Pros And Cons Of NSA Surveillance

NSA stands for National Security Agency. They collect and process information and data for foreign intelligence as well as protect communications networks and information system for the United States. (“What Exactly is the NSA”). We need the NSA because when they use their powers for good they can gather information for potential terrorists and stop what they are planning before people are hurt or killed (“NSA Intelligence Gathering Programs Keep us Safe”).

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

NSA infringes on the 1st and 4th Amendment rights. America was the safe zone: a lot of people came to the United States so that they would have the freedom to express who they are, what they believe, and their thoughts without punishment. Edward Snowden, NSA whistle blower, wasn’t allowed that freedom when he made it know what the NSA was doing with Verizon’s phone records. Snowden did break the law but he brought awareness of this dilemma to the average citizen, villain, and hero. In the end, it caused the NSA to change some policies but it doesn’t even make a difference because still the administration continues to collect data without a cause. Correction: the NSA uses surveillance to protect United States of America from terrorist, terrorism and terrorism related crimes… The agency’s interpretation: anyone and anything under the sun.

Under the Bush Administration, the Protect America Act was passed in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. As a result, in 2007, the National Security Agency designed and operated a surveillance program called ‘Prism’. The programs’ intent is to gather web communications from major United States internet corporations. Under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, Prism collects suspicious stored web communication and further employs communication companies such as, Verizon, to turn over all data that included court-approved terms, that indicated conspiracies targeted to compromise our national security. ("NSA PRISM Slides - IC OFF THE RECORD," 2013). Now, you may feel conflicted about their approach to securing our safety, but some are certain that this is undoubtedly a breech in our civil liberties. Lee (2013), states, “Civil liberties groups warned that the PAA 's vague requirements and lack of oversight would give the government a green light to seek indiscriminate access to the private communications of Americans. They predicted that the government would claim that they needed unfettered access to domestic communications to be sure they had gotten all relevant information about suspected terrorists.” Imagine we have a government that justifies spying on its citizens without any legal authorization to do so. The exploit our trust by suggesting that they

The NSA, The National Security Agency that is under the government control was initially intended to protect the USA by tethering through technology devices to attempt to pick up any suspicious activities. The problem is that many feel as if the NSA has no right to evade their privacy. The NSA should be penalize every time they do so, or should have some type of warrant, but only for last resort, or stopped completely. There are many other ways to go about finding troublesome threats like antagonist programs like CDT as I mentioned earlier. Having your privacy tampered with isn’t worth it. The NSA is not needed that bad.

The National Security Agency (NSA) has been an information gathering arm of the Executive branch since the Cold War and continues to be an essential part of ensuring the security of the United States. The public issue that involves the NSA is the spying of U.S citizens which can be seen as a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This was revealed to the public by the whistleblower Edward Snowden who released classified documents of activities that the NSA had been conducting in conjuncture with telecommunication companies, which angered many U.S citizens and received media coverage with a call for the U.S Government to restrict the NSA’s activities or at least for there to be Congressional oversight. This debate revolves around how much the NSA’s surveillance activities are actually used for national security as well as the constitutionality of the NSA’s surveillance. This all began after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 when there was a call for the attacks to never happen again and the adoption of the Patriot Act in that same year which increased the power of the NSA.

We have to be aware of the fact that the NSA is not just tracking us, it is seeing our emails, texts, phone calls, purchases and our internet activity. The problem is that the NSA is not

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

“It was maximally secretive from the start: President Truman created the NSA with the stroke of a pen at the bottom of a classified 7-page memorandum. Even the name was initially classified. Decades later, the memorandum that acted as the agency's charter remained secret.“(Friedersdorf). Because of this, the NSA has been shrouded in secrecy, which people disapprove of. “Despite its size and power...no law has ever been enacted prohibiting the NSA from engaging in any activity... In addition to being free of legal restrictions, the NSA has technological capabilities for eavesdropping beyond imagination.”(Friedersdorf). The NSA didn't want people to know about them or the illegal things they were doing. When the snowden files were released, The NSA had a downfall. If they were doing everything that was legal, they wouldn't have to hide everything that they are doing. While the NSA tries to support the US, many people still disapprove of their private records being

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 defend the country from outside risks. They can gather anything from people’s phone data to their browser history and use it against them in the court of law. Since the catastrophes of the 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 approve that the NSA should be strengthened and others who think their powers should be limited or terminated. Although strengthening NSA surveillance may help

The NSA’s program of collecting e-mail data is neither constitutional or legal. Though our Constitution does not extend its freedoms to those outside of the United States, the program still greatly affects the personal privacies of American citizens. A search warrant is needed to view any citizen’s e-mails, and from my knowledge and experiences, in order to obtain a valid search warrant from a judge, probable cause, and a strong certainty that evidence will be found in the area being searched, otherwise the warrant is invalid and cannot be issued; “searches are generally considered reasonable when…a judge issues a search warrant based on probable cause.” (2). This obstructs the rights every United States citizen is protected by under the Constitution.

Ever since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and an area in Pennsylvania, in which nearly 3,000 helpless individuals were killed, the U.S. Congress began to pass legislation that would strengthen the United State’s counterterrorism efforts. Less than a month after the horrific attack, the National Security Agency (NSA) started a “special collection program” with intentions to track communications among suspected terrorists and Al Qaeda leaders. Then on October 4, 2001, President George W. Bush authorized the NSA to monitor domestic communications in order to track down suspected terrorists. Two problems shortly arose from Bush’s decision: the fact that his authorization to NSA was carried out in secret and also that monitoring the domestic communications was done without a warrant. This proved to be illegal since the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act states that the government is prohibited from eavesdropping inside the United States without first getting a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court). In order to counteract the issues he had caused, on October 26, 2001 Bush signed the Patriot Act; a law that would expand the government’s electronic surveillance powers. After signing this law Bush stated, “The existing law was written in the era of rotary telephones. This new law that I sign today will allow surveillance of all communications used by terrorists, including emails, the

Edward Snowden’s disclosures have brought to light many secret government actions that were previously unknown. One of the most controversial government programs that Snowden disclosed was how the National Security Agency (NSA) collected virtually every phone record for calls made in the United States between US citizens. It makes sense to monitor phone calls to or from callers located outside the United States, because non-US citizens don 't have the protection of the US Constitution and monitoring these calls also might be helpful in identifying foreigners who might be plotting terrorist attacks in the US. However, US citizens have 4th Amendment privacy rights under the Constitution, so it is much more of a problem when the US government collects bulk information about US citizens who do not pose an obvious danger to the country.

“If you have nothing to hide then you shouldn't worry. This domestic surveillance is also directed towards non-US citizens. They have also already stopped 54 terrorist plots because of this surveillance, therefore, the benefits outway bad”-Unknown What does the NSA even do? The NSA domestic surveillance collects, processes, and stores U.S. citizen data for the good of the nation.

NSA cell phone tapping has many negative effects that are endangering the privacy of others and meanwhile lowers the morale of the people. For instance, cell phone tapping is causing an unhappy community because they are being relinquished of their privacy. Another reason is, If other people have this power it could cause many problems such as stolen information and it breaks technical systems, as the very protocols of the Internet become untrusted(Gale, Opposing Viewpoints). For instance, millions of people saw their computers shut down by ransomware with demands for payments in digital currency to have their access restored. Therefore the NSA doesn't trust the people that they work with because they could work for the enemy causing a massive cut in employees. Some of the ex employees hack into the program for revenge(New York Times). Lastly, The NSA has failed to pass constitutional muster and has been violating the Fourth Amendment by collecting information from millions of ordinary Americans without a warrant. For instance, the fourth amendment states "The right of