Argumentative Essay: Private Surveillance Camera

According to “A Surveillance Society” By William E. Thompson there are camera everywhere, watching everything you do at all times. Cameras are found everywhere and are used by everyone, including the governments of the world who use it the most to track its citizens and potential threats to the safety of their nation. People are more willing to be watched in order to feel safer everywhere they go such as the supermarket to your own workplace. Governments can now look into your email, travel records, credit history and your personal life without your knowledge of them ever doing so, even your neighbors can now easily buy tools to spy on others or to protect themselves from danger; Things such as security cameras

Thomas Jefferson once said that “Everyone has the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” If the government spied on its citizens, the citizens would carry the burden of having the government constantly watch every move being made, interfering with citizens pursuit of happiness. With that being said, if a citizen’s privacy was invaded then their pursuit of happiness would be demolished. The government should not be able to spy on its citizens because it is a major invasion of privacy, people become fearful of the government, and is a large violation of the rights citizens are permitted.

Every since 9/11, the surveillance in the United States has become stricter and of more importance. The security is more top-notch than it has ever been because of the fear a future terrorist attack striking once again. The United States government is doing this for safety issues and the protection of Americans, but many are against the whole idea of having the government spy on you and others actually agree with it.

Government surveillance is made with the intent to keep American society safe, usually made in response to major terrorist attacks to prevent future terrorist attacks. After the tragic events of 9/11 the Us government took measures to prevent future terrorist attacks from happening. One major act enacted was the Patriot act.

Now : Surveillance cameras in most buildings (operated by businesses), and in some public streets (operated by police) to prevent crime. Although most of these cameras are operated by private businesses instead

Although the cameras keep track of people for most of their lifetime outside their homes, the surveillance is necessary to regulate citizens and prevent them from doing criminal activity. Cameras control a large part of people’s lives, with purpose “to enforce good laws... to track the government’s political enemies, to gather ammunition for blackmail, and so on,” (Volokh 9). Cameras do not watch everyday activities to observe where one needs to go, but they are there to examine the cities for thieves and vandals. While these cameras appear in almost every part of the city, and people are unaware of what information of theirs is being taken away, the government or city does not scrutinize and judge people for everything they do. Unless a recent crime has occurred and the police requires its usage to track down the suspect, only then would a footage be released for the public regarding the criminal. Otherwise, other trivial and personal information about where one goes is not revealed. Whether the information is recorded or not, it does not affect the normal citizens who live in the area who have done nothing

Government surveillance is beneficial in moderation, but can quite easily become excessive. A well-known example of this is the controversy regarding the NSA monitoring U.S. citizens discreetly on American soil. This unwarranted watch crosses the fine line between monitoring criminal suspects for security, and blatant overreach of authority in spying common citizens. The personal infringement of information has been commonly associated with the NSA’s PRISM, but their MUSCULAR program is much more disconcerting. According to Harry Bruinius in “Why Tech Giants Are Now Uniting Against U.S. Surveillance”:

Privacy is a natural right that needs to be kept because if it is not a free society cannot function as one. If we give up our total privacy, we give up our freedom, which in essence throws away our liberal society. Every individual enjoys the act of being alone because it allows him or her to be themselves without facing any type of judgment. Every individual would cringe at the thought of being watched at all hours, while eating, sleeping, communicating, or participating in another activity. I would would feel embarrassed and petrified to know that every time I took a shower I was being watched. Everyone enjoys his or her right to privacy in America. In my opinion, the government has no right to invade our privacy because not everyone is a criminal and gather all this information

Privacy and safety of citizens is common in today's society, as well as the government looking over their shoulder at all times. As an example, George Orwell wrote a book called, "1984" which in it gave an outlook of society being taken over by a party. Government surveillance is different from protecting and bringing safety to the citizens, it violates their freedom, privacy, and human rights.

In today’s world, body cameras are being worn by more than half of the police officers in the United States. Many people will say that body cameras are invading their privacy and they will cause bigger issues, but others will say that the body cameras are an improvement and will help everyone out in the long run by resolving the issues. Body cameras will prevent incidents of police brutality and improve law enforcement. They should be worn for the police officer’s safety as well as the citizens who are interacting with the police, so that way the footage will show what really happened in a situation.

Only five states in America have laws that require the use of body cameras. In addition, there are six states that have eavesdropping laws in place in relation to government officials. Lastly, there are eighteen states and the District of Columbia that have legislated how body-worn camera data is addressed under open record laws (“Body-Worn Camera Funding”). In recent years, the discussion of how states should regulate the use of body cameras and the ethics of body cameras as an moral solution to police brutality has spiked due to the easier access to smart phones and the greater publication of altercations between police and civilians. These discussions have lead this topic to ultimately become a controversy across America.

From a conflict theorist lens, it’s simple to see the tensions between Native Americans and whites was their need to change what’s foreign and maintain their position in society. It’s clear that these two groups are experiencing struggle for limited resources such as land. First, whites reacted by forcing Indians westward out of their way. When their presence began to get in the way of white’s expansion they found assimilation to be most effective. This was the most efficient way for whites to maintain their status without compromising more land in the process. As a conflict theorist, analyzing the behaviors of these two groups with their actions there is a relationship between who’s stronger and weaker. Whites were able to forcibly remove

Over the past few years, there have been many tragedies involving police which have caused people to feel unsafe and weary. Body cameras are a great way to combat this issue because they offer both audible and visual evidence of misconduct. This can be used to keep the public and police accountable for their actions while maintaining an evidenced-based argument compared to the usual testimony based argument. In a Washington Post article by Dunn, he said: "Video provides compelling evidence of police misconduct and can be used to train, discipline, fire and even prosecute officers” (2017). Dunn is valid in saying this because the footage when appropriately handled can be used within the courtroom to help the judge, the public, and officers see

Did you know that 58% of employers have fired workers for Internet and email misuse? And 48% justify employee video monitoring as an effort to “counter theft and violence?” According to the “2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey” of which 304 U.S. companies participated in, computer-monitoring results have led to the highest cause of employee termination. These companies used several tactics to eavesdrop on employees while claiming to be managing productivity or for security purposes. Some argue that surveillance is absolutely necessary to help protect and grow a business; others argue that employee and customer rights come first. However, companies that use such tactics often violate the privacy of individuals, exploit their private information and even punish those that do not conform to their standards.

Some say that the key to success on preventing terrorism, or any crime for that matter, is the use of massive surveillance enforcement (Someone's Watching). For instance, airlines have used the Computer Assisted Pre-Screening System (CAPS) to spot any dangerous passengers that have checked into the airline. Additionally, metal detectors are heavily used in airlines to check for any weapons that a terrorist might use. Video cameras that capture faces and license plates found all throughout the airport are now equipped with a software that allows images to be recognized and matched with several databases (Public Places Have Eyes). Cameras in general are present in every corner of the airport to monitor all irregular activities. Some also believe that "having a floating eye in the sky could prove to be a major deterrent in the war on terror" when talking about aerial surveillance (Surveillance Tech). Moreover, these surveillance tools are not only used in airlines to prevent crime. These surveillance gadgets can also be used to prevent other crimes such as robberies, trespassing, assaults, and shopliftings everywhere. In fact, with the help of aerial cameras, the Tampa Florida Police Aviation Unit was able to perform 500 arrests in the year of 2003 (Surveillance Tech). As for metal detectors, they are found at the entrances of almost every store we go to as well as school premises that push for a weapon free