Final Paper
Edward Snowden was an American computer specialist that worked for the CIA and as a contractor for the NSA. He disclosed classified files over several media sources, that were evidence that the NSA was collecting data from the phone calls and internet activities of most Americans. Snowden thought that by revealing these secret government activities that Americans would realized that their privacy is being invaded and that they need to do something about it.
President Obama insisted that the government is not invading privacy but is just looking for potential terrorist activities that can be thwarted by preemptive measures. Even after this statement by the President there are those who speculate that the government is "snooping" into their lives and monitoring their internet activity. Although there is this paranoia that the government is "watching", it may actually make people more aware of what they do on their computers and cause them to practice safer internet browsing techniques.
The legal justification for the collecting of this data is Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, which authorizes the government to collect domestic phone records. Section 215 expanded the extent of what could be collected and lowered the standards required to do so. The information that can be collected specifically from phone companies is the number of and length of calls made, but not what the contents of the calls is. There was also an amendment to this section that required law enforcement to have "reasonable suspicion" of terrorist activities before requesting data.
The Attorney General gives authorization for investigation in three levels, "assessment, preliminary investigation, and full investigation. For a preliminary inv...
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...t time such searches have been confirmed. The confirmation of these NSA searches on Americans’ communications also increased the difficulty of President Barack Obama’s initial defense of the wide surveillance that occurred in 2013.
It was reassured from the Department of Justice that any searches made under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, data will be used in compliance with guidelines and procedures, and it does not provide a way to get around the requirement of a court order before targeting any U.S. citizen under the FISA. A considerable amount of the NSA's bulk data collection is actually substantiated under section 702. This gives permission for the collection of communications without an individual warrant for each case, as long as there is a reasonable belief that the communications are both foreign and in another nation.
...rk with us. This can have a major impact on the economy, and may eventually lead to a weakened nation overall. However, it can be argued that the United States is not acting hypocritical through mass surveillance over the internet. While there's some overlap of the issues, the existence of surveillance does not cut off the freedom of speech on the Internet."One can recognize... there is a very large difference between censorship and spying... On some level, we know that spying and espionage is going to take place. This still doesn't mean we promote censorship." (Verveer, 2013) Undoubtedly, the censorship by the agency over the internet may make users think twice about what opinions to express, but as long as no major crimes are being planned, then the agency will not really care about what is said online, and internet users are free to say whatever they would like.
Edward Snowden is America’s most recent controversial figure. People can’t decide if he is their hero or traitor. Nevertheless, his leaks on the U.S. government surveillance program, PRISM, demand an explanation. Many American citizens have been enraged by the thought of the government tracing their telecommunication systems. According to factbrowser.com 54% of internet users would rather have more online privacy, even at the risk of security (Facts Tagged with Privacy). They say it is an infringement on their privacy rights of the constitution. However, some of them don’t mind; they believe it will help thwart the acts of terrorists. Both sides make a good point, but the inevitable future is one where the government is adapting as technology is changing. In order for us to continue living in the new digital decade, we must accept the government’s ability to surveil us.
After September 11th, Americans looked to the government for protection and reassurance. However, they did not expect to find out thirteen years later that the government did this by using technology to spy on Americans, as well as other countries. George W. Bush began the policy shortly after the terrorist attack and Barack Obama continued it. There have been many confrontations over the years about the extent of the N.S.A.’s spying; however, the most recent whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, leaked information that caused much upset throughout America (EFF). It has also brought many people to question: is he a hero or a traitor?
...ary of 2013 demonstrated that the government's claims that over fifty terrorist threats had been averted (Bruce, 2013) were misleading and that it was standard investigative procedures, such as informants, tip offs and targeted operations that yielded positive results in nearly all cases. The NSA input was minimal and that only 1.8% of cases where initiated by its mass data collection programs. (Bergen et al., 2014)These inefficiencies are what Matthew Duffin; assistant professor at Utah Valley University believes are unethical. (Archner, 2014)
Whether the U.S. government should strongly keep monitoring U.S. citizens or not still is a long and fierce dispute. Recently, the debate became more brutal when technology, an indispensable tool for modern live, has been used by the law enforcement and national security officials to spy into American people’s domestic.
