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Is the American government trustworthy? Edward Joseph Snowden (2013) released to the United States press* selected information about the surveillance of ordinary citizens by the U.S.A.’s National Security Agency (N.S.A.), and its interconnection to phone and social media companies. The motion picture Citizenfour (2014), shows the original taping of those revelations. Snowden said that some people do nothing about this tracking because they have nothing to hide. He claims that this inverts the model of responsibility. He believes that everyone should encrypt Internet messages and abandon electronic media companies that track personal information and Internet behavior (op.cit, 2014). Snowden also stressed to Lawrence Lessig (2014) the importance of the press and the first amendment (Lessig – Snowden Interview Transcript, [16:28]). These dynamics illustrate Lessig’s (2006) constrain-enable pattern of powers that keep society in check (2006, Code: Version 2.0, p. 122). Consider Lessig’s (2006) question what is “the threat to liberty?” (2006, p. 120). Terrorism is a real threat (Weber, 2013). Surveillance by social media and websites, rather than the government, has the greater negative impact on its users. What is the historic context of surveillance, whose current form is electronic? We now know that the N.S.A. has no fewer than 46 surveillance programs (three in conjunction with the UK’s GCHQ) as described by surveillance reporter Julia Angwin (2014). For example: Prism collects data from the servers of U.S. technology companies Squeaky Dolphin (UK) monitors YouTube video views, URLS "Liked” on Facebook and Blogger visits Bullrun, a joint UK and US program weakens cryptography (2014, chart) Surveillance, however, is as old as man. Anthony Zurcher (2013) for the BBC said, “Chinese general Sun Tzu [in 544 - 496 BC] wrote…‘Enlightened rulers and good generals who are able to obtain intelligent agents as spies are certain for great achievements’" (Zurcher, 2013). Surveillance has been around for centuries. Ancient Rome had mechanisms for surveillance. The eavesdropping, of course, was done directly by people with no electronic mediation. Col. Rose Mary Sheldon (2000) of the Virginia Military Institute wrote that supply sergeants were employed to collect information because they came and went openly in the course of distributing grain. H... ... middle of paper ... ... E. (2011). The net delusion. The dark side of internet freedom. New York, NY, USA: PublicAffairs. Poitras, L, Bonnefoy, M., & Wilutzky, D. (Producers), & Poitras, L. (Director). (2014, October 24). Citizenfour [Motion Picture]. United States: The Weinstein Company. Sheldon, Col. R. M., Virginia Military Institute. (2000). Military History Quarterly, Autumn,pp. 28-33. Retrieved from http://www.historynet.com/espionage-in-ancient-rome.htm#sthash.iSybKnYa.dpuf on 11/29/2014. TEDSalon. (2014, June). Hubertus Knabe: The dark secrets of a surveillance state. TED. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/hubertus_knabe_the_dark_secrets_of_a_surveillance_state? on 11/17/2014. Weber, P. (2013, June 12). 6 reasons you should, and shouldn't, freak out about the NSA data-mining. The Week. Retrieved from http://theweek.com/article/index/245461/6-reasons-you-should-and-shouldnt-freak-out-about-the-nsa-data-mining on 11/29/2014. how we should balance national security with civil liberties. Zurcher. A. (2013, October 31). Roman Empire to the NSA: A world history of government spying. BBC News Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24749166 on 11/29/2014
With today’s technological surveillance capabilities, our actions are observable, recordable and traceable. Surveillance is more intrusive than it has been in the past. For numerous years countries such as the United State and the United Kingdom have been actively monitoring their citizens through the use of surveillance technology. This state surveillance has been increasing with each passing year, consequently invading the citizen’s fundamental constitutional right to privacy,. This has lead to the ethical issues from the use or misuse of technology, one such ethical issue is should a government have the right to use technology to monitor its citizens without their knowledge or approval? For this reason this paper will examine what the terms ethics, ethical issue and state surveillance refer to. Next, an exploration into the ethics of governmental monitoring from the perspective of a variety of ethical systems such as: ethical formalism, act utilitarian, rule utilitarian and subjective relativism model. From this examination of state surveillance through ethical syste...
