Privacy Vs. National Security

Trying to avoid a totalitarian, propaganda-based regime like Orwell wrote about, policy-makers still have to find a way to monitor technology and protect national security. The answer is not simple, but the key is finding the right point in the gray area that lies between complete and no privacy. American citizens have a right to privacy. They have the right to do what they choose without the government monitoring their every move. As Henry David Thoreau wrote, “That government is best which governs least.”

One of the most prevalent battles that the American Government and the American people have continued to fight over the years is the battle of privacy vs government surveillance. Questions such as, how much is the U.S. government willing to intervene in the citizens’ lives? Or how much do they really want to know, have caused many debates and is often times left unanswered. Once again these questions have taken center stage in the wake of the recent San Bernardino shooting. With 14 people dead, the search for answers is at its peak. Many questions about the incident have been left unanswered and it is believed that the answers to these questions are locked inside a phone. However, the phone company, Apple, has resisted decrypt the phone for the F.B.I agents. Many people stand in support of the F.B.I, while others are in support of Apple, including the signees if a letter who are associated with Pen America. In “End efforts to Compel Apple to crack iPhone”, the signees used premises to justify their arguments and

In today’s society, technology has become one of the most used and most sought after developments of the millennium. In a recent case the FBI petitioned for Apple to unlock the phone of Syed Farook, the man responsible for shooting and killing 14 people in San Bernardino, California. The FBI believed Apple should create a new software that would not erase the data from iPhones after ten failed attempts to unlock the phone. Apple replied that they had a responsibility and an obligation to protect the privacy of their customers. Supporters of Apple 's response have argued, creating a new software was not a wise decision. In the past, government agencies have been known for their abuse of power. Had Apple chosen to create a master key for this particular case, there would be no limit to government invasion of privacy. In the end Apple could have potentially lost costumers by changing the protection of their cellular products. The issue has already been raised that creating software to access one locked device could potentially open the door for hackers to invade millions of other people’s devices. I agree that Apple should not create a new software to unlock the phone because once a master lock is created there are no limitations to who or how the coding can be used.

The topic of national security vs. personal privacy, in recent events, has been very controversial regarding which is more appropriate. On one hand, the government can search through personal, private files without any consent from the owner, thus making the information no longer private. The opposing side argues that the government is invading personal privacy of innocent civilians, violating the Fourth Amendment Rights to prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures. Both have valid points, both positive and negative; however, the invasion of personal privacy by the law is only justified in a dire, life or death situation. The government should not have the ability to view private information in an everyday situation because it is a strong violation of the Fourth Amendment, it is too invasive, and it bypasses the limits of personal privacy when necessary. Therefore, the government should not be able to view personal, private information of civilians unless absolutely necessary.

Many people have looked at the debate over whether Apple should help the federal government access the iPhone as a debate between privacy and security. I reject that argument simply because forcing Apple to comply with this order weakens both our national security and our privacy.

An example of history repeating itself is the similarity of the sequence of events between the Palmer Raids and the NSA’s PRISM program. Both of these events in U.S. history started with Americans calling on the government for protection. The government then responded by creating programs to protect, but while working to protect the government in both events used illegal practices. These practices soon were leaked which caused americans to not support the government’s ways of protection. They even opposed it so much that they even took steps to terminate the programs.

Also in the same way, a very recent publically exploited investigation helped general population understand the threat of this action really happening. On March 28th, 2016 the Apple vs FBI case raised. This case was and still Is a quite controversial topic. See on November 2nd, 2015 the San Bernardino Shooting happened, and with this being said the shooter had an iPhone something very valuable to the FBIs investigation. The tricky thing is the FBI had trouble unlocking the encryption key( aka the password lock ;) ) of the phone, so they asked apple for their cooperation. The twist is in addition to unlocking the encryption key, the FBI asked Apple to install a backdoor on all iPhones in a new software update. If Apple did this a huge gap

