Rhetorical Analysis on “I Know Where You’ve Been: Digital Spying and Divorce in the

Smartphone Age.”

Link to Article​:
https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2018/01/04/554564010/i-know-where-you-ve-be
en-digital-spying-and-divorce-in-the-smartphone-age

When Aarti Shahani wrote the article “I Know Where You’ve Been: Digital Spying and
Divorce in the Smartphone Age,” her intention was to draw attention to the problem that GPS
tracking devices are causing in relationships. It was published by ​National Public Radio (NPR)
on July 4, 2018 to capture a broad audience about the increasing amount of GPS tracking devices
that are potentially tearing relationships up, and making the divorce rate go up. Shanani wrote
this article to inform people about the spying technology that is mostly being used by the
recently divorced or separated couples to watch each other and their behaviors without the other
knowing about it.
Aarti Shahani was exceptionally effective in persuading her audience that digital spying
in the smartphone age is affecting relationships and divorces increasing the lack of trust between
ex-spouses; broken trust that has already been damaged. Shahani establishes pathos when talking
about M’s case and how it was affecting her personal life. She also establishes logos when
discussing digital spying devices and how analyzing the different types of devices. By using both
of these techniques, Shahani appeals and persuades her readers due to their belief system.

According to Shahani, couples are going to the latest technology to spy on each other as
their marriages fall apart. This has been common information shared by dozens of divorce
lawyers, investigators and a leading family court judge that NPR interviewed. Shanai uses the
appeal of logos to talk about the effects and the facts of these spying tools and how easy they are
to use. Clients use them in an attempt to stay in control after a separation or to gather information
about the spouse after the relationship that could potentially be used against them in court
proceedings. She does a good job at persuading the audience about the effect these devices put
on relationships and divorces. Shahani stated there had been one in 13 victims that had a digital
monitor on them of some kind. By using logos, she makes the overall message informative and
effective.

Shahanie does another good job using pathos to persuade the audience how much the
digital spying tools are being used. She creates a sort of fear and suspensefulness for the readers.
When you read this article, you realize that this can happen to anyone and that is scary. Stalking
is a fear for a lot of people and this article just informed us how easy it’s beginning to be and it is
arising more than before. Especially when she talks about the case of “M” Shahani does a great
job at expressing the feelings that M was having and even giving some of the exact things that
she said about being followed without knowing. Shahani talks about the doctor in the article and
he even said that he wouldn’t want to do it, but if he was put into that situation, he would’ve
considered it.

Shahani displays ethos by the research that she does on her topics. They seem to be
clearly thought through and well written because of how much she has researched the topic that
she has been given. Not only does this give her good credibility, it also makes her work more
effective because she works as a journalist for NPR, which is Nation Public Radio and is one of
the biggest radio stations that is known globally. This is beneficial to whoever is reading it
because it makes them believe the information more because they know how educated she is and
how well she is researching her topics.

Welcome to divorce in the 21 century says Shahani. What it means to be safe and how
much privacy you are entitled to are now questionable. M’s case is not unique, in fact it is
starting to become more familiar. Digital spying is changing divorce as we know it, but the laws
are vague and law enforcement is lagging behind in enforcing. Not only does Shahani use logos
to explain the effects of spying, she also uses pathos to talk about the emotion of fear. When you
read this article, it makes you realize that this can happen to anyone, and that’s scary. Stalking is
a fear for a lot of people and this article just informed us how easy it’s beginning to be.
 Not only does this article give us an insight on M’s case, it gives us an insight on how
easy it is to access these spying devices. Shahani talks about the effects on divorce and
relationships, but also talks about how parents may put these spying devices on their children's
phone as well.
The last time the Justice Department attempted to quantify stalking was in 2012 and
estimated that 1.5 percent of all adults in the United States were victims. That figure increased to
3.3 percent of people who were divorced or separated. NPR has had over two thousand cases that
made their way into criminal or civil courts and punishments have been unbalanced because of
the use of spying tools. Randy Kessler an attorney said about his clients, “I see it in their eyes. I
tell them, don’t do it. But they still do it. And you know personally, if it was in my life, I’d be
tempted.”
Shahani does an amazing job of making the reader more aware of these tools that are
being used and how they could possibly be a threat, or beneficial. Shahani uses a great tone of
voice, by giving her own insight on the experience and the experience of others like M’s case to
bring together the overall effect of how these spying devices are. Shahani wrote this article for
people who are uneducated about this issue with GPS tracking in hope to bring some awareness
to them ahead of time in case anything like this happens to them personally. She made it
insightful to whomever reads it through her examples, the many court cases that have gone
through the Justice Department, and the percentages of how these devices have affected
relationships

Word Count: 1010

 Works Cited:
Shahani, Aarti, and Lauren Silverman. “I Know Where You've Been: Digital Spying And

Divorce

In The Smartphone Age.” ​NPR​, NPR, 4 Jan. 2018,

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

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

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----

Rhetorical Analysis on “I Know Where You’ve Been: Digital Spying and Divorce in the

Smartphone Age.”

