Government Surveillance Essay

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

When I think of what intelligence surveillance is things such as the CIA and covert espionage come to mind. Like the U.S. spying on foreign countries to gather intelligence, but it is not just foreign countries that are being spied on. The U.S. also conducts surveillance on its own citizens because of the rising fear of terrorism. Technology is rapidly progressing and techniques in which the U.S. Government can conduct surveillance are progressing with it. There are laws set in place that prevent

According to “A Surveillance Society” by William E. Thompson and Joseph V. Hickey, cameras are becoming more common to people nowadays. They are everywhere – in almost all government and corporate offices, and many social and public places like malls and stores. Britain has been the most active in this trend; putting cameras in some “trouble spots” for public safety. Additionally, since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States has been trying to catch up. The government then passed the USA PATRIOT

In recent history, one extremely controversial case of whistleblowing has been the government leaks caused by Edward Snowden, in which he exposed secret documents from the National Security Agency (NSA), for the entire world to see. The information he released revealed that the communication records of millions of Americans have been kept, whether or not these people had been involved with any suspicious activity (Greenwald). Snowden felt he was justified in releasing the documents, under his belief

post 9/11 era have grown accustomed to being monitored. Government entities such as the NSA and laws such as the Patriot Act have received power to do so in order to protect security of Americans. However, the founding fathers wrote the fourth amendment to protect against violations of individual’s privacy without reason. In a rapidly growing technological world, civil liberties are increasingly being violated by privacy wiretapping from government entities such as the NSA, Patriot Act and the reduction

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

Government Surveillance The fight to obtain a happy medium between liberty and security continues to be a hard fought game of Tug-of-War. Considering the profusion of various opinions and ideas on the subject of government surveillance there will never be a solution that will satisfy everyone but there is one that will satisfy the majority. There are many logical rationales on the proper course of action whether it is in favor of the National Security Agency (NSA), against them, or a whole other

The US government needs to find a happy medium when it comes to surveillance. According to the ACLU, “Our Constitution and democratic system demand that the government be transparent and accountable to the people, not the other way around” (ACLU 1). Of course the government needs to protect the people, but at the same time the government needs to respect the privacy of its constituents. The government is violating the people’s rights to things such as rights to privacy, free speech, due process,

United States of Surveillance As the late Frank Herbert once said, “Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Federal electronic wiretapping and supervision dates to the Wiretap Act of 1968, and has only increased in the following decades. Organizations such as the National Security Agency have been empowered by FISA (United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts) to bypass

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts) to bypass the authority of the Supreme Court in determining constitutional validity on searches. Government Surveillance is unjustified because it infringes upon personal freedoms, does not guarantee safety, and is not a vital necessity. Federal supervision of electronics has been prevalent since the 60's, and has become increasingly intrusive with laws such as the ECPA and USA PATRIOT Acts. These laws authorized the legal surveillance of foreigners, and Americans