Information Safety and the National Security Agency

Edward Snowden. This is a name that will be in the history books for ages. He will be branded a traitor or a whistleblower depending on where you look. Many Americans feel that Edward Snowden is a traitor who sold the United States’ secrets aiming to harm the nation. Others believe that he was simply a citizen of the United States who exercised his right to expose the government for their unconstitutional actions. It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument.

Edward Snowden’s disclosures about the National Intelligence Agency surveillance extension is some of the most comprehensive news in recent history. It has incited a ferocious debate over national security and information privacy. As the U.S government deliberates various reform proposals, arguments continue on whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor (Simcox, 2015).

The continuous proliferation of information facilitated by the advancement in technology is a constant and continuous threat to information security and privacy. The various schemes and acts by the various government agencies in sectors such as health, finance and so on amongst other acts have constituted to information vulnerability and enhanced the breach of information security. Many people are of the opinion that the government has legalized spying on them, acquiring and using their private data at will. The confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of information has been greatly affected and many private information have been released to the public domain either

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

The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence organization for the United States that was established in 1972. The NSA is accountable for collecting, handling information regarding foreign, counterintelligence, and global surveillance. After condemning the Patriot Act, Obama renewed the Patriot Act signing a four-year contract. This was done in order to protect the United States from possible terrorist attacks. This allowed the NSA to legally monitor and collect “metadata”. Metadata is defined as data that provides one information about other data. The metadata that was collected by the NSA was telephone and internet traffic; however, the NSA was unable to listen or read their surveillances. If the NSA finds anything alerting, evidence

In the last two decades, national security has increased dramatically due to the threat of terrorism following 9/11. As national security has increased, so has the reliance on data and secrecy, however there has never been a method of keeping any form of data completely secure. The National Security agency has existed since 1952, however it was only until after 9/11 that they began increasing their level of civilian monitoring. For years, the NSA was monitoring vast amounts of data from around the globe, and it was completely unknown to the public. The size of their data mining was unknown until leaks from Edward Snowden began to come to light. Edward Snowden was a consultant to a private consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, at

The National Security Agency (NSA) has been a United States discernment org since 1952 when President Truman formally named it; in spite of the fact that the office has been around since World War I translating code correspondences. It is presently one of the biggest United States brainpower associations on the planet. It works under the sway of the Department of Defense. The NSA's primary objectives are screening , gathering, deciphering, translating and examining data and information of outside intelligences around the globe. This incorporates the associated people with terrorism in the United States.

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the

While working for the NSA, Snowden became aware of their extensive trespasses against the privacy of U.S. and international citizens alike. Upon considering the extent of these trespasses, Snowden felt that it was his moral duty, as he stated, “to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them”. His provided information showed the use of Internet surveillance programs, and the evaluation of phone records in the form of “metadata”. Many argue that Snowden’s leaking of information has hindered our government’s ability to intercept terrorist plots, by informing the world of the NSA’s capabilities, and therefore allowing terrorist groups to plot attacks beyond the reach of U.S. surveillance. In light of this, Snowden’s leak has indeed made us more vulnerable to terrorist attacks, but does this justify the NSA’s chosen use of power? Since Snowden’s revelations, it has become evident that the NSA consistently uses their surveillance abilities to unjustified ends. One function of the NSA’s electronic data analysis is to find targets for the military’s Joint Special Operations Command to strike with lethal drone attacks. Many innocent civilians in middle-eastern countries have lost their lives as a result of this military sect’s reliance on the NSA’s data, rather than human correspondence. According to an anonymous former drone-operator, the victims of these attacks “might have been terrorists, or they could have been

Edward Snowden released classified information from the National Security Agency. The information released by Snowden caused American citizens to question the legality of the actions taken by the government. Suddenly, people were concerned with their privacy and what information to which the NSA had access. Soon after Edward Snowden released the classified information, the government took action and declared several NSA practices to be illicit as stated by Beatrice Edwards (McCutcheon 113).

Terrorism has become a plague for many nations, and surveillance has become an emerging cure. However, this cure is extremely controversial and was classified as top secret until very recently. In September of 2016, a drama/thriller movie was published on an individual who revealed this classified information called Snowden. Snowden is the Hollywood edition of Edward Snowden’s story. Meanwhile, Citizenfour, a documentary published in October of 2014, is the historical version of the story.

TOXEN, B. (2014). The NSA and Snowden: Securing the All-Seeing Eye. Communications Of The ACM, 57(5), 44-51. doi:10.1145/2594502

In early 2013 a man by the name of Edward Joseph Snowden began leaking classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents to media outlets, which in turn ended up in public ears. These documents, mainly involving intelligence Snowden acquired while working as an NSA contractor, are mostly related to global surveillance programs run by the NSA. This has raised multiple ethical issues ranging from national security, information privacy and the ethics behind whistleblowing in general. The reach and impact of these leaks have gone global and have put in question the very government that protects us as well as the extent of the public’s rights on privacy. Various foreign

“You can't have 100% security and then also have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience. Society had to make choices” said President Obama. It has become a given in society that it is on the government’s agenda to procure its nation’s safety in exchange of the privacy or freedom of the people. Edward Snowden, a paladin of social justice, has now come to light with outstanding facts as for what specifically it is that the National Security Agency (NSA) is able and willing to do for the country’s sake. Snowden, a 29-year-old NSA ex-employee, worked from Hawaii on his computer support for the recollection of data in bulk from the whole nation . Under the name of Verax, which means truth teller in Latin, he

One of the major reasons why whistleblowing is no longer applicable is the fact that it does not fairly cover enough number of people. Taking into consideration the case of Edward Snowden who was a contractor of the National Security Agency and revealed a huge amount of information of the different surveillance programs of the government to the press. He presented the extensive phone and internet surveillance of the American intelligence for an estimated of tens of millions Americans (National Security n.p.). In Snowden’s case, the public is focusing on the whistleblower rather than the massive information he revealed. There are two opposing opinions about the case of Snowden wherein one side considers him as a hero while the other considers him as a traitor. For this reason, the supporters of Snowden argue that the Whistleblowing Act does not fairly evaluate the case of each individual since Snowden was charged as a criminal who violates Espionage Act of 1917 and a theft of the government