A Short Note On Anti Internet Surveillance Speech

As human beings and citizens of the world, everyone values their privacy. It is a right that is often looked over and taken for granted by most. Since the beginning of time, there have been concerns about individuals’ rights to privacy and their personal information remaining confidential. Our founding fathers had concerns about this which is why, “…this right has developed into

In Peter Singer’s essay Visible Man, he discusses how advancements in technology have changed the world’s view on privacy listing both the benefits and drawbacks following this. Privacy is a very big aspect for Americans and the freedom we represent. As America defines itself as a democracy, the Government ties a lot into the privacy role, attempting to keep citizens safe. Generally, having personal privacy is crucial to feeling safe and comfortable in any environment but I think the overall role of privacy should only be focused heavily by the government in regards to certain situations. Not only with the government but also in society, the means for privacy amongst peers and family have changed crucially. An individual’s privacy is based

This article argues that surveillance is becoming increasingly normal across the USA and the world and that this is changing our freedom and security. It mentioned that globalization and migration of people from different countries some who threaten our country has made this surveillance more necessary to protect our citizens from theorists acts. The article uses examples of video-surveillance to make this case and to argue for both stronger resistances to calls to make our human rights more flexible in a risky time.

Surveillance is not a new thing. In fact, espionage, tracking, and sleuthing were part of society ever since 5000 B.C. But in the rise of the modern era, the idea of surveillance in the public eye serves as a controversial topic of discussion. People everywhere complain about the existence of security cameras, government tracking, and the right to privacy. Such problems, however, are not due to the sudden discovery of surveillance, but the modern abuse of it. Seeing the disastrous effects of over surveillance from George Orwell’s 1984, the public rightfully fears societal deterioration through modern surveillance abuse portrayed in Matthew Hutson’s “Even Bugs Will Be Bugged” and the effects of such in Jennifer Golbeck’s “All Eyes On You”. The abuse of surveillance induces the fear of discovery through the invasion of privacy, and ensures the omnipresence of one’s past that haunt future endeavors, to ultimately obstruct human development and the progress of society overall.

Privacy is what allows people to feel secure in their surroundings. With privacy, one is allowed to withhold or distribute the information they want by choice, but the ability to have that choice is being violated in today’s society. Benjamin Franklin once said, “He who sacrifices freedom or liberty will eventually have neither.” And that’s the unfortunate truth that is and has occurred in recent years. Privacy, especially in such a fast paced moving world, is extremely vital yet is extremely violated, as recently discovered the NSA has been spying on U.S. citizens for quite a while now; based on the Fourth Amendment, the risk of leaked and distorted individual information, as well as vulnerability to lack of anonymity.

As a growing topic of discussion, privacy in our society has stirred quite some concern. With the increase of technology and social networking our standards for privacy have been altered and the boundary between privacy and government has been blurred. In the article, Visible Man: Ethics in a World Without Secrets, Peter Singer addresses the different aspects of privacy that are being affected through the use of technology. The role of privacy in a democratic society is a tricky endeavor, however, each individual has a right to privacy. In our society, surveillance undermines privacy and without privacy there can be no democracy.

“Privacy, he said, was a very valuable thing. Everyone wanted a place where they could be alone occasionally.” Through the power of social media, instant news, and the current technology revolution; our society is becoming parallel to the society of Winston Smith in 1984. The surveillance technology used by Big Brother similarly replicates the same technology used in the 21st century; however, as the years go on, our technology improves and somehow Big Brother really is watching us. However, the real question that many Americans are concerned with today is if Big Brother really might be watching us, what can we do to stop it?

We are truly living in a “Surveillance Society”, and according to an article on TIME.com, the Edward Snowden leak, “has made it clear that the rise of technology is shattering even the illusion of

Privacy is something everyone covets. As an American, privacy is a right protected by the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the United States of America. The Fourth Amendment states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” (Congress.gov, 2014)

The controversy on government surveillance is very controversial. Should the government have unlimited access to citizen’s personal information, conversations, and text in order to protect the country? Or should the government have more of a laissez-faire-type role in citizen’s private lifestyles? Across the world, there are different approaches on the government’s surveillance on people. Iceland’s policies are the least intrusive in the world, with almost no surveillance and laws protecting the people’s freedom of speech. On the other end of the spectrum is China, which is in the process of creating a constant surveillance system of all its citizens. Somewhere in the middle of this scale is the United States of America. Influences by other

Whenever I hear the word privacy, I think of a circle that one or a few people that is allowed in the circle. Which privacy does mean the condition or state of not being observed. To me, Privacy is a desireable thing due to the fact that there are people around that don't want others to enjoy life so they find as much toxic and corrupt information about that person to try and make things more complicated than it has to be. When you think about privacy online, it takes more to have a personal life because it becomes public information. The only privacy I have been able to find is between friends or by myself, which that’s in the shower and no one disturbs people in the shower unless it's an emergency, other than the bathroom I have no privacy.

All Americans personal privacy is something of great value, and a general right to such privacy is assumed. Privacy also helps to maintain our psychological well-being. We need privacy to get rest from the pressures and demand of life. To control our own privacy, we must maintain it. There is an order in obtaining someone private information (Vitz, Paul C. Psychology as Religion 78-79).

In today’s online world, it is almost impossible to remain anonymous. With every website and service requiring a log in which stores personal information, and surveillance users are unaware is even there. Although this sounds like an invasion of personal privacy and loss of personal liberty, it has turned into the “norm” and most of the time goes on without even being questioned. In some cases, consensual surveillance has been turned into forms of entertainment. The average person online is very aware of the surveillance taking place, but it is likely they are unaware of the severity of the surveillance and the justification behind it. It is known that the main use of surveillance is to keep citizens safe and free from terrorist attacks

Privacy is something that is valuable, and gives trust to both sides. Everyone is endowed with some degree of privacy, right? The debate of the topic privacy versus security has been going on for a while. Most people believe privacy is more important, giving people the chance to be relaxed without anyone watching them, literally or figuratively speaking. Governments believe that security is more important, claiming it will help with terrorism and lower the crime rate. If we allow this to happen, then as an example, the government could monitor our phones conversations, what websites we visit, the games or programs we download, even where we go throughout our day by tracking us on the GPS unit in our smartphones.

Privacy laws are established because people have a right to privacy, to an extent. For many years people have argued over their privacy rights, from online videos, to people spying on them, even people stealing internet. People think that they should be completely secluded from others seeing what they’re doing, but in all reality, there’s no stopping people from seeing what you are doing. With more people using the flaws within our media and lives, we as a society must come to accept the fact that people are watching us.