Fighting Terrorism Without Invading Privacy

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Recommended: How is technology changing our understanding of privacy

“In the long, twilight struggle against Communism, we had been reminded that the very liberties that we sought to preserve could not be sacrificed at the altar of national security “ (“Obama’s Speech On…” 1). One of these very civil liberties, recently recognized by the United Nations, is the “right to privacy in the digital age”. Although the actions of the United Nations are not legally binding, it is evident that the right to Internet privacy is becoming increasingly important in the international world. Breaches in Internet privacy have become commonplace as Social Security and credit card numbers are stolen along with passwords to bank accounts and social media sites. Breaches in Internet privacy have become especially problematic in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom where the war on terrorism is a major issue and the Internet is used by a large portion of the population. To resolve the issue of the invasion of technological privacy while continuing to effectively combat terrorism, each country must find a balance between fighting terrorism and surveilling citizens through the use of a 5D plan: deterrence, diplomacy, disclosure, democracy, and defense.
Forty-nine of the 100 most popular websites collect data on the internet through a series ways such as logging in, a mailing list, and user profiles. Yet only 17 included a privacy policy and Election Privacy Information Center (EPIC) found that none were sufficient in protecting Internet privacy. ("Privacy Statistics" 1). Furthermore, EPIC found that one of the most prominent issues of these websites was the frequency that these companies sell personal information to a third party as well as the inability to change personal information. Even more impor...

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...ence Center. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
"Obama’s Speech on N.S.A. Phone Surveillance." The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Jan. 2014. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. .
Oestrich, Marc. "The Real Cost of Net Neutrality." The Heartland Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .
"Privacy Statistics." Databases in Cyberspace. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .

"The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy." The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. .

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