Most people have either read or heard of the book 1984 in some point in their high school career. Some may see it as just fictional literature that we learn in English class, but it could become seeing as to how our government is handling national security. In 1984, the author, George Orwell talks about a society in which one group of people runs society and everyone is under surveillance. This was something that people in the 1980s would not think possible, so how could Orwell have thought of this plot when writing the book during the 1940s? It could have been due to the progress in technology such as radio, film, television. The fear of government interference could have also been produced because World War II was present the time 1984 was created, from which Orwell twists in his book. What is even more interesting is that the Cold War is somehow described in 1984 and it pretty much became true. With the Cold War having taken place, U.S. citizens were worried that people among them could be a Communist; the enemy of the U.S. and capitalism. Because of their fear, people started to accuse one another of being communists, which led to them being imprisoned with little and what was, invalid evidence. This is now referred to as the ‘Red Scare’ where ‘Red’ symbolized Communism. After this so called war, there was a time of peace where the likelihood of there being another ‘Red Scare’ was very unlikely, until the unforgettable date, September 11, 2001, or often referred to as 9/11 where the government’s fear of terrorist presence begun. With the government’s fear of another 9/11, preventing this from reoccurring is very crucial to the United States politicians and so through the use of modern technology, they are willing an... ... middle of paper ... ...geles Times, 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. . Williams, Carol J. "Telecom Customers May Sue Government over Wiretapping, Court Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. . Williams, Carol J. "Telecom Customers May Sue Government over Wiretapping, Court Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. . Wing, Nick. "Indefinite Detention Blocked: District Judge Rules On Controversial Provision Of NDAA." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 May 2012. Web. 28 May 2012. .
American Civil Liberties Union. (n.d.). American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from https://www.aclu.org/fusion-centers-force-multiplier-spying-local-communities
According to a recent article by Scott Shane, “The U.S. is pushing to make sure that cyber programs comply with international law and international standards.” This quote shows that the government wants to make sure that cyber programs protect the citizens to the same degree as other international laws. The government wants cyber programs to have the same standards as international law and international standards to give citizens the sense of security that they are being protected. According to a recent article by David Francis “...Congress retroactively immunized the nation’s telecom giants for their participation in the illegal Bush spying programs, Klein’s claims (by design) were prevented from being adjudicated in court.” This quote means that telecom giants such as Verizon and AT&T participated in Domestic Surveillance in order to help protect citizens. Telecom giants play a role in giving US citizens a sense of security by helping the National Security Agency. Others may believe that the tracking of our phone calls does not give US citizens a sense of security; however, according to a recent article by Marshall Honorof, “Counterterrorism is not the only function of the NSA's widespread surveillance. Although it cannot report exact numbers, Lewis theorizes that the data-mining has allowed the NSA to put a stop to a number of international espionage plots.”
A short background on the laws concerning surveillance will help clear up some misconceptions on the NSA. Back in 1968, the Wiretap Act protected citizens from the government listening to their phone call...
"NSA Surveillance Programs." Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 14 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .
... was not accepted by many of the Court Justices. One of the Concurring decisions was that because the information, which was acquired through the Stored Communications Act needed to be obtained with a warrant, the Stored Communications Act was Unconstitutional. This was argued because, for ISP’s to collect information about everyone that uses there services, they would have to present a warrant to everyone who they serve, and they didn 't yet have probable cause. The case ended in a decision that the government had infringed on Warshak’s 4th amendment rights, and that any obtaining of information through the Stored Communications Act (deemed legal) would have to be obtained with a warrant. This upheld Katz v. US to say that because Warshak used a private means of communication for his correspondence, a warrant must have been obtained to ask the ISP for the emails.
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson thinks that people should be able to choose what areas they want to be secure from “physical and sense-enhancing invasion.” Another scholar, Joel Reidenbuerg, believes that current views of privacy do not fit well with the current technology, instead surveillance is dependent on “the nature of the acts being surveilled.” One more scholar, Chris Slobogin, believes that “the justification for a search should be roughly proportional to the intrusiveness of the search” (Hartzog, 2015). Point is, legal issues surrounding government surveillance is a complex topic without a perfect all-encompassing solution; each situation is different and should be treated
... (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/
Carr, Pete. “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty, With Real Dangers.” The Wall Street Journal. 6 Aug. 2010. Web.
“Hooray! Republicans renounce unconstitutional invasion of privacy”. Clark Fork Valley Press. (12 Mar. 2014). Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Economides, N. (1998, September 1998). The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and its Impact. Retrieved June 18,2006, from http://raven.stern.nyu.edu/networks/telco96.html
Kashi, J. (2004, May). Wireless insecurity. Law Practice Today. Retrieved September 27, 2008, from http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/tch05041.html
...nturies. As seen through history, several cases have tested human rights and privacy. Despite improvements, the privacy of American citizens to these days is still being tested with the technology. The government must respect the privacy of their citizens, but only put limitations when they have probable causes.
"Surveillance Under the USA Patriot Act." (n.d.): n. pag. 10 Dec. 2010. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.
Neal, D 2013, PRISM surveillance turned over Google and Yahoo, The Inquirer, accessed 12 November 2013, http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2304070/prism-surveillance-turned-over-google-and-yahoo
Unknown Author. An Overview of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). Center for Democracy & Technology. Retrieved 26 April 2004.