At stake are two forces representing a critical dilemma of the post-2001 world: security vs. privacy. Fighting for security, the FBI is seeking “backdoor” access to the iPhone in question that was used by one of the two suspects in the San Bernardino shooting in December 2015. Defending privacy is Apple, Inc., designer and marketer of the Apple iPhone. The two suspects under investigation are linked with known terrorist groups, possibly ISIS, with definitive proof of these links locked away in the encrypted iPhone used by one of the shooters. Apple has built extensive encryption into its products, including the iPhone, in an effort to protect customers and users from unwanted privacy intrusion by hackers, either freelance or

Individual Privacy vs. National Security is something that many people have argued for years. Many people have forgotten what a disturbance September 11, 2001 was to everyone in America. This was the day that 2,992 lives were stolen in the attacks by the Taliban on U.S. soil. Due to this attack the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) along with the Federal Government has put in place many new security regulations. Many people have lost touch with why these regulations were put in place. As well, many people have lost touch with why TSA is using full body scanners and other security devices.

In December of 2015, the government wanted Apple to unlock and allow them to view all the files of a terrorist's phone. Apple denied their request and told them it was against the terrorist’s rights. This wasn’t the first time Apple was asked to decrypt one of their products. Apple protected the rights of the people by not allowing the government access to their personal information.

Imagine small third party companies watching every step you take and viewing your actions through your own cellphone camera that 's looking right at you. Watching you walk the dog, or drive in the car, or lounge around in the privacy of your own home. Here 's the catch, these party companies are making money off of you when your phone is in use, without your realization. These exploits are happening as the days go by, and no one seems to shine light on this subject. The main issue here is big companies, such as Google, are giving people free apps to download and making money. They do this not only by customers making in-app purchases, but for selling your personal information to third party companies who then make revenue by putting it on the stock market. I would like to acknowledge that the Government needs to illuminate these exploits these companies are constructing, other than playing along with them, as they are edging into violating our privacy as U.S. citizens.

Technology has greatly improved over the years. We can do a lot at the touch of our finger tips. In our pocket contains a miniature computer that is portable. Does the government listen to everyone’s calls? Technology is taking us closer as a society to the world of big brother.

Security and privacy is a huge debate all throughout our country. Is our security more important than our privacy? 56% of americans say that security is more important. If there is an attack on our country our internet history is not going to save us the National Government will. We just do not don't have weapons to protect us we also have peaceful organizations to help us out. Homeland security protect against terrorist attacks and other threats against our homeland, preparing and planning for emergencies, and investing in strong response and recovery capabilities. An organization may make cyber attacks on certain civilians civilians and guns cannot protect against that. How will the internet protect us? Exactly it cannot!

Nowadays, most everyone has a smartphone and these devices carry large amounts of private information including financial data, photos, contacts, messages, and even where people plan to go at certain times. When in the wrong hands, this information could ruin a person’s life. For example, let’s say a hacker gets into a phone and finds out the person is leaving their home for a week to go on vacation. The hacker could then use this information to commit another crime such as burglary or home invasion. If the person’s phone had proper encryption with no backdoors, this information would be harder to access, thus decreasing the hacker’s ability to commit the crimes. Encryption can protect the confidential data of our people and stop an endless amount of crimes as long as it is completely intact, without a “key” for law

After the Edward Snowden incident, this became appallingly apparent to the US people; and as you can imagine, they use today’s technology to do it. The National Security Agency (NSA) first began its reign of domestic spying on the private lives of citizens after 9-11, in an attempt to catch possible terrorists (How the NSA’s…). However it didn’t take long for the program to grow to include far more than possible terrorists. First the government got telecommunications companies on board to provide records an access to their systems and facilities. By doing this, the NSA now had unprecedented access to domestic and international private communication- it is claimed that the NSA captured up to 20 trillion transactions by 2012 (How the NSA’s…). The NSA takes the information and processes and stores almost all of it, yes almost all of those transactions at huge storage sites (How the NSA’s). What this means is that the one group that could be more powerful than a massive corporation like google, The United States government, has access to nearly everything anybody has ever said, done, or sent electronically. All of this without a peoples consent. Instead the nation is left to assume that the government only uses such power for the benefit of its citizens. Indeed it may help stop many threats, but there is something very eerie about the government’s actions being so expansive. In