Over the past few years, government surveillance in the United States has become a widely debated issue with two completely different sides. The National Security Agency, a government agency known for it’s efforts in spying and surveillance, has been at the center of this issue since it’s founding in the 1950’s. The Cold War had just begun and the United States government was doing anything they could to find potential terrorists and communists. In fact, many famous people including Einstein were being spied on by the government to find citizens with potential ties to the Soviet Union. (New York Times - New Details Emerge from the Einstein Files; How the FBI Tracked His Phone Calls and His Trash) As the cold war came to an end in the early 90’s, NSA spying seemed to come to an end as well. However, their efforts stepped up significantly after the terror attacks that occurred on 9/11. After 9/11, the government was on high alert for anybody that could be a potential terrorist. The NSA quickly began spying on foreigners suspected of being involved in terrorist activities or associating with potential terrorists. (Wikipedia - Mass Surveillance in the United States) Soon after this, they started intercepting phone conversations and even internet traffic through a program known as PRISM. This program was kept secret for quite a while until NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked thousands of documents to reporters. (PBS - How Edward Snowden Leaked Thousands of NSA Documents)
While
Domestic Surveillance in the Unites States has been going on for decades without the public 's knowledge. Domestic Surveillance didn 't seem important in the eye of the American government. After the September attacks (9/11) congress started to treat Domestic Surveillance as a number one priority. After September 11th Congress passed a law to use military force for those responsible for the attacks in New York, NY. The go ahead with using military force did not give the President to use surveillance without a warrant. Congress started to pass legislation against counterterrorism efforts. The most controversial measures, including the 2001 USA Patriot Act that gave the US federal government the ability to collect and analyze private information that has identified itself with the United States of America.
The NSA program on surveillance began in 2001. This is when Congress authorized government officials to listen in on the phone calls and emails of those individuals suspected of engaging in terrorist activities (via the USA Patriot Act). It is designed to ensure that the intelligence community and law enforcement have the tools they need to track / monitor those suspected
The National Security Agency over the past few years was revealed to have spied on American citizens under what can be considered illegal or unconstitutional circumstances which sparked concern and outrage across most of America. This was first recognized in 2013 when the whistleblower Edward Snowden or traitor as the United States government considers him, leaked
With today’s technological surveillance capabilities, our actions are observable, recordable and traceable. Surveillance is more intrusive than it has been in the past. For numerous years countries such as the United State and the United Kingdom have been actively monitoring their citizens through the use of surveillance technology. This state surveillance has been increasing with each passing year, consequently invading the citizen’s fundamental constitutional right to privacy,. This has lead to the ethical issues from the use or misuse of technology, one such ethical issue is should a government have the right to use technology to monitor its citizens without their knowledge or approval? For this reason this paper will
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.
Friday November 11th, I saw many articles of history claiming that government surveillance has been happening since Watergate and after the 9/11 attacks. Jane Harman implies that security sparked from the mistake of not protecting enough (Harman). The USA PATRIOT Act gave the government the authority to research forms of communication prior to 9/11 (“Domestic”). President George W. Bush authorized the National Security Agency, NSA, to look into the media and is believed to be the largest intelligence agency in the United States (“Domestic”). NSA has a location in Utah that can hold about 100 years of international data (Maney). Also, Lauren Regan claims that the new facility will be 1.5 million square feet (Regan 32). It’s shocking that they’ve made that big of a
Surveillance and Intelligence skyrocketed due to the terrorist attack. This is a controversial topic because the intelligence agencies can break the 4th amendment or the right to privacy and spy on innocent Americans. The 4th amendment was broken by the NSA and was exposed on June of 2013, leaked NSA agent Edward Snowden. The leaked documents showed how the NSA was collecting phone records of millions of Americans and collected data on who has communicated with whom over the internet (bbc.com) making what the NSA was doing unconstitutional.
On June 6, 2013 the details of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance activities where given by Edward Snowden to the public; raising concerns of Americans about their privacy. Edward Snowden, a former employee of the NSA, gave the alarming details of surveillance programs in his interview on how the NSA accesses our emails, calls, internet activity, and anything else that is related to technology. In this system of surveillance the NSA can gather data from companies and tap the cables that are vital for moving around information from technological devices, they may also use their relationships with technology companies to get emails or information straight from U.S. servers. (Cawley, Kiss, Boyd, Ball) Nevertheless, the claim is
NSA was established on November 4, 1952, by President Harry Truman. At the time Truman was sworn in as the 33rd president of the U.S. after Roosevelt’s unforeseen death. In hopes to end WWII the NSA was established and helped win the war by breaking German and Japanese codes and encrypted messages. Ironically Truman died in 1972 when the CSS and NSA joined forces. Seemed to be all fine and well using surveillance for good and winning the war. The people were happy when their troops came home. Where the NSA systems down when Bush became president? 9/11 did happen but no one could predict or find information on this
Are the controversies true? Am I always being watched? These questions are typical questions that most Americans might be asking themselves for the past few years. For years, the American eye has been opened to everyday threats of being watched, monitored and spied on by the government. For some, this may not have come off as shocking as it may have had to other, but the problem is still there and problem is still there. The problem Americans face is the problem of being under constant surveillance by our “trusted” leaders. In America, government surveillance needs to be reduced.
The US Constitution came to life 230 years ago, but recent actions of the National Security Agency is interpreted to be defying the Bill of Rights by the government and depriving the citizens their constitutional right to privacy. However, when posed with the question: Do people want to live in a surveillanced environment like animals in a zoo, with justice and safety ensured but privacy denied completely ? , the answers vary in the community. The revelation of the National Security Agency's massive
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.
Keeping the United States of America safe from foreign threats is far from an easy task. However, preventing domestic threats is a much more complicated and delicate one. Government organizations such as the National Security Agency [NSA] are known to have invaded our privacy through our connection to technology. The NSA has publicly admitted to the surveillance. Due to media coverage, the NSA is often viewed as the main agency that bulk collects data. Emails, phone calls, and even our text messages have been surveilled under an NSA program known as “PRISM” (“Domestic Surveillance Techniques”). Everyday government organizations invade our privacy for the sake of national security in an attempt to defend us from domestic threats, but it seems they often take surveillance a step too far. United States citizens should understand legality of these actions, as well as the purpose this data collection serves.
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
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.