Link to Article​:
https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2018/01/04/554564010/i-know-where-you-ve-be
en-digital-spying-and-divorce-in-the-smartphone-age

When Aarti Shahani wrote the article “I Know Where You’ve Been: Digital Spying and
Divorce in the Smartphone Age,” her intention was to draw attention to the problem that GPS
tracking devices are causing in relationships. It was published by ​National Public Radio (NPR)
on July 4, 2018 to capture a broad audience about the increasing amount of GPS tracking devices
that are potentially tearing relationships up, and making the divorce rate go up. Shanani wrote
this article to inform people about the spying technology that is mostly being used by the
recently divorced or separated couples to watch each other and their behaviors without the other
knowing about it.
Aarti Shahani was exceptionally effective in persuading her audience that digital spying
in the smartphone age is affecting relationships and divorces increasing the lack of trust between
ex-spouses; broken trust that has already been damaged. Shahani establishes pathos when talking
about M’s case and how it was affecting her personal life. She also establishes logos when
discussing digital spying devices and how analyzing the different types of devices​ is effective by
being able to gain more information about them and what they are capable of doing.​ By using
both of these techniques, Shahani​ is able to​ appeal and persuade her readers due to their belief
system.

According to Shahani, couples are going to the latest technology to spy on each other as
their marriages fall apart. This has been common information shared by dozens of divorce
lawyers, investigators and a leading family court judge that NPR interviewed. Shanai uses the
appeal of logos to talk about the effects and the facts of these spying tools and how easy they are
to use. Clients use them in an attempt to stay in control after a separation or to gather information
about the spouse after the relationship that could potentially be used against them in court
proceedings. She does a good job at persuading the audience about the effect these devices put
on relationships and divorces. Shahani stated there had been one in 13 victims that had a digital
monitor on them of some kind. By using logos, she makes the overall message informative and
effective.

Shahanie does another good job using pathos to persuade the audience how much the
digital spying tools are being used. She creates a sort of fear and suspensefulness for the readers.
When you read this article, you realize that this can happen​ to anyone at any time, especially at
the end of these couples relationships and that is scary.​ Stalking is a fear for a lot of people and
this article just informed us how easy ​it’s beginning to be and how it is continuing to rise higher
than before.​ Especially when she talks about the case of “M” Shahani does a great job at
expressing the feelings that M was having and even giving some of the exact things that she said
about being followed without knowing. ​Shahani talks about the doctor in the article and he even
said that he tells them not to do it, but he even said that if he were put into that situation, he
would’ve considered it as well.

Shahani displays ethos by the research that she does on her topics. They seem to be
clearly thought through and well written because of how much she has researched the topic that
she has been given. Not only does this give her good credibility, it also makes her work more
effective because she works as a journalist for NPR, which is Nation Public Radio and is one of
the biggest radio stations that is known globally. This is beneficial to whoever is ​reading this
article because it makes them believe the information that she is giving to us because they know
how educated she is and how well she is at researching her topics.

Welcome to divorce in the 21 century says Shahani. What it means to be safe and how
much privacy you are entitled to are now questionable. M’s case is not unique, in fact it is
starting to become more familiar. Digital spying is changing divorce as we know it, but the laws
are vague and law enforcement is lagging behind in ​enforcing change in these situations.​ Not
only does Shahani use logos to explain the effects of spying,​ she also uses pathos to talk about
these different types of fears that these people are experiencing.
In “The Digital Nexus: Identity, Agency and Political Engagement”, Foshey talks about
the advancement of digital spying and the high rise of volume in it. Foshey quotes “Digital
networks have gathered us all up in what the philosopher and media theorist Bernard Stiegler has
described as the tsunami-like quality of the digital revolution, an inundation that carries with it
the traumas, or at the very least the tensions, that McLuhan acknowledges, threatening to sweep
away the moorings of cultural forms and practices.” The growth of digitalization has transformed
social life at its most public life. Foshey uses logos to explain the growth of digitalization and
how it causing tensions in relationships, and uses pathos to describe how this is changing social
norms and practices.
Not only does this article give us an insight on M’s case, it gives us an insight on how
easy it is to access these spying devices. Shahani talks about the effects on divorce and
relationships, but also talks about how parents may put these spying devices on their children's
phone as well.
The last time the Justice Department attempted to quantify stalking was in 2012 and
estimated that 1.5 percent of all adults in the United States were victims. That figure increased to
3.3 percent of people who were divorced or separated. NPR has had over two thousand cases that
made their way into criminal or civil courts and punishments have been unbalanced because of
the use of spying tools. ​These cases also vary on how the spying tools were being used.​ Randy
Kessler an attorney said about his clients, “I see it in their eyes. I tell them, don’t do it. But they
still do it. And you know personally, if it was in my life, I’d be tempted.”
Shahani does an amazing job of making the reader more aware of these tools that are
being used and how they could possibly be a threat. ​With this being said, these tools could also
be beneficial depending on the situation.​ Shahani uses a great tone of voice, by giving her own
insight on the experience and the experience of others like M’s case to bring together the overall
effect of how these spying devices are. Shahani wrote this article for people who are uneducated
about this issue with GPS tracking in hope to bring some awareness to them ahead of time in
case anything like this happens to them personally. She made it insightful to whomever reads it
through her examples, the many court cases that have gone through the Justice Department, and
the percentages of how these devices have affected relationships

Word Count: 1084

 Works Cited:

Foshay, Raphael. ​The Digital Nexus : Identity, Agency, and Political Engagement.​ AU

------------​Press, 2016. ​EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e900xww&AN=1194815&site=eds-live.

Shahani, Aarti, and Lauren Silverman. “I Know Where You've Been: Digital Spying And

Divorce

In The Smartphone Age.” ​NPR​, NPR, 4 Jan. 2018,

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

u-ve-been-digital-spying-and-divorce-in-the-smartphone-age​.