... (2013). Obama administration asks Supreme Court to allow warrantless cellphone searches. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/19/obama-administration-asks-supreme-court-to-allow-warrantless-cellphone-searches/
Before all of the top secret NSA (National Security Agency) documents on which details of a global surveillance system run by NSA were breached, Edward Snowden was an American computer specialist, a CIA member, and an NSA contractor. Edward Snowden was a regular, wealthy, government employee with some great positions and credentials. He was an American born man and was serving his country. He won the Sam Adams award which is given once a year to an intelligence professional who shows great integrity to the CIA. Many other recipients of this award have also been whistle blowers like Snowden. Before all the leaking and background information is given keep the question of hero or villain in your mind.
...e administration plans to introduce legislation that would alter the N.S.A’s privacy breaches and end its illegal data collections. Citing an identical argument, that the government cannot indicate terrorist attacks that have been stopped by the intelligence gathering programs, a review group of the Administration “called for major changes to the program; the latter also concluded that the bulk collection is illegal.”3
Brazilian president, at U.N., slams U.S. for spying. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/24/brazilian-president-blasts-us-un-obamas-speech/?page=all edward snowden.biography. (2013, November 17). Retrieved from biograpy.com: http://www.biography.com/people/edward-snowden-21262897 MacAskill, E. (2013, June 9). Edward Snowden, NSA files source: 'If they want to get you, in time they will'.
The foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a United States federal law that outlines and defines the procedures for the surveillance and collection of physical and electronic intelligence in the United States of America. As with any search and seizure operation the surveying agency must obtain a warrant by a court judge to proceed with the spying; FISA went ahead and established its own court by which it obtains its warrants for surveillance. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was created under FISA for the oversight of all surveillance warrants by federal police agencies. This court is served by a body of eleven judges placed there by the chief...
The government gives each American citizen a set of unalienable rights that protect them from the government’s power. These rights cannot be broken, yet the government violates the Fourth Amendment daily to find ways to spy on the American public under the guise of protecting against terrorism. In 2007 President Obama said the American administration “acts like violating civil liberties is the way to enhance our securities – it is not.” Americans need to understand that their privacy is worth the fight. The people need to tell their neighbors, their congressmen, and their senators that they will not allow their internet privacy to be violated by needless spying. American citizens deserve the rights given to them and need to fight for the right to keep them by changing privacy laws to include Internet privacy.
To give the full picture of Edward Snowden I must start before his role in the government. Edward Snowden never graduated from high school, nor did he graduate from community college (Yann 1). In 2003 He joined the U.S. Army briefly until he was discharged when he broke both his legs in a training accident (BBC 1). His first job with the NSA was as a security guard, until he took a job at the CIA dealing with computer security (Yann 2). Edward’s final job, the one that gave him access to the leaks, was in Hawaii with a six figure salary (BBC 2). Snowden was a systems administrator, meaning he had the responsibility to go through the NSA database and move extremely sensitive documents to a secure location (NPR 1). His position was the perfect place for him to leak all the secrets the NSA held close. Edward Snowden’s activities were seen by the NSA the entire time, he didn’t have to hide that he was taking the documents it was his job (NPR 2). Mr. Snowden left for Hong Kong after he leaked his information, but once there he flew to Moscow because Hong Kong had a treaty with the...
In conclusion, Edward Snowden was justified in leaking the unlawful actions conducted by the NSA because he wanted to uphold the constitutional rights of privacy, which Americans are entitled to. While few may view Edward Snowden as a traitor for sharing sensitive information to the public, many commend him for his courageousness. Snowden broke the law in order to expose the unlawful practices conducted by governments officials. It is unfortunate to live in a society where the people elected to protect the rights of the people are the ones violating them.. It takes a lot of strength and courage for one man to stand up against the government, to protect the rights of an entire nation. Edward Snowden will go down in history as one of the most notorious whistle blowers
There has always been surveillance of the general public conducted by the United States government, the usual justifications being upholding the security of the nation , weeding out those who intend to bring harm to the nation, and more. But the methods for acquiring such information on citizens of the united states were not very sophisticated many years ago so the impact of government surveillance was not as great. As a result of many technological advancements today the methods for acquiring personal information - phone metadata, internet history and more - have become much simpler and sophisticated. Many times, the information acquired from different individuals is done so without their consent or knowledge. The current surveillance of people
This paper will examine the sensational highlight of the famous whistleblower Edward Snowden who has sent a massive shockwave around the world after exposing National Security Agency (NSA) global surveillance program which is known as PRISM which is used by the US government and private agency to monitor and record user’s activity on the internet not only on US citizen but around the world. This essay will examine the case studies of Edward Snowden and a will apply a set of comprehensive ethical methodology by Liffick top-down approach in investigating ethical scenario as follows: list participants and their action, reduce list through simplifying assumptions, legal considerations, list possible options of the participants, list