NSA Spying

NSA is a wire-tapping agency that is monitoring communications between the US citizens and people of foreign countries. Surprisingly, the internet giants such as Google, Facebook, Paltwalk, You tube, Skype, Apple and AOL are in this mix although they denied any involvement in the program. The US government under the name initiated the monitoring program under the name PRISM. Though the scheme was previously denied to exist, the US government confirmed of its existence June 7, 2013. The Prism project has been in existence since 2007 September and all internet communications through any kind of software can be monitored by this agency from the earliest windows version to the latest. NSA monitors every speck of communication. These includes emails, voice and video chats,

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.

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.

The NSA has been performing mass surveillance on United States citizens since as early as 2001. They have teamed up with AT&T and other mass communication companies to have access to phone records and internet traffic to keep an eye on possible terrorist activities (Electronic Frontier Foundation). People use their smart phones every day to talk, send email, and browse the web for

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

Whether it is calling someone on your phone or online shopping on the computer, people are more connected than ever to the internet. However, a person might be oblivious to the fact that they are being watched using these technologies. The NSA (National Security Agency) is an intelligence organization for the U.S. to protect information systems and foreign intelligence information. Recently the NSA has been accused of invading personal privacy through web encryption, tracking, and using personal information for their own uses and without permission. The surveillance of the NSA produces unlawful invasion of privacy causing an unsecure nation.

The NSA, or National Security Agency, is an American government intelligence agency responsible for collecting data on other countries and sometimes on American citizens in order to protect the country from outside risks. They can collect anything from the people’s phone data to their browser history and use it against them in the court of law. Since the catastrophes of September 11 attacks, the NSA’s surveillance capabilities have grown with the benefit of George W. Bush and the Executive Branch (Haugen 153). This decision has left a country divided for fifteen years, with people who agree that the NSA should be strengthened and others who think their powers should be limited or terminated. Although strengthening NSA surveillance may help the

Should the U.S. be spying on its friends? The U.S. government and so many of governments spy on their friends and enemies; the indignant news shocks leaders. October. 25, 2013, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany met with European leaders in Brussels express the concern about American spying. Germany was angry at the U.S. government for spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel. At the same time, Brazil and Mexico were also concerned that the National Security Agency is overhearing about their leaders. France and Spain summoned the American ambassador to investigate the spying issue in their countries as well. After a few days, Chancellor Merkel of Germany and President Hollande of France called for talks with U.S. on their intelligence relationship. And then, the situation of a lack of trust may destroy the transatlantic intelligence cooperation. Subsequently, President Obama engaged to mitigate the impasse to rebuild relations with its European allies. Personally, I do believe that the United States can predict the serious consequence of spying its friends until they realize. So, why did U.S. still take risks to do? Because it is necessary to eliminate the enemy in friends, safeguard national interest and benefit, and accomplish the common knowledge. In my view, the U.S. should be spying its friends.

The National Security Association (NSA) monitors the communications without warrant or viable cause, except for the threat of terrorist attacks. Allowing the U.S. Government to monitor its people violates their Fourth Amendment right to privacy. Not only is monitoring a violation of right, but the NSA is also keeping

Not only have the NSA been caught spying on American citizens but they have been caught spying on European leaders, most notably the German Chancellor. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is believed to be the most powerful European leader by US officials. They were caught spying on her phone calls when she visited Barack Obama in the USA. It is impossible to stop this because “the NSA can plant bugs on hard drives and other machines ”. US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that in some cases, US spying has gone too far. However that did not stop him from saying the extra ‘security’ was needed to thwart terrorist attacks.

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.

Government surveillance in the past was not a big threat due to the limitations on technology; however, in the current day, it has become an immense power for the government. Taylor, author of a book on Electronic Surveillance supports, "A generation ago, when records were tucked away on paper in manila folders, there was some assurance that such information wouldn 't be spread everywhere. Now, however, our life stories are available at the push of a button" (Taylor 111). With more and more Americans logging into social media cites and using text-messaging devices, the more providers of metadata the government has. In her journal “The Virtuous Spy: Privacy as an Ethical Limit”, Anita L. Allen, an expert on privacy law, writes, “Contemporary technologies of data collection make secret, privacy invading surveillance easy and nearly irresistible. For every technology of confidential personal communication…there are one or more counter-technologies of eavesdropping” (Allen 1). Being in the middle of the Digital Age, we have to be much more careful of the kinds of information we put in our digital devices.

The role of FBI in terms of a threat to civilian rights in American culture defined a major countermand to Roosevelt’s less aggressive view of espionage and the way it should be conducted outside of wartime methodology. In fact, it was not the CIA that sought to aggressively spy on Americans and non-Americans alike, but the FBI under Hoover’s leadership that defines the dangerous role of unlimited powers to secretive spying agencies in the post-WWII era:

Why is spying frowned upon when the U.S. does it? The United States is well-known as a sneaky nation due to the operations they manage such as the secretive way of gathering intelligence, spying. There are not many limits on the countries spying, because it is a way to prepare ahead. The United States of America spying may be considered as repugnant for the matter of losing the trust of a country with resources valuable to the U.S., however, spying is always an option to clarify suspicious activities and anticipate an attack and mold it to our advantage to protect the United States at any cost for the sake of the innocent civilians.

The cause of terrorist attacks like 9/11 tragedy the government has ramped ups the security and surveillance of the activist, journalist and dissidents. It is no secret that the government are able to have assess of people phone call records and text messages but for that reason that, activists avoid using telephones, instead they use tools like Skype. Which they think they are immune to interception but they are wrong. Over the last years there has been an industry of companies who provide surveillance technology to the government, technology that allows the government to hack into computers. Rather that intercepting the commutations as they go over the wire, instead the government now hacks into your computer, enable your webcam and your microphone and able to steal and look through documents from your computer. In the article “ Quasi- Constitutional Protection and Government Surveillance” by Emily Berman argues “ The government may collect and analyze unprecedented amounts of information about U.S persons’ communications, but without concomitant safeguards against infringing on individual privacy” (781). According to this, it indicates that all the access the government is able to see and how it is invading American’s privacy.