Bag alarm keeps sneaksters from stealing your goodies

Story taken from: http://phys.org/news/2016-02-alarm-bag.html

with credit due to: Lund University

It is hard to manage all of your things nowadays, and it is quite easy to either forget about your bag, misplace it, or worse yet, have it stolen. My grandmother used to tell me how back in the day somebody could not give much attention at all at their stuff (horses, saddlebags), and could even safely leave their houses unlocked. But this all seems preposterous in today’s day and age, and it only feels like the world is getting unsafer every day.

This has given foot to a new problem: security. And with every problem, there are always solutions- and ways to market those solutions. This device is yet another IoT device that helps us keep our bags safe in an easy and fashionable way, setting an alarm for whenever somebody unwanted tries to take, or even pry through our stuff on the go.

Ethical implications

Now, is this a good device, or a bad device? Will the use of this device bring benefits to humankind? While the immediate intended consequence of making this technology mainstream is that it gives us one less thing to worry about, I am not sure until what point this will be in benefit to consumers. For example, car alarms are the norm, and can be found in all new vehicles. Pragmatically, though, whenever I hear a car alarm go off, I tend to dismiss it, assuming that it went off on its own. Is this a typical human behavior? Talking to my parents and a few friends, I guess that it is, at least in my hometown.

What I have not thought about was what effect this has on thieves themselves. Do they react negatively towards alarms? According to the developers at Lund University, yes. So, other than protecting our belongings and make us feel safe, shall the deployment of this device be of any other benefit?:

I am no expert in either ethics or philosophy, so I must leave a few more questions to ponder about, and perhaps be responded with theory authors. Assuming theft in all cases is bad, is it possible to force bad people into not doing bad things? Will those people find other ways to do bad?

From my own standpoint, I would say that this device will reduce the amount of bags stolen, yes. But, thieves would not be taught how not to steal, which would only make them move on to other things to steal, like perhaps wallets, groceries, local goods, etc., from other sources. It would be a good idea to invest in not another device to help us feel safe, but rather, a way to help us be safe.

Do leave a comment, critique my writing, help me solidify my grounds by pointing me to some authors, or discuss!