The National Security Agency and its Access to Private Information

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By simply looking at a computer screen, it has the ability to track her people’s familial, political, professional, and religious associations. Does this statement sound like a line from a cheap science fiction book written by a paranoid author? Unfortunately, “it” already exists. This entity is the United States Government’s National Security Administration. (Rubenfeld) Through programs codenamed Prism (Edward Snowden), Dishfire, and Prefer, the National Security Administration (NSA) has the ability to collect and analyze massive amounts of metadata from cellphone calls and automated texts. (Ball) Is this loss of privacy worth the benefits of an increasingly knowledgeable government? Unfortunately, there are far more negative consequences of any government tracking her people than positive ones. On June 5, 2013, Edward Snowden, a contractor of Booz Allen Hamilton working for the NSA would become famous for leaking information to the Guardian about some of the NSA’s programs that he had discovered while working at their Oahu, Hawaii office. These programs, most famously Prism, allow the NSA to collect information about American citizens from their cellphones. Edward Snowden left a $200,000 dollar salary and was charged with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information, and willful communication of classified intelligence with an unauthorized person. Why would Edward Snowden believe that leaving a comfortable lifestyle was worth leaking this information? Snowden’s answer was, “I’m willing to sacrifice [my former life] because I can’t in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom, and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive survei... ... middle of paper ... ...tp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/17/remarks-president-review-signals-intelligence>. "Persecution in the Early Church." Religion Facts. 07 Mar. 2014 . Redmond, Jacques. "Dr. Tech." Dr. Tech. 17 Nov. 2013. 08 Mar. 2014 . Redmond, Jacques. "The "Unhackable" Computer." Dr. Tech. 17 Nov. 2013. 08 Mar. 2014 . Rouse, Margaret. "Metadata." What is ? Nov. 2011. 16 Mar. 2014 . Rubenfeld, Jed. "Privacy vs. anonymity in the NSA debate." The Dallas Morning News. 17 Jan. 2014. 26 Feb. 2014 .

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