letters from Ray | US Supreme Court acknowledges that personal space has merged with the digital world

June 1, 2014 by Ray Kurzweil

(credit: iStock)

Dear readers,

My friend — of 50 years! — Mark Bergmann, brought this recent quote from US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to my attention:

“Modern cell phones are such a pervasive and insistent part of daily life that the proverbial visitor from Mars might conclude they were an important feature of human anatomy,” said Roberts, commenting in the recent Supreme Court ruling on cell phones warrants.

It’s gratifying to see the Chief Justice acknowledge that we are indeed merging with our own intelligent creations.

Roberts continued, “Modern cell phones are not just another technological convenience. With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for Americans the privacies of life.”

“The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand, does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the United States founders fought,” said Roberts.

“Our answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cell phone seized incident to an arrest is accordingly simple — get a warrant,” he concluded.

Ray Kurzweil


related reading:
CNBC | “Stealth evolution: Humans and technology merge”

Futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts that before mid-century, the exponential acceleration of technologies will result in a singularity, a point at which humans will merge with their technology.

The seeds of Kurzweil’s vision, innovations like Google Glass, will get real time information closer. The US Department of Defense has been working on wearable sensors that report to smartphones. […]


related reading:
Wikipedia | John Roberts
Wikipedia | Supreme Court of the United States

The New York Times | “Between the lines of the cell phone privacy ruling”
Wall Street Cheat Sheet | “Hold the phone: Supreme Court rules warrant required for cell search”
National Journal | “The Supreme Court just delivered a huge victory to cell phone privacy”

National Center for Telehealth & Technology | main


related viewing from CNN:

CNN | The US Supreme Court ruled that police need a warrant in order to search suspects’ cell phones.