According to John W. Whitehead, “The fact that the government can now, at any time, access entire phone conversations, e-mail exchanges, and other communications from months or years past should frighten every American.” (Whitehead). The NSA
Moving away from Foucault and Bentham, David Lyon has made a quest for other surveillance theories. He writes, “It seems clear that some constructive contributions to surveillance theory are needed. Surveillance theory cannot ignore the panopticon but it can surely move beyond it” (12). The direction as to where to turn is still an ongoing debate. Some have not strayed far and have turned to Foucault’s governmentality, others have turned to an Orwellian model, Deleuze, Baudrillard, Zizek, Arendt and Kant to name a few. This paper will turn to Henri Lefebvre and his book Production of Space as Lefebvre has become in vogue in surveillance theory and later in this paper will be useful in discussing helicopters and how occupy Mike Davis’s idea of Los Angeles creation of a ‘defensible space’.
Mass surveillance has a long history of religious extremism followed by the Nazi government spying on everyone to Soviet bloc using it during the cold war. Surveillance itself is not a new concept as it has a long history. It begins with record keeping and no...
All the developed countries (developing countries are also in no way lagging behind) the incidence of the people being monitored under various surveillance systems is high of which closed circuit television system (CCTV) is gaining dominance. For instance, the UK has over 4.2 million of them, giving it a ratio of one for every 14 persons and the USA is reported to have been installing it on a rapid pace in every conceivable location as town centers, schools, public transportation systems etc with a spiraling budget estimated at $100 million. With the terrorists attacks looming large in the wake of 9/11 attacks and despite the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the trends are going towards more and more technology oriented surveillance methods. This has naturally caused widespread concerns about the privacy issues and necessitated more evidence based research to inform policy and practice.
Richards, Neil M. The Dangers of Surveillance. Harvard Law Review. N.p, 20 May 2013. Web. 3 Apr 2014.
Surveillance has been embedded in our society since the beginning of modern civilization; new media has just enabled society to use surveillance for a different purpose. Surveillance is not new to our society. The concept of God, a supernatural being carefully monitoring our every action, shows the incorporation of the idea of surveillance into early society. Surveillance was essential for the production and distribution of goods - to ensure that wo...
Within any society, information gathering and surveillance mechanisms exist. The sophistication of this information gathering varies, but at all levels; the information gathered can be received voluntarily or involuntarily. The collection of information, whether it is surveillance received at a traffic road crossing, or satellite images from outer space, occurs every day. Everyday life is subject to monitoring, checking and scrutinizing. To find a place or an activity, which is shielded from some kind of surveillance device is difficult. The ability for governments to have such surveillance capabilities is due to the growth of computer application areas and technical enhancement that are central to surveillance. The ability of nation states to guarantee civil, political, economic, and human rights is made possible only through systematic surveillance of and data-collection about their citizens. The ability of a nation to defend its borders, against aggression depends on the ability of the military to prepare for such incidents, and be capable to react. The level of surveillance and information gathering that exists continues to be discussed by scholars. There are many perspectives when discussing surveillance in nation states, each discussing an individual aspect of surveillance, and its significance. Three such perspectives include, the role of the nation state, the military and the citizenry, and how each play a role in this debate.
According to Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary, surveillance is defined as a “close kept watch over someone or something (as by a detective).” Surveillance has been used ever since the days of, “Follow that cab!” From their primitive state, surveillance techniques and technology have evolved. Policing agencies no longer need to use methods of surveillance such as listening through walls, looking through windows and over fences, and even sifting through a suspect’s garbage. Because of the continuous development of new technology, policing agencies can hear, see, and track almost everyone and everything. As more and more technology is developed, who is to regulate the use of the technology and surveillance?
In times of great terror and panic, the citizens of a nation must decide what they value most: their right to privacy or the lives of the innocent. Government surveillance is criticized, however there are times in a nation’s history where, in order to ensure the safety of their citizens, they must surveill the country for potential hazards that might exist in the world. The government-issued program, COINTELPRO--a series of illegal projects during the twentieth century organized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation--while heavily criticized for its unconstitutional grounds--was justified because it benefitted the nation during a period of upheaval. COINTELPRO is popularly condemned by historians and professors such as Brandeis University Professor of Sociology, David Cunningham, who asserts that the FBI counterintelligence program was only a form of repression that allowed for the government to suppress matters that they consider bothersome (234) This however was not the case. COINTELPRO was necessary because of the great social unrest, individuals posed threats to society, and creating operations that were beneficial to the United States.
