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Effectiveness of mass surveillance
Surveillance in the us
Surveillance in the us
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Counter Intelligence Programs, or COINTELPRO, were secret initiatives created for the sole purpose of infiltrating possible domestic national security threats government program created in 195 As the Griesa Document notes, the setting for the precursor to COINTELPRO was prior to the outbreak of World War II, as President FDR directed J. Edgar Hoover to avoid possible subversive activities by investigating alleged domestic fascist and communist movements. The order of command led this action to be taken up by the FBI, with the President ordering that other law enforcement groups turn over subversive investigations to the FBI. Effectively, this made the FBI the president’s secret police, ready to investigate …show more content…
The unimaginable amount of storage is scary to contemplate, yet is backed by both former President George W. Bush and current President Barack Obama. The United States simply cannot go into Vietnam because of information of enemy shots that were never fired. The United States cannot go into Iraq because of knowledge of weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist. It should not be moral to for example, monitor the phone calls of domestic “radical” groups and justify the NSA by the façade that it is simply an anti-terrorism agency. Leaders who aren’t representative of the people cannot lead us and institutions that reflect the same errors that COINTELPRO created 40 years ago cannot be allowed to run unconstrained of reform. The issue is that the US is indicative of a country, perhaps world, where people naturally categorize issues into dual conflicting ideologies such as: Republican or Democrat, bellicose or pacifist, privacy or security. The dilemma is, we don’t have the luxury to pick an absolute side, only to continue having open discourse about the amount of power the government has. While it is appalling, what our government has become, it is necessary to continue to debate opinions to avoid utilitarianism and anarchy, arguably two equally unbeneficial methods to govern a people. The mere existence of political spectrums affirms our abilities as a people to rationalize beyond absolutes. Therefore, upon reflection, COINTELPRO and modern equivalents are not inherently good or evil. The world is enveloped in shades of gray, and our goal is to balance freedom and responsibility. The scary aspect of this is that we don’t know what we don’t know. If a worker such as Snowden was able to access information on PRISM, what else is hidden from us, and do we want to know? In my opinion, the only way for
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was created in 1938. They were focused on investigating and putting an end to Communists and Communist supporters in the American Society. Their first major attack was on the Hollywood film industry. Communists in the Hollywood industry were said to be placing subversive messages into films. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and others like Senator Joseph McCarthy pestered communists and supporters of the Communist party.
COINTELPRO was founded by the FBI in 1956 as a government program for counterintelligence. The FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover, was instrumental in the program’s creation. After the age of McCarthyism best known as the Second Red Scare, Hoover was concerned about the institution of Communism gaining popularity within the United States. This gave way to the creation of COINTELPRO. The program originally focused on infiltrating the Communist Party within the United States and then instilling disorder and confusion via numerous tactics. The program mainly used espionage to allo...
“Mitchell Palmer started the General Intelligence” (http://law2.umkc.edu) or the anti-radical Division of Bureau Investigation on August 1, 1919, with Edgar Hoover another Justice Department employee. The mission o...
J. Edgar Hoover began a new phase of a counterintelligence program in August of 1967 known as COINTELPRO. The purpose of this particular program, according to Hoover, who was the Director of the FBI, was to expose and disrupt the activities of black nationalists, hate organizations or groups. Hoover obsessively used the vast resources of the FBI against black groups across the political spectrum, from the NAACP to the Black Panther Party. His justification was that African Americans who objected to segregation were communists. Given Hoover’s well documented antipathy towards black people, which was typical of a white conservative man with southern upbringing, his motivation was simply racism. The Black Panther Party was not originally on Hoover’s “Black Nationalist-Hate Group” list, but organizations such as SCLC, SNCC and the Nation of Islam were included. But the Black Panther Party became the primary focus of the program where they were the target of 233
The FBI's size and jurisdiction during the second World War greatly increased and included intelligence matters abroad. At the end of World War II, and the introduction of the Atomic Bomb, the FBI began working on background security investigations for the White House and other government agencies, as well as internal security for the executive branch of the government. In 1945, the FBI raided a magazine company that was particularly interested in the Far East and discovered a multitude of classified state documents. Around this time, Americans feared the invasion of Communism, which triggered the FBI to investigate people within the U.S. whom were suspected of sabotage and undermining Democracy in the name of Communism.
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.
With the introduction of the internet being a relatively new phenomenon, the act of cyber espionage is not something that has been properly acknowledged by society. The American Government has done a stand up job of keeping its methods in the shadows and away from the eyes of its people since its documented domestic surveillance began on October 4th, 2001; Twenty three days after the Twin Towers fell President George Bush signed an order to begin a secret domestic eavesdropping operation, an operation which was so sensitive that even many of the country's senior national security officials with the...
In May of 2013 Edward Snowden who was then working at a National Security Agency office in Oahu, Hawaii began copying top secret documents that belonged to the American government as he believed the documentation contained unethical and immoral content that he believed the American people and the world in general needed to know about. (Snowden, 2014) The documentation that he collated contained information regarding projects such as Prism, which is a top secret NSA surveillance program that has the ability to access the data servers of some of America's large...
