Searching Cell Phones

The Supreme Court held that without a warrant the police may not search a cell phone seized from an individual who has been arrested. A warrantless search is only

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.

Edward Snowden is considered by many to be a criminal, but there are others who firmly believe that Edward Snowden is a patriot, and rightfully so Edward Snowden is a hero to the American people and many abroad. The United States government has the responsibility to serve, protect and aid the American people, but sometimes the government and some of its classified documents every now and then get published and criticized. Edward Snowden had worked for multiple government agencies such as the CIA, NSA and prior to that an American contractor as a computer professional, and during his tenure at the NSA he had realized the grotesque and unprofessional ethics and violations of privacy against the American people, and so many innocent citizens

Imagine you are in the middle of your typical day-to-day activities. Maybe you are driving, spending time with family, or working. If you are like most people, your phone is at your side on a daily basis. Little do you know that, at any time, police and law enforcement could be looking at information stored on your phone. You haven’t done anything wrong. You haven’t been asked for permission. You aren’t suspected of any crime.

Based on the 4th Amendment, I agree with the outcome in Supreme Court case Riley v. California No. 13-132 that search warrants are needed to search a cell phone. This case started when David Riley was stopped by police officers on August 22, 2009 in California for a speeding violation. When the police pulled him over, the found unauthorized weapons in his vehicle, leading to the cell phone search. The police repeatedly found terms associated with a local street gang, this lead to his arrest. After searching the cell phone in the police station, the officers found pictures that linked him to a shooting that occurred a few weeks earlier. Riley was convicted for possession of firearms, shooting at an occupied vehicle, and attempted murder. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. The California court of Appeal affirmed this.

Protecting American citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures is the central idea of the Fourth Amendment; however, the Fourth Amendment may also apply to electronics. Classified organizations, such as, the NSA secretly collect information that includes, details of phone calls, e-mails, and personal Internet activity, although, in 2013 the NSA’s secret was revealed to the public, since it was not publicly known that the NSA had been collecting bulk phone data. The NSA later tried to defend itself and state that it doesn’t mean that they collect all personal records, such as, medical records and library records. In order for the NSA to legally store phone data the agency must first receive a warrant from the FISA Court each time it wants

When it comes to Search and Seizure, allot of people think that law enforcement should not be allowed to search or seize property. I have heard many arguments against this subject, people stating that law enforcement officers go too far or have no right to search someone’s property such as their vehicle. Probable cause is more than a reasonable suspicion it requires that a combination of facts makes it more likely than not that items sought are where police believe them to be. In addition to establishing probable cause for a search, a warrant must contain the reasons for obtaining it, the names of people presenting the affidavits, what is specifically being sought and the signature of the judge issuing it.

Should school officials and police officers be allowed to search through students phones? School officials and police officers should be allowed to search students phones. School officials and police officers need to be able to check students phones, so they can keep everyone safe. Some people think that school officials shouldn’t be able to search students phones, instead it should be the parents problem.

Why do government agencies need a search warrant if they can collect data from a cell phone and link a person to a crime? If they used a classified means to retrieve the evidence, they do not have to divulge it. A driver is not required to give permission to search a vehicle; however, police may view the denial as suspicious behavior and the vehicle is subject to asset forfeiture. The association to a group that does not have a common belief with the rest of society can mean ruination for life as in the case with the Hollywood eleven. Investigation of allegations by a duly appointed officer of the law, while not particularly fast and sometimes ineffective, is the means to ensure that individual rights remain secure as intended by our founding

The precise definition for the term “search” does not exist under current federal law. “The supreme court first defined a search in terms of whether a physical invasion occurred in a constitutionally protected area.” Does the warrantless search and seizure of cellphone records violate the Fourth Amendment? The 4th amendment is an important bill of right for citizens but unfortunately its drawback is prominent in that it promotes crime, puts society’s safety at risk and makes police job complicated at the expense of extreme privacy.

