Thomas Jefferson said, “My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.” The National Security Agency (NSA), established by the National Security Act of 1947, exists to safeguard American citizens against terror threats and foreign intelligence.(National Archives) Since the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, the NSA, through the guise of the Patriot Act, has been investigating American citizens who are not suspect of law breaking. President George W. Bush enacted the Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 [Britannica]) in October 2001, but current President Barack Obama furthered its parameters via Executive Orders such as EO’s 13526 and 13549 (Federal Register). The Agency’s private investigations have caused public suspicion. This concern was validated by the revelation of the government’s collection of metadata (phone history), storage of text messages, possession of spy programs, and proof of the wire tapping of two-country related phone calls after Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, leaked private information to the public in May/June of 2013. (Britannica)
The September 2001 attacks on the twin towers will forever change how the United States will fight foreign and domestic terrorism. The implementation of “The Program” starting on October 4th, was set out to collect massive amounts of data via Internet and telephone records to ensure national security. Many people within the NSA didn 't even know about this program because it was so classified. The select few that knew about this program, had several different views about how ethical this program was. But many of them viewed it as an unethical practice and a clear violation of the Constitution of United States. But some of them viewed it as necessary to national security.
Decades of misinterpretation, secrets as well as a not clarified actions involving mainly the use of data collection, leaded the NSA, the National Security Agency of United States of America whose was founded in 1952 for the former United States President Harry S. Truman, one of the greatest questions marks in America’s society at 21st Century. However, limitless efforts made against national and foreign terrorist plots, cyber technology alongside of security advances, noticeable actions also a huge support from the government, created a notable and extensive mixture of feeling towards NSA within its purpose to protect the United States of America. Throughout this research, an examination of privacy and security issues regarding the NSA is made; are people really having a legitimate reason for complying? What really matters for NSA? Intelligence, systems and tools, are privacy issues the real NSA concern? What is really being traded off? Is NSA a helpful asset for the nation? Amendments, bill of rights, the gap that allows space for doubt, as well the incredible acceptance in some areas. Questions and points to be explained throughout the research and opinions from the same of those who have daily questions about what is really being done “For the Good of the Nation” (NSA home).
Under George W. Bush’s term, and shortly after the attacks of September 11th 2001, both the President’s Surveillance Program and the Terrorist Surveillance Program have been brought under scrutiny. Each of the programs authorizes the National Security Agency (NSA) by executive order to monitor phone calls,
Lately, in the United States, the controversial topic of privacy has been rekindled by several occurrences, including the recent NSA surveillance scandal. When government actions are questioned, the
In early June of 2013, all the main broad casting channels broke the story that the National Security Agency (NSA) was “spying” on United States citizens, and that communication in the U.S. was not private. Edward Snowden, formerly worked as a technical contractor for the NSA at the time, gave the media the information for the story. At the time of the release of the story, Snowden was in Hong Kong. This trip was a deliberately planned in order to keep himself from being immediately incarcerated in the United States. The NSA’s surveillance efforts were increased after the 9/11 attacks, and have allegedly kept growing since then (Gross, 2013). Whether the surveillance was in unconstitutional guidelines is something that is up for discussion now that the leaks have uncovered the degree of the surveillance that is, and has been, taking place. Other NSA Contractors state that the Constitution has been violated, but spokespeople from the NSA state that they are not “listening in” on conversations entered into by the average American, nor are they reading emails or other correspondence (Gross, 2013). The argument in the media and society concerning the NSA security leak is fixated on whether Edward Snowden is a hero or a traitor, but in order to make a judgement on that, one has to comprehend what Snowden actually did and how it affects society and the government.
