Government Control Over Surveillance

Surveillance is, and has always been conducted by the government. The government gathers data through many apparatuses including, planes, GPS/satellites, video cameras, drones, microphones, police, the internet, and most importantly, through its surveillance programs. One big surveillance program the government runs is PRISM, “a system the NSA uses to gain access to the private communications of users of nine popular Internet services” (Lee). Surveillance programs can allow the government to abuse their powers or hide secret information, which is why these programs should be limited, as they pose a threat to one’s safety and privacy.

People might not think about being watched when they’re posting personal experiences in their life on social media. The government has the ability and justification to go through a person’s social media site, listen to phone calls, and read text messages as a way of narrowing down possible suspects for terrorism. The privacy laws in America are what allows the U.S. government to search the digital world for possible threats to the country. Although some say that privacy laws help American citizens keep their confidentiality for medical reasons, also as benefits for social security, I still maintain that privacy laws gives the government undeserved power and can give the impression of being watched .

Imagine a world where your every move was being monitored. A dark world where it is no secret who you are, where you have been and who you associate with; now include who you love, who you pray to and what you just ate for dinner. The word privacy doesn’t exist in such world and it is such world that we are heading to.“Big Brother is watching you!” This quote by George Orwell couldn’t have been truer. Every aspect of our lives is being sorted through as Big Data this very moment. Government surveillance has prevailed by the name of security. But, is government surveillance of internet digital communications like social networks, cell phone calls, text messages, and emails really a public service of security? Or

Mostly everyone in the population owns a cell phone, which has a feature that allows it to be tracked. A perfect example is found on an iPhone because it has a feature called, “Find my iPhone” and once you turn it on it gives you the exact location of it. In the article, “That’s no Phone. That’s my Tracker” by The New York Times talks about this specific feature and the fact that the law enforcement requests for the call data (Maass 1). The article also states that the government has been monitoring the calls people have made and the location they were made. When the government asks for the data they do not need any search warrants when they ask for the location data from the carriers. The cellular device does not only track us, but also saves our text messages, our web history, and the amount of money we have saved (Maass 1). This helps prove that the government can use our own personal information against us, whenever they have evidence that we have committed a crime. The novel Nineteen Eighty- Four talks about having television monitors that recorded every person in what they did and said. The government used this to make sure crime rates went down and that fugitives were easily found (Maass 1). In the article it also states that we have been using our cell phones more for web browsing, playing games, and listening to music rather than making phone calls (Maass 1). This is honestly true

Though the consequences of citizen’s actions through technology today are not as severe or are non punishable, they do not take the government’s surveillance as seriously as the citizens of Oceania did in 1984. One NSA system can reach about 75% of all US Internet traffic, communications by foreigners and Americans (Gorman n. pag.). The US government's defense to surveillance claims is that the justification is National Security (Calamur n. pag.)., and this may be true, but the question of the freedom to privacy ratio, as a free nation, is still undecided. One way surveillance is now even more accessible is due to Google Glass. "With Google Glass, nobody's pointing a camera... phone. You no longer know if you're being filmed... an unspoken social rule is being violated" (Brown 42). and gives the government the ability to see from the point of view of anyone. With most every person you meet having quick access to some sort of recordable technology, it is easy to have your actions recorded or documented without your knowledge. The information can be easily spread around the world without your knowing or permission with just a simple touch. As said before, “.....an unspoken social rule is being violated” (Brown 42), taking away the sense of privacy and security felt by many Americans. Another form of surveillance, used by specifically the NYPD, is the use of undercover cops. Since The Occupy Wall Street

The government looks at our emails, text messages, listens to our phone calls and other similar communication devices. “The U.S. has led a worldwide effort to limit individual privacy and enhance the capability of its police and intelligence services to eavesdrop on personal conversations. The campaign has had two legal strategies. The first made it mandatory for all digital telephone switches, cellular and satellite phones and all developing communication technologies to build in surveillance capabilities; the second sought to limit the dissemination of software that provides encryption, a technique which allows people to scramble their communications and files to prevent others from reading them” (Solove). How much of this did you know about? Almost all of our current devices already have technology that makes it an easy access for the government to know about all of your conversations.

