to tell you that they can see what you are doing? Scary, right?
Online Dating
Technology has made us so lazy that we do not even want to go out and meet new people. Before dating sites such as Tinder were invented, the movies, bookshops, libraries, and colleges were just a few of the many places you could meet new people. Now, we all want to put all our private information, pictures, and home locations online for the perfect mate to find us. This is paramount to putting yourself on a shelf in a department store where anyone can come to buy. These sorts of hook-ups have resulted in endings as tragic as death.
Immorality
Have you lately checked on the history of your child’s web browser? What are they watching or listening to while locked up in those rooms? The internet nowadays has no limitation or parental guidance. Anything you want can be fooled and found on the World Wide Web. Parents have confessed that it only took them a minute in their children’s phones to find out only too late that they had been recruited to weird cults amongst other things.
Does this mean that we go back to the olden way of life? Of course not. Crimes existed before technology, and they will continue to do so. The only greater disadvantage is that with tech, the magnitude of crimes has increased, whereas the effort by the criminals has been simplified.
As much as technology is an advantage to all of us, we should learn to limit it to only when we need it. Otherwise, we expose ourselves for every online predator looking to devour on unsuspecting people.