Garrett Ediger

Steve Haslam

English 1010

31 October 2020

Digital Spyware

The article, “I Know Where You’ve Been: Digital Spying And Divorce In The Smartphone

Age,” was written by Arti Shahani and Lauren Silverman. The article was published onto

npr.org on January 4, 2018. The authors use this article to show readers the dangers of

technology. People have been finding ways to keep tabs on spouses, or ex-spouses. The

authors want the readers to be aware of the new dangers that come with modern technology.

The authors also inform the readers of legal actions that are available to anyone who is being

stalked or tracked. The intended audience of the article is all those who are victims of being

stalked or tracked, they use the article to raise awareness of these issues.

The article uses the story of a real victim to show the readers the true impact of digital

stalking. It tells the story of a woman, whose ex-husband used a GPS tracking device to know

where she went and when she went there. GPS trackers can be very inconspicuous, they can

be small boxes that are difficult to see unless you know to look. When she found out about the

GPS tracker, she filed a police report and had a mechanic help her find the tracker. The

mechanic found the GPS tracker by the front left tire, the device appears as a small box. They

are easy to hide, but hard to find. However, the prosecutors informed her that they could not

prosecute because the vehicle was joint owned. This was quite troubling, there are very few

laws or preventative measures taken to ensure justice for digital spyware. The authors provide
an emotional connection to the readers, describing the insecurity that the woman felt in losing

her privacy.

In the article “I Know Where You’ve Been: Digital Spying And Divorce In The

Smartphone Age,” Shahani and Silverman do an extremely good job of establishing pathos.

They insert many quotes and describe instances that provide a strong emotional connection.

One of the quotes used is “I never was safe.” The woman in the story also said, “I’m terrified. I

am absolutely terrified.” The use of these quotes helps the reader to empathize with the victim in

the story. The words from a real victim allows the reality of the dangers of technology to set in to

the readers. This allows for the reader to imagine themself in the position of the victim.

Imagining yourself losing much of your privacy allows for the article to have a big impact.

Privacy is becoming harder to come by these days. This article makes a special point of making

the readers empathize with victims of stalking. It also makes a case to point out all the new

dangers that come, and the resulting impact.

This article also makes a point of showing how technological advancements can also

lead to advancements in stalking, tracking, and invasion of privacy. The authors use logos to

help show how easy it can be to access spyware. This helps to show the readers the reality of

the advancements in technological spyware. It also helps to accredit the article, for many

people, the statistics can show them the true reality of the issue. They help the readers

understand the true severity of the issues at hand. Approximately 1.5% of all adults in America

have been victims of stalking. However, that is only counting the cases of stalking where the

victims knew. Digital stalking can be so discreet that people who are being stalked may have no

idea. They also inform the readers that 3.3% of people who go through divorce become victims

of stalking. These statistics help the readers understand how digital stalking is being used much

more frequently in modern times.

The article also makes a point of establishing ethos. They have bits and pieces from

interviews from police officers and lawyers on the issue. However, there was not much that
lawyers and doctors can do. Digital stalking is a brand new issue, it has been difficult for them to

get ahead of. One example is shown in the story, when the woman in the story went to the

police about the GPS tracker, there was little to be done. The police informed her that no legal

action could be taken because the car was owned by both her and her ex-husband.This helps

back up how difficult it can be to protect yourself from digital stalking. In many cases there is no

legal action to be taken. Digital stalking, in many ways, jumps through many loopholes in the

legal system. Most cases of digital stalking go without justice.

Another story that is used is the story of Randy Kessley. Randy is an attorney in Atlanta,

Georgia, he has also dealt with the challenges of digital stalking. He stated that he often warns

his clients against the use of digital stalking or trackers. However,“I see it in their eyes.” He

says. The authors then state that some people simply can not be talked out of the technological

invasion of privacy. The authors use multiple stories throughout the article. They repeatedly use

stories that add credential to the article.

Throughout the article, the use of ethos, logos, and pathos is obvious. This allows for all

types of readers to really grasp the whole point of the article. The use of rhetorical devices

allows for the article to connect to the reader. The article is easy for readers of almost any level

to understand. It repeatedly appeals to the emotions of the readers. It dives deep into the pain

and insecurity of being digitally stalked. It also provides many cases of using people with

authority to provide trustworthy information. It also uses statistics to add to the reader's

understanding of the topic. Overall, I felt that the article did a good job using rhetorical devices

to express the main idea. It successfully explained everything it wanted.