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.

The United States is not surveillance society, but the government’s ability to collect data and “spy” on its people has reached an all time high in the digital age. Americans must continue to discuss and debate the government’s ability and limits in monitoring its citizens in the modern day. ()

Is anyone’s private information contained in their cell phone actually private? Are appointments, bank information, conversations, the user’s location or other sensitive personal information truly confidential? Is there a Big Brother watching? There is no definitive answer to any of these questions. From the beginning of time to now, privacy has become more and more scarce. Through new developments in technology, it is hard to believe that someone is not watching your move at any given moment. The government’s job is to keep Americans safe, but where is the line drawn? Where is the difference between having a reasonable doubt and accessing information solely because these government officials have the power to do so? The government has infringed upon the rights of the American people when it comes to this topic.

How has the U.S. surveillance changed in the past 10 years? Surveillance is defined as a “close kept watch over someone or something.” The use of surveillance has always been there since the days of following someone from their home to work and back, but surveillance and technology have been combined together now. Spying and policing agencies no longer have the need to use of following anyone or listening to their conversations through walls, watching them from distance, and even going through a suspect’s garbage to gather information. The capabilities of government spying are very wide such as computer hacking skills, domestic drone surveillance, and data gathering through cell phone companies. American companies such as Skype, Facebook, Google and many mobile carriers companies reportedly have been turning over user information to government. The important question here is whether spying on the citizens of the United States necessarily a bad thing or not? Also, what can individuals do to protect their privacy from being invaded by their own government? The answer to the question is that our right to our privacy does not exist anymore because everyone is under surveillance and the technology is moving up very fast in this subject and it seems that it is no longer about stopping terrorists, but it is only an excuse to build a surveillance empire.

Technology has become more accessible to the point it has become easier for government to watch everyone's move. In this generation technology takes over everyone's daily life, where people wakes up and the first thing is look at is the phone. A phone there are many things on it, like text, pictures and videos. Phones can do many things, but there is a possibility where the government can tap into a phone and look through it. The government can watch everyone’s: text, history, private info, and pictures. Government has no right to looking through people’s personal info because it violates Fourth amendment, Blackmail, and Creates fear.

In popular belief the people of America believe that the U.S. government has too much power because of 5 main reason. The six main reasons are spying on its civilians, taxing online buys, drones being used on its people, high EPA regulations, and Healthcare reform takeovers. 60 percent of Americas believe that the government has too much power because off these reason. The government has used acts passed by congress in order to spy on its people. The U.S Patriot act is the most recent cause of this. The U.S. patriot act is an act that claims to protect its people by watching them more closely. By viewing phone calls or text messages the government would be able to stop terrorists or determine many other things while they are

The Internet powers our country. Not only do hundreds of millions of Americans use it daily, our government and states use it to do important national and international business. Our government already utilizes it to monitor the activity of its people. This monitoring has especially risen after events such as the Boston Bombing and the attacks of 9/11. The main reason that the government does this is to keep us safe. If the government puts more slack on this matter, then it will give a chance for terrorists to complete their objective. The normal person does not know how many terrorist attacks may have been stopped in the past years due to this surveillance, and how many lives it may have saved. Therefore, we cannot let our government halt

Ever since the American public was made aware of the United States government’s surveillance policies, it has been a hotly debated issue across the nation. In 2013, it was revealed that the NSA had, for some time, been collecting data on American citizens, in terms of everything from their Internet history to their phone records. When the story broke, it was a huge talking point, not only across the country, but also throughout the world. The man who introduced Americans to this idea was Edward Snowden.

Thesis statement: Government surveillance should be stopped because it is an invasion of privacy and gives the government control that is not enumerated in the constitution.