The United States government is up to its ears in the personal information it has collected from its citizens. Americans are becoming increasingly “aware of these slowly eroding walls of privacy,”(Hirsh) and more than half polled admit concern “about the overall accumulation of personal information about them “by […] law enforcement, government, […] and other groups,” though “they accept it as an unavoidable modern phenomenon” (Hirsh). The question is, how far is too far to trust the government with the collection, proper storage, and usage of this information? Studies show that “Americans believe that business, government, social-media sites, and other groups are accessing their most personal information without their consent” (Hirsh). People should be given the ability to admit or deny access to their personal information. The government does not have a right to use whatever information it wants for any purpose it wishes. Michael Hayden, once the NSA director for seven years, says, “Even I recognize that it's one thing for Google to know too much, because they aren't putting me in jail. It's another thing for government, because they can coerce me” (Hirsh). The United States government's ability to collect information about its citizens and residents should be restricted by what kind of information it can take, how it can acquire it, and what it can use it for.
In the modern day era, we find in society a ubiquitous usage of technology that seems to be never ending and forever growing. Included with this notion, the broad subject of surveillance is of course included. Contemporary surveillance, or more specifically technological surveillance, has been described as ambiguous; meaning that it is often misunderstood or open to different interpretations. The representation of surveillance within popular culture has played an impacting role on how we as a society perceive it and this raises certain questions that may reflect back on to society. The 1998 film Enemy Of The State directed by Tony Scott, Starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman and Jon Voight is considered to be a ‘spy-thriller’ blockbuster. Its central themes explore a range of surveillance techniques and equipment and also provides some insights, no matter how realistic or unrealistic they may be, into the real life security organisation; The National Security Agency (NSA). Using this film as an example and analysing how these themes are represented will hopefully allow us to key these ideas back to modern surveillance theories and practices.
Spying is nothing new to the world. History books tell us that ancient civilizations like the Roman Empire, Egypt, Chine, India, and so on used it. On top of that, 1900s regimes like the Former Soviet Union and Nazi’s Germany used spying tactics around the world wars. The main use of spying at that time mostly was for political and military advantage. These countries were successful on spying. However, in the 21st century surveillance is used in different and very complicated way. So many crimes and terrorist attacks forced governments around the world to use electronic surveillance to protect their own people. This electronic surveillance is very complicated and you don’t even know it is happening and you are the target. The US government is the main leader on this. For years the US government used eavesdropping and wire tapping to catch criminals (Landau 301). People debated on the issues, but it was left unanswered. In 2013, surveillance became the nation wide debate topic, once again after Edward Snowdon’s leakage of classified information from the NSA. From the leaked information evidence shows that NSA is surveilling millions of innocent people, illegally. Now, the US government took the use of surveillance to the next level. This level is unprecedented and unheard in human history. The government uses internet to surveil people’s private information; this got my attention and I started to search for reasons. And NSA makes only one argument when asked why they surveil. TERRORISM or CRIME. Then I asked myself; why surveil innocent people who have done absolutely nothing? In this case, I looked around some sources and decided that the government should stop surveilling people illegally. The government should find different ways to stop terrorism and crimes or they should only surveil people with history of violence. On top of that, people should also worry about big companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Citibank, and so on. This is because they have also our private information like the government and there is more chances of private information leaking.
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
However, government agencies, especially in America, continue to lobby for increased surveillance capabilities, particularly as technologies change and move in the direction of social media. Communications surveillance has extended to Internet and digital communications. law enforcement agencies, like the NSA, have required internet providers and telecommunications companies to monitor users’ traffic. Many of these activities are performed under ambiguous legal basis and remain unknown to the general public, although the media’s recent preoccupation with these surveillance and privacy issues is a setting a trending agenda.