The Government: The Privacy Act

The National Security Agency (NSA) surveils all communication that occur inside and outside the American borders. Such communication involves intercepting telephone calls, emails, and internet history. Their work on in depth surveillance doubled in force after the events on September 11, 2001 with the notorious terrorist attacks. According to the NSA website, their core values are honesty, respect for the law, integrity, and transparency(“Mission & Strategy”). However, many organizations argue that they disobey their own values through invading citizens’ privacy to protect the country. Evidence has been shown through the NSA’s forthcoming acknowledgment of their confidential activities, organizations stepping forward, and the country’s very own constitution explaining the importance of privacy.

"USA Today confirms: the National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth. With access to records of billions of domestic calls, the NSA has gained a secret window into the communications habits of millions of Americans." (Opsahl 28 Sep. 2013) It’s no secret that the U.S. government agency known as the NSA, National Security Agency, has been monitoring phone calls and Internet usage of United States citizens since the early 2000’s during George W. Bush’s time in office. During his presidency, Bush authorized the motorization of millions of citizen’s phone calls. (Tebbutt 25 Sep. 2013) The NSA created a secret program called “The Highlander Program” which was designed to monitor satellite phone transmissions on the Inmarsat network in the Middle East. During this secret program, the NSA did not monitor any United States citizens. Bush claimed the surveillance was limited to the al Qaeda, but that simply was not the case. (Forgang 27 Sep. 2013) Does the United States government have the right to listen in on civilian’s phone calls regardless of the reason? As seen in the media, most citizens don’t want the NSA to be listening in on their calls and other forms of communication. In Samuel Greengard’s magazine article, Spies Among Us, he explains, “The boundary between protection and privacy has always been fuzzy.” (Greengard 27 Sep. 2013) The point he is offering is

The American government exploits privacy for the purpose of looking for clandestine terrorists. This affects all the citizens that log in, and post updates on a daily basis, when in actuality a piece of their privacy is being sent to the United States Government. The US government has a very powerful and watchful eye, within the borders of the nation and the rest of the world. Privacy issues are no obstacle for Big Brother (U.S. Govt.). Privacy affects many facets of our daily lives; lesser things have sparked revolutions in the past. Privacy should be the central focusing topic for the public in this data age for all citizens of the world. Whenever citizens of America, or the world for that matter, log in to their computers, they do not realize the U.S. Government is compromising their very privacy.

As citizens of America, we are all entitled to our rights of privacy. When something threatens this guaranteed privacy, we tend to take extra precautions to prohibit prolonged violations. Over the past couple of years, technology has made a tremendous leap with new inventions and different kinds of devices to better your everyday life. But do these electronics help the government to invade your privacy more? There have been many claims and arguments of people accusing our government of listening in on our phone calls, reading our texts, and even using Amazon’s “Alexa”, a virtual assistant used in Amazon Echo speakers, to record and then send our personal conversations to the government. Many people feel that their rights have been violated with social medias, such as Facebook. Some examples are use of their automatic face-detection and spam ads popping up on profiles about interests one was just speaking about. Phones today now have biometric security on lock screens and also on apps within the phone. Many

Now, someone really is watching your internet actions and limiting your ability to get free, unbiased information. If an internet service provider wishes to, they can block certain sites that they deem ‘wrong’ or ‘controversial.’ “Companies might want to interfere with speech that makes them look bad, block applications that compete with their own, degrade or block access to union sites during a labor conflict, or increase their profit by forcing developers to pay more to avoid having their data blocked or slowed down” (ACLU). This is a violation of the freedom of speech. If those viable opinions or facts are unable to be heard or seen, then the whole world loses out on valuable knowledge and viewpoints. Sadly, this reality is a real possibility now. The government not only has the duty to stay out of private internet usage, but also to ensure that all other interested parties do to. The government must protect the rights and freedoms of its

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

The right to privacy and protection from government abusing power has been a debatable topic for centuries. Many American people struggled for years, arguing in courts, and proving their right to privacy and protection. It is the fourth amendment that clearly states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated-…” So shouldn’t the government refrain from violating this rule? Not according to the FBI. In December 2015, the FBI recovered an iPhone (Apple Inc. cellphone product) at the crime scene of a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. The iPhone was claim to belong to one of the terrorists involved in the attack. The FBI has contacted Apple requesting that the company disables the security feature on the iPhone they obtained at the crime scene. Apple declines the requests with the thought of its customer’s privacy in mind. Even though the FBI does have probably cause, forcing the company to comply to their request will contradict Apple’s privacy policies that are insured to their customers. Should the government be allowed to force Apple to betray their customers?