In John Cassidy's article that depicted Snowden as an individual for his actions, spying domestically was an issue most citizens were shocked about. How can one agency see and watch all everywhere? Upon this declaration that was plastered along news threads and the media, Edward has been named a criminal under the law. His act of courage allowed millions to acknowledge the fact of not believing everything they hear. The National Security Agency's programs are now being questioned because of their dishonesty and lack of accurate information for the public. Because of Edward Snowden's undaunted exploit of private government files, tech agencies have furthered their search for better security so that their users can feel safe even in the midst of mass surveillance. Yet, despite several dangerous targets on his back, Snowden remains to believe in his action being done with pure intentions. Speaking bravely
First off, the topic of government surveillance has continued to be a controversy in it’s own regard, especially in the United States since the attacks of 9/11. Although citizens have remained uninformed of the true scope of domestic spying, some government employees have questioned just how far the NSA is truly reaching into the private lives of American citizens. For example, prior to Snowden’s leaks, U.S senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall had been stating vague warnings
The National Security Agency of the United States has created a confidential surveillance program named PRISM, operating as the world’s largest “Planning Tool for Resource Integration, Synchronization, and Management”. This program is designed to gather and process “foreign intelligence” that travels through the United States, by extracting data from some of the world’s largest tech companies and its users. The United States describes itself as the “Worlds telecommunications backbone”, which was explicitly listed in the leaked PowerPoint presentation of PRISM’s operation. By going undercover and secretively accessing file transfers, e-mails, videos, call logs and numerous other types of data, the United States government is enabling a watch dog on its citizens and creating the largest terrorist regime. These PowerPoint slides behold some very disturbing information in how U.S citizens are being deprived of privacy, leading to loss of agency. Restricting individuals to be watched all the time turns the human race into robots, as individuality is lost, and liberty and freedom begins to diminish. America’s justification for surveillance and spy activity since 9/11 was to fight terrorism and protect the population, but these documents have nothing to do with capturing foreign terrorists or improving national security. They are a means of control, and instead of indicating those as the elected and the elector, meaning that congress and this government was only created through the
NSA surveillance’s case must be evaluated through the multitude of frames as for legal, political, moral and organizational in the same time. The majority of contentious cases are influenced by a technological advancement, and in this case of information
The National Security Agency or otherwise known as the NSA, had sparked a recent debate of the fundamental amendment rights that American citizens have. To provide some historical context, the NSA in 2013 was exposed by Edward Snowden, a former contractor and employer of the NSA. He was a NSA whistleblower who divulged the surveilling tactics that the government had imposed on its citizens, as well as on many of its international allies. Many senior governmental officials had repeatedly stated the program’s importance in national security; however, many had also questioned its efficiency and validity in due process of one 's security. As a vehement believer of one’s individual rights, I do not think that even in times of war the NSA’s
We all value our privacy, and we all know that privacy can conflict with other important social values. However, in this increasingly digital and technological world, we are more susceptible than ever to government intrusion of our digital communications and data. This came to light in June 2013, when former National Security Agency (NSA) employee Edward Snowden revealed thousands of classified documents detailing the intrusive mass surveillance and bulk data collection of the NSA to journalists and subsequently the American public. As a result, widespread distrust and questioning of the American government’s data-collection programs grew among American citizens and bipartisan leaders who were also subject to the surveillance apparatus of the
The presence of national surveillance in the United States is a widely debated topic, and there are many positives and negatives to both sides. Although it has been operating for such a lengthy time, the true actions of the NSA were revealed recently in the Snowden Leaks of 2013. Many state that the NSA is good and necessary because they “have nothing to hide” and because it will prevent future terrorist attacks. However, others argue that the surveillance violates the Fourth Amendment and is useless. Even though there appear to be many pros of having the NSA operate as they currently do, they should be disregarded because such intrusive surveillance is unlawful, racist, and ineffective.
Throughout the history of the United States, the government has spied on its citizens by using NSA’s surveillance program. Under the program, the National Security Agency was monitoring calls, emails, facebook posts, text messages, and internet activities used by people all over the world; in order to fight terrorism, prevent social unrest, and to protect the national security.