In early June 2013, Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former defense contractor who had access to NSA database while working for an intelligence consulting company, leaked classified documents reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) is recording phone calls of millions of Americans along with gathering private data and spying foreign Internet activity. The Washington Post later broke the news disclosed PRISM, a program can collect data on Internet users. The leaked documents publicly stated a vast objection. Many people were shocked by the scale of the programs, even elected representatives were unaware of the surveillance range. A nationwide debate over privacy rights have been sparked. Although supporters claim that the NSA only does its best to protect the United States from terrorists as well as respecting Americans' rights and privacy, many civil rights advocates feel that the government failed to be clear about the limit of the surveillance programs, threatening Americans' civil...
In the 21st century, the world as we know it suffers from psychotic, demented, treacherous and, sophisticated crimes. This world would be corrupt without a tunnel of light if it was not for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, also known as the FBI, is a corporation that seeks fidelity, bravery and, integrity for the United States of America. The FBI researches shocking and concerning crimes the news reports about politics, war and, safety that we hear on the television about issues that are being reported to the people. These cases of transgression are missions the FBI analyzes, such as hacking information from double spies, locating terrorists, seeking pedophiles, cracking down unknown mobsters, gang leaders and serial killers, white-collar crime, public corruption, cyber-crime, counter intelligence and civil rights.
The C.I.A. has been in operation since the years of George Washington. Intelligence organizations have been gathering information from overseas for most of our countries history. Although there has been intelligence collection over the last hundreds of years for the government, the C.I.A. was just recently established as an official agency and at the same time, intelligence gathering was finally accepted during peace time. After World War II, the U.S. sought to establish a distinct intelligence gathering organization. After Pearl Harbor, the plans for the official C.I.A. where approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Before the C.I.A., the office of strategic services was in charge of espionage, sabotage and psychological warfare operations during the war. At that time peace time intelligence was considered unsavory. After the war President Truman tried to strengthen and promote peaceful intelligence gathering and sponsored the 1947 National Security Act to do so. The C.I.A. is designed for the purpose of intelligence gathering and analysis.
He called for a new organization having direct Presidential supervision, "which will procure intelligence both by overt and covert methods and will at the same time provide intelligence guidance, determine national intelligence objectives, and correlate the intelligence material collected by all government agencies." Despite strong opposition from the military, the State Department, and the FBI, Truman established the Central Intelligence Group in January 1946. Later under the National Security Act of 1947, the National Security council and the Central Intelligence Agency were established. In 1949, the Central Intelligence Agency Act (also called "Public Law 110") was passed, permitting the agency to use confidential fiscal and administrative procedures and exempting it from many of the usual limitations on the use of federal funds. The act also exempted the CIA from having to disclose its "organization, functions, officials, titles, salaries, or numbers of personnel employed." It also created a program called "PL-110" to handle defectors and other "essential aliens" outside normal immigration procedures, as well as give those persons cover stories and economic support. The Central Intelligence Agency reports to U.S. Congressional committees but also answers to the President directly.
Some believe that privacy and safety can go hand in hand, while others believe you can 't have one without giving up another. In our ever growing and ever changing world, these two sides continue to drift further and further apart when we are forced to ask the question, “What is too much”? When it comes to personal liberties and privacy, how much should we allow into the government 's hands under the promise of national safety and security? The NSA’s recent scandal has put this in the forefront of every American’s mind. Before we as a nation make a decision, we should consider every side of the problem.
The American government used to be able to keep the people in happy ignorance to the fact that they watch every move they make. After certain revelations of people like Edward Snowden, the public knows the extent of the government spying. On June 5, 2013 Edward Snowden leaked documents of the NSA to the Guardian (The Guardian 2). The whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed to the world how the American government collects information like cell phone metadata, Internet history, emails, location from phones, and more. President Obama labeled the man a traitor because he showed the world the illegal acts the NSA performs on US citizens (Service of Snowden 1). The government breached the people’s security, and now the people are afraid because everyone is aware of how the US disapproves of people who do not agree with their programs. Obama said that these programs find information about terrorists living in the US, but he has lit...
It is reasonable to argue that, governmental institutions or people with authority are subject to withhold a great deal of information from society. Many may argue that secrets are kept to ensure the safety of the nation. Thus, upholding the governmental duty of protecting the nation against possible threats. On the other hand, many believe that secrets may exist which violate our constitutional rights. Over the last year, Edward Snowden, has made headline news for leaking sensitive governmental information to the press. Edward Snowden is a 29-year-old high school drop-out, who was a tech specialist for the National Security Association. Snowden had discovered and later exposed the NSA for monitoring the nations e-mails, phone calls, and internet searches. As the allegations spread like wild fire, Edward Snowden sought asylum in Russia for one year. Snowden had a valid and justifiable reason to expose the NSA to the world because they were in violation of our fourth Amendment rights to unreasonable searches and seizures. The government called him a traitor, while others viewed him as a hero for exposing the government. Edward Snowden is a whistle blower because he felt that it is up to society to decide if governmental practices are just or unjust. Snowden does “express the highest respect for the law”, and he wanted to protect the right of privacy for American citizens.