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

The government places emphasis on “freedom” in America, in face of evidence that presents the deceptiveness of our dignitary. Although the word “freedom” lies between our country’s documents and beliefs, the NSA (National Security Agency) tramples what took years of bloodshed and development to circumvent its citizen’s privacy through surveillance. According to internetworldstats, 13% of American citizens don’t use the internet, meaning that 87% of our population is at risk of surveillance. Therefore, the US Government should tighten laws to restrict or stop NSA surveillance on the public.

For the past few decades, the relationship between the government and the people’s personal privacy has been a widely controversial topic in the United States. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, privacy is the state of being away from the public’s attention. The right to privacy is becoming increasingly harder for individuals to keep hold of, and a primary cause of this is the widening of the scope of the government for the sake of national security. For over a decade, there has been ethical abuse by the United States government which costs the taxpayers money and threatens the future privacy of the people. Ever since the tragic attacks on the country in September of 2001, the government, under the pretense of preserving national security and preventing future terrorist attacks, has been passing ill-defined legislation and launching undisclosed programs which overstep constitutional boundaries and impede on citizens’ rights. These initiatives place a burden on the government’s budget and employ funds which could serve a better purpose if invested into more justifiable causes. The issue of government interference will only progress as technological advancements over time make the illegal tracking, surveillance, and obtainment of private information more effective and efficient. The United States government must take a step back, halt illegal and unconstitutional programs, and seek congressional approval before making any future decisions which affect

The current situation of the surveillance of citizens in the United States by government is very hostile and confusing.1 The government is allowed to intervene in our day-to-day lives through our phone calls, internet searches, social media posts, online purchases, text messages and any other broadcasted or internet-based sources. The United States is split between wanting to feel safe and secure, and wanting privacy and individual freedom. This split in ideology is currently being manifested in Washington.

Technology in the twenty-first century is advancing to the point where almost everything is saved electronically. It’s very helpful and convenient to have all of your personal information available to you all the time and being able to talk to anybody no matter where they are. But being able to do all these things so easily comes with a price, your privacy. Everything that you save on your computer, tablet, Ipad, and etc is now available to the government whether you know it or not. Every private thing that you do electronically can be invaded by the government without your consent. Many of these private things are saved and stored by the government, where it stays for an unknown amount of time. Isn’t this an invasion of your privacy? Important information such as; bank accounts and medical information should be protected from the government. You should be allowed to have your privacy unless the government has hard evidence against you to think that you are a threat. And even then there should be specific circumstances that should be followed. The government shouldn’t have the right to look at or save information that belongs to you.

When is government spying and surveillance too intrusive? The American government often oversteps its authority and its rights but an issue most citizens are unaware of is government surveillance and how it oversteps the rights and ideas this great nation was built upon. In the land of the free, ironically government spying and surveillance is a major epidemic. The American government spies on their citizens with the modernized technology made accessible to its citizens and it is unclear how and what the government is using to get information on its citizens. The government uses modern technology like video cameras to watch and surveillance their citizens and our personal devices like our cell phones to track our locations. Our phone calls are often listened to or recorded and our internet history is often tracked and monitored too. This is what the 21st century in the “land of the free” has become to, a society with no privacy. But many Americans are unaware of the microchips that could possibly be inserted into every citizen in the near future and the threats they impose. Futuristically microchips could be inserted into every citizen because of its benefits when their determinants greatly outweigh its benefits. As mentioned earlier, the government oversteps its authority, so can we really trust them with microchipping? Microchips are an even greater threat to privacy in America because of its even greater ability to track people. Government surveillance violates our

A very important responsibility of the United States government is to protect and carry the safety of its citizens. Safety is a priority of everyone but so are our rights. Our privacy is a human right that should not be assaulted against. Of course, we must give up some of our privacy to have safety but with proper permission the NSA (National Security Agency) should obtain. The NSA is an intelligence organization for the U. S.and its sole responsibility is to protect information systems and foreign intelligence information. The NSA has corrupted our right to privacy by going through our technical data we use every day such as cellphones calls and emails. Our everyday life we use technology personally and even at work. Whether it is calling someone on your phone or online shopping on the computer, people are more connected to the internet. Although, a person might be unaware to the fact that they are being watched using these technologies. The NSA has violated personal privacy through web encryption, tracking, and using personal information for their own uses and without permission.

“More Americans disapprove (53%) than approve (37%) of the federal government agency program that as part of its efforts to investigate terrorism obtained records from U.S. telephone and Internet companies to ‘compile telephone call logs and Internet communications.’” (“Preface to ‘How Should Government Surveillance Be Regulated?”). Many Americans feel that their rights are being taken away due to government surveillance. Investigating terrorism is not a justifiable reason to invade the privacy of innocent individuals. There are more innocent people than not when it comes to terrorism, so the government search is doing more evil than virtue. Visualize your texts, emails, and other sorts of private information being searched through without warrant or your own permission. In other words, government surveillance is harmful because it increases the risk of criminal theft, deprives people of their privacy, and targets the innocent.