Pros And Cons Of Government Surveillance

"Our nation was founded and still thrives on the basic ideas of freedom of speech and privacy. However, it has recently been revealed that the NSA and CIA are searching through many American’s emails, phone conversations, and browser histories. Although this may seem shocking, this was not the first time the American government hampered the freedom of speech. During WWII, a massive censorship program was put in place, and thousands of American’s letters were read and “adjusted” to make sure no sensitive information was being leaked.

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

The US government justifies the invasion to the privacy of their citizens saying it is a matter of security to the country. All of these privacy invasion started days after the 9/11 attack. The government and the NSA say this is a matter of safety for the US, by tracking their people, knowing what they are doing and whom they’re talking to. NSA had been on court ever since the US citizens saw something wrong and all they do is deny what their doing and the only answer that wasn’t a NO was “If our people (NSA employees) do this it isn’t on purpose”. How come can you tell that tracking someone isn’t on purpose?

As a senate select committee on intelligence member, you are likely aware of the nsa’s information and intelligence program put in place in place a short time after the 9/11 attacks. Despite laws against it, the nsa took president Bush’s authorization to target people with known ties to terrorism as authorization to intercept phone calls and emails without any warrant. I believe this practice is dangerous and unconstitutional. It is obviously unconstitutional because it violates the fourth amendment.

Reading AOW # 10, explains a lot of reasons to keep your phone safe from hackers and the government. you can't trust anyone anymore. some want to do harm to others and others wants to help and do good to others, when they get too much power and can control it, then become evil. like the NSA ( National Security Agency). The NSA was a program that intercepts, decodes, and analyzes foreign communication- such as emails, telephone calls, radio, Morse code, and other “ signals intelligence”. The NSA is so big, that is stores billions of internet communication end cell phone record from the U.S. and around the world every day. NSA was created by President Truman in 1952 to code break the Soviet Union communication. no one knew about the NSA during the 10 years opening in the

The PATRIOT Act abuses the privacy of American citizens. It has denied the nationals of this nation of a portion of the essential rights that were guaranteed to them in the Constitution. The rights that the PATRIOT Act puts into jeopardy are intrinsic and it is the responsibility to secure our inherent rights. The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of Congress that was marked into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. Its title is a ten-letter acronym (USA PATRIOT) that stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. After the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon the United States has created relief controls

The horrific September 11th event, along with others, has changed the way people think about their privacy. The fear is so great that we are willing to trade off our privacy, in essence our freedom, for the sake of security. People argue that if they do not have anything to hide then why worry if the government is spying on us. Nonetheless, it is not about not having anything to hide. Simply, it is about

Technology is taking over the world as we know it. Orwell predicted that technology would take control of citizen’s lives and make them have no privacy, and honestly that is not so far off. Governments can access these devices and look at what people learning, looking at, and who they are talking to. There is not much that a citizen can hide from their government. Citizens do not have as much privacy as they did even just twenty years ago. With technological advances, the world could follow the story of George Orwell’s 1984. Video surveillance is something that the government uses also, although it is not as harsh as in George Orwell’s story, but still citizen’s privacies are being invaded. According to Alex Abdo, there is a United States owned database filled with every Americans information and every one of his or her associations (Abdo). Even the United States, which is considered a country built upon freedom, is monitoring its people. The American government even tries to follow everything that its citizens do. Governments even have 64 federal websites that are helping them follow their people’s browsing and buying habits (Zuckerbrod). Governments are using their websites to monitor what people are doing. This way the government can know everything from their people’s hobbies to who their best friend is. Technology is helping the government take away their citizens privacy.

Over the past year or two, newspapers, radio stations, and news broadcasts have been covering the rapid ascent of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS. But they have spread far beyond those material boundaries, reaching into the minds and homes of young people across the globe. These young people are led to believe that ISIS is saving the world, not harming it and that they must partake in the fight for religious dictatorship. They are instructed over the internet to perform acts of terrorism in their own country, known as domestic terrorism. Due to the dramatic increase in terrorist activity

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.

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.

“The consciousness of being at war, and therefore in danger, makes the handing-over of all power to a small caste seem the natural, unavoidable condition of survival” (Orwell). The world today is full of many dangers domestic and abroad. It has become a routine in the news to report on the daily mass shooting or update with the war on terror. We live in a world where being worried is justified; however, we should not give up our constitutional rights in the face of fear. The NSA’s dragnet surveillance programs, such as PRISM, are both ineffective and are surpassed by less questionable national security programs. The FISA court's’ approval of NSA actions are not only illegal, but exist as an embarrassing formality. Surveillance is a necessary

The US government needs to find a happy medium when it comes to surveillance. According to the ACLU, “Our Constitution and democratic system demand that the government be transparent and accountable to the people, not the other way around” (ACLU 1). Of course the government needs to protect the people, but at the same time the government needs to respect the privacy of its constituents. The government is violating the people’s rights to things such as rights to privacy, free speech, due process, and association (ACLU 1). These rights have been paid for through the blood and personal sacrifice of many brave men and women throughout American history. These rights cannot be surrendered so that the government’s job can be made easier. Security is important, but the rights of Americans are too hefty of a price to pay for it. Privacy, free speech, due process, and association are critical components of American society and without it, Americans’ lives and democracy are undermined. (Russel 3)

Government surveillance has not contributed to a decrease of percentage in crimes, but has created a controversial topic instead. Online surveillance has been an invasion of privacy, because everything the users access is seen without their consent. Due to the fact the stored data is not used, government surveillance in the united states has not been very impactful. Crimes and terrorist attacks were not stopped, and the mass storage of personal data within the last year has violated privacy laws 2,776 times (Government Surveillance 722). Surveillance online is not only unsuccessful in America, but in UK, and Canada as well. Out of every 1000 security cameras, only one camera is actually used to catch a criminal (Government Surveillance 722). However, there are several solutions that can be made to allow the usage of government surveillance without the violating the rights of Americans. Some of the solutions have already taken action, and will give users more freedom online.

Though the consequences of citizen’s actions through technology today are not as severe or are non punishable, they do not take the government’s surveillance as seriously as the citizens of Oceania did in 1984. One NSA system can reach about 75% of all US Internet traffic, communications by foreigners and Americans (Gorman n. pag.). The US government's defense to surveillance claims is that the justification is National Security (Calamur n. pag.)., and this may be true, but the question of the freedom to privacy ratio, as a free nation, is still undecided. One way surveillance is now even more accessible is due to Google Glass. "With Google Glass, nobody's pointing a camera... phone. You no longer know if you're being filmed... an unspoken social rule is being violated" (Brown 42). and gives the government the ability to see from the point of view of anyone. With most every person you meet having quick access to some sort of recordable technology, it is easy to have your actions recorded or documented without your knowledge. The information can be easily spread around the world without your knowing or permission with just a simple touch. As said before, “.....an unspoken social rule is being violated” (Brown 42), taking away the sense of privacy and security felt by many Americans. Another form of surveillance, used by specifically the NYPD, is the use of undercover cops. Since The Occupy Wall Street