Textual Analysis Of Big Data By Edward Snowden

One of the biggest concerns in the United States of America today is privacy. For its citizens, this concern is due mostly in part to new developments in technology and big data collection. Yes, this technology and data collection is beneficial for American citizens and is a step in the right direction for humankind, but to what extent? The CQ Researcher article titled, “Big Data and Privacy” by Tom Price answers just that question. More specifically, a monumental factor for technological advancement this article explains is the use of personal information by the producers of new technology and the collection of big data in this day in age. What makes this debate on the violation of privacy through the use personal information by businesses, as well as, the general population, is that big data collection is the staple of technological advancement and serves as a convenience for Americans. Although big data collection and technology serves as an extreme benefit in relation to convenience and societal advancement for those who use and consume it, how far will scientists, researchers, businesses, and the government push before it becomes a violation our privacy as citizens of the United States of America?

Examples include, for instance, large sets of Twitter messages or data extracted from Wikipedia. In their definition, boyd and Crawford (2012) further include the capacity to ‘to search, aggregate, and cross-reference large data sets’, further noting that big data, besides from its technical aspects, entails a cultural ideology, circulating around the notion that the accumulation and analysis of large datasets offers a new form of a more truthful, accurate and objective knowledge of the world (2012: 663).

In the twenty first century, everyone is gluing their eyes to bright screens, and keeping their minds and mouths shut. The public mindlessly releasing information through dangerous domains, like the Internet, poses a great issue. Citizens do not realize where their information can be used and why it is used. This unfortunate circumstance is seen in Peter Singer’s “Visible Man: Ethics in a World Without Secrets.” Although there is a sensation of isolation for the public in this century, there should still be a great amount of openness when it comes to social and political events that involve information, and the ways that data is collected for these purposes.

In the video with Jake Porway, he discusses the amount of big data that is available to the population, which is an advantage to everyone. He also discusses how another advantage besides assisting people pick a movies or a restaurant, is how social organizations can use this data to analyze particular occurrences and bring about change for the greater society (Porway, 2012). However, there are some disadvantages to big data. The data can be difficult to assess for those not experienced with using it, and it can be very expensive to hire someone to analyze the data Porway, 2012. The cost can be especially difficult for non-profits to afford (Porway, 2012). In the article by Peysakhovich and Stephens-Davidowitz, the authors explain how knowing how many times an article is clicked on in

The quest for privacy and security has always been a long and arduous one, as America’s citizens “no longer care” about the lack of integrity which the American government is showing towards its citizens (Sullivan). “When you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it.” Sullivan explains in Privacy under attack, but does anybody care?. After the National Security Agency was accused of “systematically collecting information” on citizens’ phone calls, emails, and countless other sources, “the news media treated it as a complete revelation” (Whitehead). People throughout the country protested and condemned the government—all while they failed to realize that we have consciously permitted the government to collect and secure our private information by “giving our personal information” to companies who ask for it, and by “allowing our personal lives to be posted on media sources such as Facebook and Twitter” (Washington). Ironically enough, we ourselves have

In 2013, it was revealed by Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency (NSA) was spying on the public through tapping phones and internet records. Snowden encountered an ethical dilemma when he had to choose between being loyal to his employer and informing the public about the mass surveillance. While the intentions of the NSA were to keep the American public safe, their method of mass surveillance is a violation of people’s privacy and ineffective at stopping crime. This can be explained by examining who Edward Snowden is, why he exposed the mass surveillance scandal, and what exactly the mass surveillance scandal was. Edward Snowden worked as a system administrator for the NSA, where he was exposed to a lot of the NSA’s secrets and documents (Greenwald 2015:

We all value our privacy, and we all know that privacy can conflict with other important social values. However, in this increasingly digital and technological world, we are more susceptible than ever to government intrusion of our digital communications and data. This came to light in June 2013, when former National Security Agency (NSA) employee Edward Snowden revealed thousands of classified documents detailing the intrusive mass surveillance and bulk data collection of the NSA to journalists and subsequently the American public. As a result, widespread distrust and questioning of the American government’s data-collection programs grew among American citizens and bipartisan leaders who were also subject to the surveillance apparatus of the

