Opinion: Athens Officials' Happy Medium

With the steady increase of technology comes the steady increase of issues concerning technology. One of these issues is a question of privacy. On one side, we have ideology similar to a Rhode Island judge who threw out evidence from a cell phone in a murder case because she believed the evidence was wrongfully acquired. On the opposite end, are opinions such as the ones presented in a Washington court that compare text messages to a voice mail or phone call, which could be heard by anyone in the vicinity. The level of privacy associated with cell phones, be it texts or photos or even locations, has been hotly contested across the country.With all this controversy, it becomes difficult to determine where the balance between privacy and upholding law and order lies. However, credit must be given to Athens City Council and Athens PD. Somehow, despite all the different concerns, they managed to find a happy medium in which the police can get the evidence they need and privacy can still be maintained as much as ever.This decision was made last week when city council approved funds to go toward allowing Athens PD to get the technology needed to acquire information from cell phones. But the police cannot acquire any information from a personal phone without either permission from the individual or a warrant. In other words, police officers cannot gather information from a phone on suspicion alone.Furthermore, after they acquire the information, the data is only kept by means of a judge order, if it is not useful for a case. If there is not a judge order to keep the useless information, then the data will be returned or destroyed.Athens PD and city council need to be given due credit for maintaining the privacy of their citizens while still doing their job in an efficient way. Athens PD in particular has demonstrated extreme efforts to ensure that the privacy of individuals is protected, as well as portray the idea that police officers can be trusted. Demonstrating that officers hope to keep citizens’ privacy intact depicts officers as being respectful, which can easily transform into a deeper trust of law enforcement.At a time when the use of technology is ever-present and the question of privacy is an ever-increasing concern, this national issue has come onto the home front. We, as citizens in Athens County, should be proud of our police department as well as city council for putting our rights first while still securing our safety.