The Importance Of Government Surveillance

In the world we live in today, the general populous is being spied on constantly. In the name of national security, our government is turning our electronic devices against us. This precedent was started in 1992 with the DEA collecting the metadata from all US calls to countries linked to drug trafficking (Heath 1). The DEA gathered the information without the approval of the courts, analyzed the data and put them into large databases and investigative reports. This arm of the DEA was only shut down in 2013 due to turmoil from documents leaked by Edward Snowden. From this point on many legislations have been passed authorizing the bulk collection of americans' data, which is a direct violation of our

The Internet powers our country. Not only do hundreds of millions of Americans use it daily, our government and states use it to do important national and international business. Our government already utilizes it to monitor the activity of its people. This monitoring has especially risen after events such as the Boston Bombing and the attacks of 9/11. The main reason that the government does this is to keep us safe. If the government puts more slack on this matter, then it will give a chance for terrorists to complete their objective. The normal person does not know how many terrorist attacks may have been stopped in the past years due to this surveillance, and how many lives it may have saved. Therefore, we cannot let our government halt

Ever since the American public was made aware of the United States government’s surveillance policies, it has been a hotly debated issue across the nation. In 2013, it was revealed that the NSA had, for some time, been collecting data on American citizens, in terms of everything from their Internet history to their phone records. When the story broke, it was a huge talking point, not only across the country, but also throughout the world. The man who introduced Americans to this idea was Edward Snowden.

One of the main purposes for government surveillance is to stop terrorists. However, it is not doing such a good job, which it was created for. Terrorists are still carrying out attacks in US and Europe despite the government having more access to surveillancing tools. Additionally, most of the terrorist plots that are uncovered are discovered through alternate investigation method not by government surveillance (Terbush). Two senators stated, "We have not yet seen any evidence showing that the NSA's dragnet collection of Americans' phone records has produced any uniquely valuable intelligence" (Wyden and Udall). The two senators are questioning whether NSA is effective in their methods in gaining crucial information, saying there are no evidence

Thesis statement: Government surveillance should be stopped because it is an invasion of privacy and gives the government control that is not enumerated in the constitution.

Everything one does on a computer or a phone leaves a trace. Records of the amount of internet data one uses and the durations of phone calls one makes are collected by service providers. It makes sense for telecommunications companies to keep these kinds of logs on their customers, because this is allows them to determine the amount on bills. However, other parties are privy to a much deeper level of information.

It is difficult to see how anyone could support government surveillance. Despite supposedly being solely for preventing and detecting crime, many innocent people are also subjected to it, which violates their human rights. The government have claimed many advantages to justify it, such as it allows them to catch terrorists, but a quick look around the internet will reveal that there are many more disadvantages than advantages. In addition to this, there are also many things to be wary of when it comes to government surveillance, such as issues regarding privacy, human rights and the monitoring of the government bodies that are charged with this surveillance.

The surveillance systems in place have the capacity to put all of our data together and determine what we’ve been doing, or who we’ve been talking to, ensuring that the government and systems in possession of our information have us in their grip (Lanier 5). This system arms the entities that seek to influence our conformity. The people in power have agendas and this is a way they can force the public to bend to their will. If an individual divulges material that the government does not want publicized the government possesses information that they can use to neutralize said person. No one will be able to ignore or even skirt the law. There will be consequences.

You are being constantly watched and monitored. Not a terrorist? To bad! Enjoy having your personal information documented 24/7. The government is spying on you.Two years ago, revelations from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden stated that the U.S. government was spying on Americans. Now is there anything regular people can do to stop the government from spying? Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a simple answer. There’s no way to completely block surveillance. Companies you may be familiar with, such as Apple, AT&T, Microsoft, Google, and Verizon mine your data for commercial reasons, but they end up giving it to law enforcement when asked. Staying private means keeping your data out of the hands of private companies that feed the government.

Many have argued that government surveillance is safe and provides security towards the United States. However, government surveillance programs do more harm than good because they invade civil liberties, plead innocent people to suffer unfair punishments, and ultimately fail to protect the citizens that they are designed to safeguard. For these reasons, programs operated by the National Security Agency and other surveillance organizations should be discontinued.

September 11, 2001 a plane which was known as “flight 39” was hijacked by four terrorists. This plane flipped over and spun into a field in Pennsylvania, killing all the people inside. That same day two planes flew through the twin towers causing them to collapse and another crashed into the Pentagon. This caused a massive destruction, killing about 3,000 people. This destruction was caused by terrorists from Saudi Arabia. They wanted to keep us away from another terrorist attack or any other danger there might be, so that's what started government surveillance. The benefits of government surveillance are national security, personal safety, and epidemiology research.

The arguments that follow the pros and cons of government surveillance seem to be never ending. However, it is no question on which society can have better control over; humanity or machines. From red light runner cameras to humor error versus machine error it all comes down to the government and Americans having more ability to make sure machines are doing a job properly and without bias than another person.

Throughout the history of the United States, the government has spied on its citizens by using NSA’s surveillance program. Under the program, the National Security Agency was monitoring calls, emails, facebook posts, text messages, and internet activities used by people all over the world; in order to fight terrorism, prevent social unrest, and to protect the national security.

Typhoon, bomb, Mexico, subway, sick, drill, police, cloud. These are just some of the words that can put you under the government’s radar. It only takes one of these words through a text message, a Facebook post, an Internet search, an email, the list goes on. The government is relentless. Privacy means nothing to them. It is simply another word in the dictionary. When one finds out that the NSA is able to view and read every text they have ever sent, it makes them wonder what else they could be doing.

As stated by Al Franken,"The government must give proper weight to both keeping America safe from terrorists and protecting Americans' privacy. But when Americans lack the most basic information about our domestic surveillance programs, they have no way of knowing whether we're getting that balance right. This lack of transparency is a big problem." The word Orwellian is a word that is used for describing government surveillance. This is an issue that many Americans have and have no idea that it is even happening too them. The government has surveillance on basically everything around you from your computer, to your phone, and even your email and search history. Through peoples electronic devices and cameras the government and anyone who can hack into these devices can know where you are at, what you are doing, and have access to all of our personal information. The government claims that they are surveying us for safety from domestic and international threats through our electronic devices. By acquiescently allowing the government to access all of your information and survey you, you give up all of your privacy because this information can be accessed by hackers and the government. Due to acquiescent citizens in the U.S I believe that we have already reached the same level of an Orwellian and totalitarian society like that of the society in 1984. Although the surveillance is not in the same form, through computers pictures can be taken of me my phone can record my voice and