For years the government has been secretly committing surveillance. The FBI places wiretaps, monitors calls, and reads emails of millions of people. Whether they are trying to catch thieves or prevent terrorism, spying is a part of everyday life for the people of the United States. Before, this surveillance was committed in secret, with no one but the governments knowing what, and why it is happening. Then, in the 20th and 21st centuries, people began to find out. From the Pentagon Papers in the 1970’s, or recently Edward Snowden publishing papers about NSA surveillance, people are shocked and outraged by the new knowledge that we are not as anonymous as we think (Vilines, 1). Government surveillance has lowered citizen trust, increased

They used facts and arguments from various sources, such as studies and authors. As they are introducing the topic, they use the ideas of Lev Manovich to justify their argument that the name “Big Data” can be misleading. Manovich observed that Big Data has been used to refer to data sets large enough to require supercomputers, yet large amounts of data can now be analyzed on much simpler computers. Boyd and Crawford contend that the value of the industry does not simply come from the large data sets, but the “patterns that can be derived by making connections between pieces of data…” By relating Manovich’s idea, their argument made more sense. As computers become more advanced, bigger data sets look much simpler. But the connections Big Data makes are still valuable, no matter how advanced computers

Privacy has endured throughout human history as the pillar upon which our authentic nature rests. Yet, in an age darkened by the looming shadow of terrorism, another force threatens to dominate the skyline and obscure the light of liberty behind promises of safety and security: government surveillance. As an employee of the NSA, Edward Snowden broke his vow of secrecy to inform the public of our government’s furtive surveillance acts, but does this render him traitorous? To answer this, we must first ask ourselves, traitorous to whom? When the very institution established to protect our fundamental liberties intrudes on our privacy from behind a veil of secrecy, should such informed individuals resign from judicious autonomy and

The Oscar-winning documentary from filmmaker Laura Poitras is about Edward Snowden, the young man who, with top-secret access to NSA databases, made available to the public troves of sensitive data and more importantly insight into the tactics that the U.S. government is using to collect such data, with the potential to spy on any American for any reason, not just for terrorism. “Citizenfour” unfolds roughly in three acts. The first is a primer on how the US War on Terror has encouraged the National Security Agency to expand its reach and invade upon private communications, sometimes unconstitutionally. The second act, the longest, stressful and most claustrophobic, concerns Poitras' trip to meet Snowden in a Hong Kong hotel, a trip arranged

In June of 2013, Edward Snowden, a former NSA employee, exposed the world to the many shady practices taking place behind the closed doors of both the U.S. and U.K. governments at the time. The National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies within the United States, were using illegal tactics in order to spy on their own citizens in efforts to determine possible threats. What was so shocking to the world was the fact that these intelligence agencies were doing so on their own terms and were operating without the permission of the public. They were hacking into people’s phones and computers and reading private messages. When word of this leaked to the public, the United States began to panic, as they felt that their every move

This documentary is about a very remarkable man, the former NSA intelligence analyst and now the whistleblower, Edward Snowden. In the film, we can know why Snowden wants to reveal those data and what his purpose is. When we talk about surveillance, people may first come up with an observation on spy and criminal activities but according to Snowden’s words,

Today, it seems as if everyone is connected through his or her own cell phone. With this they create data and information, intentionally or not using them. This information can be collected from applications, text messaging, and simple just walking around with a cell phone connected. This data may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and other association relating to human behavior. The creation and use of this data is what today’s society puts under the large umbrella of big data. This paper discusses the ethics of collection practices and use of big data.

This incident of whistleblowing drew both crowds; the ones that say that it is ok for the government to things such as cyber spying and the crowd of people saying that our government should not be dedicating so much time to infiltrating our personal lives. This ordeal started in June 2013, when Snowden released all the data through the internet “WikiLeaks” for the public to see. Until this date Snowden’s release of data has had tremendous effects on how the United States handles privacy and as to how other countries deal with their privacy and/or privacy concerns. The United States vowed to stop monitoring and recording data from phone users while phone service providers vowed to keep their customers privacy as