The Government is Wiretapping You

As human beings and citizens of the world, everyone values their privacy. It is a right that is often looked over and taken for granted by most. Since the beginning of time, there have been concerns about individuals’ rights to privacy and their personal information remaining confidential. Our founding fathers had concerns about this which is why, “…this right has developed into

Privacy is defined and interpreted differently depending on the person or persons involved. The one thing that is agreed upon is that privacy in all forms is a right and shall receive equal protection for all people under the laws of the constitution. This includes the right to our personal affairs to be let alone, financials, medical records, opinions, privacy of worship, privacy in our homes and intimate interactions. However right to privacy extends far beyond our personal lives and information being left alone and out of the public eye. In the past privacy was not something that was thought of so

Privacy, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is the quality or condition of being secluded from the presence or view of others, and the state of being free from public attention or unsanctioned intrusion. Interestingly, the Constitution of the United States does not expressly protect a person 's right to privacy; there are however some provisions to privacy within the Bill of Right and the Amendments to the Constitution. Among them are the first amendment, that ensures the privacy or belief, the third amendment, that ensures the privacy of home, and the fourth amendment, that ensures the privacy of person and possession.

Privacy (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/privacy) is being by ourselves. “The state of being free from unwanted or undue intrusion or disturbance in one's private life or affairs; freedom to be let alone.” “Freedom from damaging publicity, public scrutiny, secret surveillance, or unauthorized disclosure of one’s personal data or information, as by a government, corporation, or individual.” Having a state of concealed/secrecy.

Nevertheless the word privacy is being thrown around like a football. Americans are being deprived of their personal privacy. One example of this is, cellular device and Internet data collection and

Privacy is one of the most controversial, yet most essential topics in the discussion of civil liberties. Some treat it as a necessity along with life, liberty, and property, whereas other people see it as something that shouldn’t get in the way of things like security (Sadowski).

Privacy; the state of being free from being observed or being disturbed. Things such as credit card companies, ads on television, warnings on the evening news, and even locker searches at school all directly contradict the definition of “privacy”.

Privacy is what allows people to feel secure in their surroundings. With privacy, one is allowed to withhold or distribute the information they want by choice, but the ability to have that choice is being violated in today’s society. Benjamin Franklin once said, “He who sacrifices freedom or liberty will eventually have neither.” And that’s the unfortunate truth that is and has occurred in recent years. Privacy, especially in such a fast paced moving world, is extremely vital yet is extremely violated, as recently discovered the NSA has been spying on U.S. citizens for quite a while now; based on the Fourth Amendment, the risk of leaked and distorted individual information, as well as vulnerability to lack of anonymity.

The right to privacy is the protection against arbitrary government interference into the lives of its citizens. There are standards that must be met before the government can interfere into the private sphere of citizens; the state must prove that it has a legitimate interest in concerning itself with such matters.

Recent controversy has exposed one of the most heated and long-standing debates about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) warrantless wiretapping. Although that beginning of the program conducted by the NSA is unknown, it is easily assumed that the NSA has been practicing such surveillance activities for a long time, or as long as national security has been threatened. Nevertheless, the program started well before the tragic events that unfolded on September 11, 2001, with the Bush administration directing the NSA to begin secretly surveilling conversations between U.S. citizens and suspected foreign terrorists.

What is privacy? Is it the ability to be in a situation which allows you to do things without other people seeing you or disturbing you? If it is, then it is always being violated by new and upcoming technologies. One of many technologies that are challenging privacy is NSA Phone tapping. NSA Phone tapping is a program that allows a person to monitor whom a person calls and when a person calls. This program started in 1952 but required a warrant to spy on Americans. After the attacks on the twin towers The white house asked the NSA what they could do to protect American while still being legal. The White house allowed the NSA to track Americans calling a person from Afghanistan. The NSA believed they were authorized to track domestic phone calls and emails, eventually the attorney general decided the program was legal. Only recently when Edward Snowden exposed the NSA of their wicked doings there has been an unrest among Americans. N and advancing technologies such as NSA phone tapping has certainly negatively affected privacy in this era because it causes the citizen’s moral to be low, it can be obtained by bad people and it's ineffective.

Privacy is the state of being free from unwanted or undue intrusion or disturbance in one’s private life or affairs, also known as the freedom to be left alone (dictionary.com). The right of privacy is the right of a person to lead their life in a manner that is somewhat protected from public scrutiny. Privacy is a fundamental building block most governments try to uphold when it pertains to citizens. A person has the right to determine what information is taken about them and how that information will be used. In the novel Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, the right of privacy is a topic the main protagonist, Marcus, struggles with extensively due to the expert technology and surveillance available.

What is privacy? Can anyone truly have privacy in this day and age? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, privacy is “the state of being away from public attention” (Merriam-Webster). Privacy is very valuable, and sometimes underappreciated aspect of life. Here in the United States, there are many laws that are meant to help protect the privacy of a person. One of these laws put in place is the Privacy Act of 1975, which establishes “a code of fair information practices.” This act regulates the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of a person’s information by federal executive branch agencies. (Scott). There are even laws that protect particular private information, one of the most well-known is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

There are several ways to evaluate the term of privacy since it has an extensive and diverse history cultures. Privacy has been discussed by philosophers, anthropologists, journalists, legal specialists, governments, and organizations. The definition of privacy has changed over the years based on moral, legal, and social rules. Nowadays, technological innovations have overtaken everyone’s privacy, and the government and companies can track people in ways that were once impossible. However, the debate between the good and the bad of privacy was notorious in Greek society by the period of Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. LaFollette states “Socrates and Aristotle defend the view that a life of intellectual and private pursuit was a worthwhile life…

I define the meaning of privacy as a basic human right to be able to keep one’s personal information, activities and communication protected against public observation. Oxford English Dictionary defines the meaning of privacy as: “The state or condition of being alone, undisturbed, or free from public attention, as a matter of choice or right; seclusion; freedom from interference