With the revelations of Edward Snowden about the massive amount of government surveillance of individuals worldwide, and the almost endless amount of news stories regarding the lack of privacy on the internet, the issue of data mining by the government and private businesses is of increasing concern to Americans.
Many agencies of the government, including President Obama have defended the collection of phone records and Internet use data by stating that these efforts are key to the global fight against not only terrorism, but also financial crime, sexual crimes and surveillance by foreign powers. Many people in America and elsewhere are very concerned with the ramifications of these programs. Privacy issues (vis-a-vis the government and private business interests) are at the forefront of this concern, but there also issues of personal security, government intrusion and potential limits on freedom of speech.
One of the most interesting aspects of this entire issue is how much information we voluntarily give to the government and to private corporations. A couple of years ago, and continuing to this day, a debate began about police officers downloading smart phone information without a warrant during routine traffic stops. Many smart phones contain GPS tracking software that can tell the police, and its manufacturer where you have been. The most well-known of these phones is the Apple iPhone. There was an uproar over this information when it was disclosed, and it was also reported widely that there is an easy way to disable this feature, yet most people do not, and their information continues to be collected.
In just briefly perusing two main social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, one can easily observe that the p...
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...ion with government programs such as this. The airwaves and telephone lines/cables of the country are ruled and regulated by the government. Contracts, mergers, and patents, are all under the control of the government. A corporation that does not cooperate could likely find itself losing out on contracts and business to competitors who do. This in turn, gives the government even more power over the individual.
Obviously, there must be a balance. In an age of increasing anonymity and mass culture, freedom of expression and privacy are more important than ever. This must be balanced with safety in an age of terrorism and of weapons of mass destruction. The key is the oversight of data collection, and possibly the oversight of the oversight (“Who is watching the watchers?”), and the vigorous prosecution of anyone or any entity that breaks the law. Including the NSA.
The aftereffects of the September 11, 2001 attacks led to Congress passing sweeping legislation to improve the United States’ counterterrorism efforts. An example of a policy passed was Domestic Surveillance, which is the act of the government spying on citizens. This is an important issue because many people believe that Domestic Surveillance is unconstitutional and an invasion of privacy, while others believe that the government should do whatever is possible in order to keep the citizens safe. One act of Domestic Surveillance, the tracking of our phone calls, is constitutional because it helps fight terrorism, warns us against potential threats, and gives US citizens a feeling of security.
The NSA is a U.S. intelligence agency responsible for providing the government with information on inner and foreign affairs, particularly for the prevention of terrorism and crime. The NSA maintains several database networks in which they receive private information on American citizens. The agency has access to phone calls, emails, photos, recordings, and backgrounds of practically all people residing in the United States. Started in 1952 by President Harry Truman, the NSA is tasked with the global monitoring and surveillance of targeted individuals in American territory. As part of the growing practice of mass surveillance in the United States, the agency collects and stores all phone records of all American citizens. People argue that this collected information is very intrusive, and the NSA may find something personal that someone may not have wanted anyone to know. While this intrusion's main purpose is to avoid events of terrorism, recent information leaks by Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, show that the agency may actually be infringing upon the rights of the American citizen. Whether people like it or not, it seems that the NSA will continue to spy on the people of the United States in an attempt to avert acts of terrorism. Although there are many pros and cons to this surveillance of American citizens, the agency is ultimately just doing its job to protect the lives of the people. Unless a person is actually planning on committing a major crime, there is no real reason for citizens to worry about the NSA and it's invasion of our privacy. The agency is not out to look for embarrassing information about its citizens, rather, only searches for and analyzes information which may lead to the identification of a targe...
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.
The America Government is not carrying out immoral, illegal or unethical acts by collecting data on its citizens. However, history has shown that such collections of data without correct supervision can easily be used in an unethical manner.
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
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.
Most people concerned about the privacy implications of government surveillance aren’t arguing for no[sic] surveillance and absolute privacy. They’d be fine giving up some privacy as long as appropriate controls, limitations, oversight and accountability mechanisms were in place. ”(“5 Myths about Privacy”). The fight for privacy rights is by no means a recent conflict.
The world erupted in outrage following revelations by Edward Snowden regarding the extent of surveillance perform by the National Security Agency. Privacy becomes one of the hottest topic of 2013 and was chosen by the world’s most popular online dictionary, Dictionary.com, as the Word of the Year. However, the government is not the only one that conduct data gathering and surveillance. Employers often monitor their employees, and businesses collect data on theirs customer. The morality of these practices is a topic that generates heated debate.
[3] B. Thuraisingham. Data mining, national security, privacy and civil liberties. In ACM SIGKDD Explorations, Volume 4 Issue 2, page 1-5. New York, 2002.
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 by the United States government is unethical because it is done so without consent and it infringes on a person’s rights to privacy and personal freedom.
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.
This world as we know is heading towards a more virtual era, where everything we need to know is under the palm of our hands. We have many devices such as smart phones, tablets, computers, which gives us access to an infinite amount of information. This virtual life style we are becoming accustomed to introduced us to social media. An increase amount of interaction is being built between known and unknown users from all around the world. Social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, twitter, and even tumbler have become an everyday routine of our daily lives. In this modern society, all these social media websites have brought about a significant amount of impact in many of us. It has really influenced its users on how to conduct their lives.
A major reason the U.S. needs to increase restrictions on the type and amount of data collected on individuals from the internet is due to the fact that the United States government can track communications and browsing histories of private citizens without warrant or cause. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, ...
Twitter and Instagram are Social Media sites that allow users to communicate with others. Twitter is used to communicate small thoughts. Pe...
Social media has become a major epidemic in today’s society. According to millions of people have signed up on social media websites, allowing their basic information to be shared with the world wide web. Two of the biggest social media websites today are Facebook and Twitter. The new generation tends to use Twitter over Facebook, the older generation prefer Facebook over Twitter. Though Facebook and Twitter serve the same purpose and have many similarities, they both differ in many ways.