Warrantless Surveillance Research Paper

Government surveillance in the past was not a big threat due to the limitations on technology; however, in the current day, it has become an immense power for the government. Taylor, author of a book on Electronic Surveillance supports, "A generation ago, when records were tucked away on paper in manila folders, there was some assurance that such information wouldn 't be spread everywhere. Now, however, our life stories are available at the push of a button" (Taylor 111). With more and more Americans logging into social media cites and using text-messaging devices, the more providers of metadata the government has. In her journal “The Virtuous Spy: Privacy as an Ethical Limit”, Anita L. Allen, an expert on privacy law, writes, “Contemporary technologies of data collection make secret, privacy invading surveillance easy and nearly irresistible. For every technology of confidential personal communication…there are one or more counter-technologies of eavesdropping” (Allen 1). Being in the middle of the Digital Age, we have to be much more careful of the kinds of information we put in our digital devices.

Part I: James Stacey Taylor's article, "In Praise of Big Brother: Why We Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Government Surveillance" begins reviewing the concept of "Big Brother" as it was originally presented in George Orwell's 1984. The Big Brother started off as a fictional character in 1984-- a dictator of Oceania within a totalitarian state. Set within a society in which everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens, the people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase “Big Brother is watching you” (Wikipedia) . Taylor goes on to explain some examples of recent surveillance technology and how it is applied in lives today. An interesting note and comparison between today’s technology and

1984 and 2017: Not so Different In George Orwell’s novel “1984” he discusses how the government keeps their citizens under surveillance to assure they are controlled and so they do not rebel or disrespect their form of government. Their surveillance consists of helicopters scouting around the buildings, looking into people’s homes

The Fourth Amendment makes certain that people are protected within themselves and “no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause.” Although the Fourth Amendment protects the privacy of people, today’s technology has led to privacy issues that need to be addressed. For illustration, when people comment on Twitter, Twitter and a few other digital companies keep all the comments a person has ever posted. Similarly, warrants must be used at all times if people are seizing information from someone, but searching through metadata does not need a warrant and there is no cause. Another issue is surveillance captures people with cameras, and people who have not committed a crime are still being watched, but security people do not need a warrant

Invasion of Privacy 1984 has come to life in many cases for the United States. One of the big issues is the public’s privacy in the US, or lack of it in better words. The government spies in on its people in more ways than one, and it’s not just one

According to the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Yet, in the United States at this very moment, the government is collecting information on everyone who makes a call, sends an email, plays a video game, or even owns a computer. They are in people’s houses without actually having to be there. This collection of information is unlawful, and unconstitutional, violating exactly what the government

The last state to allow a warrantless arrest of a domestic disturbance is California. About 1996 the law modified allowing for a warrantless arrest for domestic brutality offenders. Allowing for a warrantless arrest does not assure that law enforcements will make an arrest in a domestic disturbance incident. In California,

The New York Times addresses that your phone is being tracked by the government, they explain the government supervises through our phones as well through our messages.. (Maass,Rajagopalan 66). This is another example that the government is starting to get more and more access to popular accessories that citizens use to spy on them. “...Google’s privacy protections are false he supports this claim by stating law enforcement agencies seem to have easy access to the data.” (Henderson 72). This article shows how websites claiming to protect your information give law enforcement easy access to invade your privacy and obtain your information. The discussion of power and control of the government seen in George Orwell’s 1984 almost directly parallels the government in our modern day society. Technology is used to exploit the unaware citizens under the government. Resources given to those with legal power use this power with an illegal advantage.The violation of the 4th amendment by the government shows how our private rights are being

Touched by Technology Do you know who is tracking your movements when your turn on your cell phone, or what is being done with that information? These are questions that I recently had to ask myself after reading two insightful articles. The first was by Ronald Bailey called “Your Cellphone is

If the US does not change their viewpoint on spying on innocent citizens lives we might find ourselves in a situation similar to the society present in the novel 1984. Overall, the use of surveillance to control citizens is noticeably present in both 1984 and the present day society as in both cases these governments monitor citizens, turn on those who speak out, and use a paranoia as reasoning to

Technological Surveillance In an age where instant communication and technology provide easy and ready access to information, the society and the individual is caught between two very controversial principles- open information and privacy. The perceptions and expectations of privacy are rapidly

Many Americans inquire this question concerning their privacy: is government-monitored internet usage constitutional? Is it okay for the U.S. government to view American citizens' email, social media, and internet activity in order to prevent bullying, crimes, and terrorism? These are burning questions that many Americans ask in this digital age. Several Americans wonder if this act of surveillance may become an invasion of privacy and to what extent the government may use these surveillance technologies. Many innocent Americans believe that this viewing of internet usage is breaking the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which states that citizens have principal constitutional protection against government spying. If the government begins to view citizens' internet activity, is it a violation of every American's Fourth Amendment rights?

Domestic surveillance has put up a question about our rights we still have. With people listening to our phone calls, and text messages nothing is safe anymore. We have had our rights taken away and never will be the same again. It is important for people to know what domestic

That’s My Tracker.”, believes that the government is tracking everything we do through our own personal cell phone devices. With this type of advanced technology, cell phone companies are able to see exactly where we are at all times; this allows police investigators to retrieve this information from cell phone companies and find who they are looking for. The most startling piece of evidence from this article states that this form of tracking can help determine someone’s habits, as in where they go regularly, whether they go to church, or how often they go to the gym (Maass and Rajagopalan). When the government has this kind of access to our personal lives, how is it possible they would choose to investigate every person with their cell phone? Government officials would only need to use this technology for those who are suspected of committing a crime, not someone who is simply enjoying their leisure time without the stress of school or

Throughout history each new-fangled communication revolution arrived with warnings and forecasts of the upcoming termination of civilization as we know it. In Nikki Swartz article “Mobile Phone Tracking Scrutinized," and "Reach Out and Track Someone," published by Terry J. Allen, are two articles that address the topic of accessible cell phone tracking data. Both of the articles list the companies who are guilty of obtaining and possessing the information of people’s whereabouts via cellphones. Swartz scrutiny on whether cell phone tracking by the government is right or wrong, and Allen’s belief that unauthorized phone tracking should be allowed and that law enforcement and government use this information to solve crimes and aid in putting the people who do horrible things in our society away, have forced me to consider how cell phones have affected the lives of American citizens.