The fourth amendment of the United States talks about the rights of people and how they can secure their personal items unless they need to be searches by the police. The only time the police or someone in the federal investigation business can search your house is if they have a search warrant and a good cause to search your house. The reason they would need a good reason is because they have to go to the court to get one, so if they say that they need a search warrant because someone stole a candy bar from the store they probably won't get it. But everything's the same with your phone. Unless it is on school grounds.

Critics of Edward Snowden label him a traitor and a coward. They condemn him for irreparably harming government security operations and setting of a worldwide chain of events that weakened the American position on the world stage. While America now has blight on its records due to the leaks, the topic that should be addressed is should the whistle-blower, the man who uncovered and exposed the questionable and wrong activities, be blamed or should those who allowed the illegal and immoral activities be held accountable for what they started. Edward Snowden had the justification and conviction to do the correct thing and present the incriminating evidence straight to the public. When one takes in consideration everything that Snowden has lost because of his decision, there was little gain for him to make the immoral activities public. Snowden’s crime is breaching the trust of his government contract to expose egregious monitoring by the government on the American public. In an interview conducted by the Washington Post, Snowden speaks out about his goal in releasing the files: “All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed,”

Not for a bad reason, but a good intellection, we should embrace what he did and thank him for his bravery and skill. After what Americans found out, they were peaceful protesting near the White House, and supporting Edward Snowden. "In January of 2014, Guardian newspaper revealed that the NSA archived at least 200 million domestic phones texts" (US & Canada). This piece of evidence clearly states that even after a few months the truth really does come out. What kind of puzzle has this government got us into. Tricking Americans by saying that this was only for "counter-terrorism purposes." "The allegations dominated an EU summit, with Mrs. Merkel demanding a full explanation and warning that trust between allies could be undermined. She discussed the matter by phone with US President Barack Obama. He assured her that her calls were not being monitored now and that it would not happen in future." (US & Canada). People don't understand how Obama tells other world leaders to assure them, but we all know he's hiding something big. The phone call Merkel had with Obama was probably recorded also, yet the US president doesn't get his privacy. A article from theAtlantic stated "Edward Snowden is still stuck in Russia more than two years after revealing that the U.S. government engaged in mass surveillance on tens of millions of innocent Americans. If he returns to the United States he still faces the prospect of prison, unlike national-security officials who tortured or violated the law by secretly spying on their countrymen, or who have themselves leaked highly classified national-security information. President Obama shows no sign of granting him clemency to acknowledge the public service that he performed and the civil-liberties violations he exposed" (Friedersdorf). Obama is hiding something, why doesn't he want to grant a simple whistleblower amnesty for his exposement to

Edward snowden is no hero hes just a a inmature guy who needs have to have serious consequeces.Edward snowden the man who has leaked alot of the goverments information is still free after 4 years of the incident. “Edward Snowden a 29 year old former CIA employee and curent goverment contractor,has leaked National american information of millions of americans”(June.2013.p1)In this quote it says that Mr snowden leaked millions of americans information,How dare he leak all that Information!,it was all our private stuff and he just leaked like it was nothing.This quote means that he just cant leak all our information he needs to get penalized in page 1 it says that he has flled to hong kong china,they did not even stop him which is really frustrating.This

The government, specifically the NSA and Obama Administration have been embarrassed by the leaks. Their aim is to bring Snowden back to the US for prosecution and have him be the next target under the Espionage Act for whistleblowers. Under the Obama Administration there have been double the amount of people prosecuted under the act than any other previous administration in history since the enacting. (Greenberg, 2014) It seems that Snowden has seen an unfairness and gross abuse of power and has felt compelled to bring these things to light for the public interest, and for the global stage. The need for change from such actions, the employment of fear to strip the public’s rights and privacies, and the use of mining centers to take all our data to whatever government end has all been shown. They (the government) is not particularly happy with the revealed truths behind their hidden programs. The fact they label it under the Espionage Act as to say Snowden has aided our enemies in breaching national security is, to the open minded and intelligent, a cowardly move, since our “enemies” already have known