Works Cited
 Shahani, A., & Silverman, L. (2018, January 04). I Know Where You've Been: Digital

Spying And Divorce In The Smartphone Age. Retrieved October 31, 2020, from

https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2018/01/04/554564010/i-know-where-you-

ve-been-digital-spying-and-divorce-in-the-smartphone-age

Peer Review Paragraph

Comments: Make sure to tab at the beginning of the paragraph. Maybe somewhere in here write a short summary about

how the author uses emotion in his story, because I don't think I see it in here, otherwise, it looks good! I think you meant

"uses the story of a real victim to show..." Maybe it would sound better if you said "easy to hide, but hard to find." "The use

of quotes" is used twice in two sentences, maybe consider using a different phrase so it isn't repetitive. Maybe make this

more clear, you could make it along the lines of "The article has a big impact because the story makes you imagine

yourself in the same situation." or something along those lines. Maybe add "The authors use..." just to get rid of "they".

"helps" is used a lot in this paragraph, maybe use another word like "contributes" or something. "He states that" is used a

couple times already, you could say "he said" or "he is quoted as saying". Mention the authors' names a couple times to

remind the reader of their names, because the authors is used a lot and using their names doesn't hurt.

JAYDON ARSLANIAN, Nov 2 at 9:37am

Peer Review Paragraph I liked this essay a lot, it had a lot of good strengths like good use of how the author used each

rhetorical device. The author does good in the introduction, they just maybe have to add more reason how they used each

tool. The summary seems well done too. The thesis statement is “ Empathize with victims of stalking. It also makes a case

to point out all the new dangers that come, and the resulting impact.” It focuses on the text very well, I don’t think anything

needs to be added. Claims the author makes is how dangerous stalking can be and the impacts of it and why it is a bad

thing. I think the author does a good job with their claims, maybe adding some more detail would make it even better. Yes,

for sure. He says that it did a good job in applying to the reader’s emotions and helped develop the essay. He says it

helped make it good on the reader. Yes, it does focus on the rhetorical elements, and does it very well in portraying how
 they used them. The essay is organized well, it introduces the article, summarizes, then goes into how they use ethos,

pathos and logos. I don’t think it is choppy anywhere. No major spelling or grammar errors. No questions were posed to

me. I think just lessening up on repetitiveness and looking at my comments might help make the essay better.

Peer Reviewer - Elsa Wybrow 1. Indent the into paragraph. 2. Good objective summary. 3. I liked how you mentioned the

intended audience in the first paragraph. 4. maybe insert a period after "This was quite troubling". 5. Great at establishing

ethos, logos, and pathos. 6. I notice that the word 'many' is used various times. Maybe switch those up a bit. 7. I noticed that

there was good vocab in the analysis. 8. Good variation of quotes used from the article. 9. I am glad you went into detail

about certain topics like the account of when a woman's ex-husband used a GPS to track her. 10. I appreciate you for

describing Randy Kessley. I didn't know who he was until you explained. 11. Good concluding paragraph. It ties everything

you discussed into a simple, yet well thought out paragraph. I took good interest while I was reading this rhetorical analysis. I

feel like everything flowed nicely and chronologically. The intro paragraph provided a good summary. It helped me to know

what this analysis was going to discuss. Even throughout this paper as a whole, the writer provided good description of

various topics, so that I could fully understand. This paper kept pretty good balance between what the authors, of the article,

wrote, and how the authors wrote it. I do feel that the writer could describe how Shahani and Silverman wrote their article.

The word choice of the article, or the tone and voice of the authors could be described and identified. The writer of this

analysis mentions how Shahani and Silverman used all of ethos, logos, and pathos. I did not identify any grammatical errors

other than maybe indent the first paragraph. I also mentioned in my annotations that the word 'many' was used multiple

times. The writer could input synonyms like multiple, various, numerous, etc. I did notice good vocabulary during the whole

analysis though. All in all, this rhetorical analysis was very great. And even though a rhetorical analysis discusses how the

author(s) write, I did learn a thing or two about the digital devices used today. I enjoyed this rhetorical analysis.

The essay was really good. A strength that I noticed in it is how you used some quotes from the people who were being

stalked in the article to really show how they were feeling and how it was affecting them. I think the summary was put

together really well and it was able to give a good overview of the text. Your conclusion is also good, the way you talked

about how the article used ethos, pathos, and logos to grasp the reader's attention is a good way to finish it off. The article

flows pretty well and you did good to talk about rhetoric and not overdo any of the forms of it. Some things that I would

recommend is to indent your first paragraph and also to just reread it and look for spelling errors and spots where you could

change a few words to make it less confusing and have it flow better. Other than that you did really well, you used examples
from the article to help paint a picture as well as you talked about all the forms of rhetoric and you did not focus on one more

than the other.