Government surveillance is unconstitutional, it violates the rights of American citizens and it causes anti-American movements. [This is very important in determining the legality of the issue because the fourth amendment of the constitution clearly defends the rights of the citizen] “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The rights to privacy are defended in the constitution, there are various requirements in order to prove the necessity of surveillance before it can be permitted (fourth Amendment). Therefore, the current …show more content…
This can occur at the hands of government employees or if the information is hacked. [If government surveillance gets into the wrong hands, it is a serious breach to national security specifically to the safety of citizens.] “findings of mishandled data and illegal surveillance among the agency’s employees.” “we already know at least a dozen NSA employees have abused secret surveillance programs in the past decade, most often to spy on their significant other.” This shows that even the NSA can't be trusted with the information that they collect during secret surveillance the information proves to not be responsibly used. It is unthinkable what someone with evil intentions might do with that type of sensitive information that can be obtained from surveillance. The danger of hacking will always be present as long as the government continues to record and store private information. Government surveillance is also being used to discriminate against people based on race ‘racial profiling’ which also turns the system into a weapon against America’s own
How would you feel if everything you did on the internet, every text you sent, and every call you made was seen by someone? That is what the NSA is doing right now. According to Wikipedia, the National Security Agency is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence.[1] They have been a controversial topic since the 1970s when it was revealed that they had been wiretapping Americans’ telephones. Their surveillance has only grown since then, even though most Americans disagree with it. [2] The NSA’s domestic surveillance is unconstitutional, ineffective, and a violation of privacy that needs to be stopped.
It’s understandable that the NSA must store information from people that are potential threats as it allows them to track and monitor their activities and interactions. In spite of this, storing information from everyone that the NSA has ever accessed is simply prompting a security breach to occur. So, for those who say, “if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about” should consider the idea of a potential security breach since this could be the one thing they will have to worry about. An article published on nativist.org explains the possibility of information being leaked and used against individuals. The article then goes on to explain that “hackers could potentially gain access to the databases of the government surveillance programs”. Even though it is highly unlikely for this to happen as the NSA states that everyone’s information is “safely secured using our custom database software called Cloudbase, which has fine-grained security to control access down to the cell level” stated by the Domestic Surveillance Directorate, there is still that slim possibility it can still happen. Someone should not need to sacrifice all their privacy for safety to the NSA as it could be the one thing that ruins someone’s life. Aside from that, if the NSA stored less information there would be less interest in breaching the system as it would attract less
Introduction Today, electronic surveillance remains one of the most effective tools the United States has to protect against foreign powers and groups seeking to inflict harm on the nation, but it does not go without a few negative aspects, either. Electronic surveillance of foreign intelligence has likely saved the lives of many innocent people through prevention of potential acts of aggression towards the United States. There are many pros to the actions authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) pertaining to electronic surveillance, but there are also cons. Looking at both the pros and cons of electronic surveillance is important in understanding the overall effectiveness of FISA. 1.
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...
We only have one life to live on this earth, and it should be our lives to live privately and freely. With so much surveillance, can we actually say that there is not a cost of freedom? Clearly, people need open their eyes and see mass surveillance is hindering out ability to see threats, and by the time we do it is too late. Something needs to be done, because innocent Americans should not be monitored everyday when the people who are a threat seem to be over looked. That is the most dangerous thing of all, not being able shift through the muck of useless information, while enemies could be planning something big. We Americans, have the right to be protected and not to be treated like a threat by our own government.
The NSA and U.S. government sifting through our private information is but a small inconvenience that we must sacrifice in order to protect our own freedom and safety. Domestic Surveillance roots back to the 1910’s, where the assassination of President McKinley, created a Bureau of Investigation that would trace the efforts of the Communists attempting an uprising in America. This would be the foundings behind Domestic Surveillance in America, and would continue on after World War II where the government created the NSA and CIA, with the main purposes
I am a 37-year-old Army Veteran who served 2 tours in Afghanistan. I enlisted in the Army on September 27th, 2001, when i was 23 years old. I was living in New York City at the time of the attacks and I witnessed the evils of Al Qaeda. We are all aware that after the attacks on September 11th, 2001, our government implemented a new surveillance policy. Over these past few years, there has been much scrutiny over this policy. Some claim it is illegal, or that it violates Americans’ rights. I am here to tell you these accusations are all false. A lot of the criticisms started over President Bush. Many claim that he extended his powers to expand this surveillance program. Bush, however, was entirely within his rights as the Commander-in-Chief. The Constitution clearly states that one of his most important jobs s to protect this country (Hayden). This program’s exclusive goal was to make the country safer. Also, if this program really were illegal, it would have been ruled so during the multiple hearings on surveillance. Not just once, but many times, the government 's surveillance program was ruled to be compliant with the limits of the Constitution
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
It transcends the line between public and private identity. When all of someone 's private information is being watched, then who are they as a person? Citizens cannot allow their identity to be confiscated for the protection of the unknown. Tamara Thompson states in her article Overview: What is Domestic Surveillance? that, the NSA has constructed a program that lets it hijack almost anything. Using this skill, most American 's information is automatically taken in, without a purpose. What is America 's deepest and darkest secret? Because what might be a secret, will be known to someone. With the hindsight of constantly being over watched, then how can America freely do what they please? Insecurities will consume the mind with the thought that the NSA, or someone like it is watching us. Not only is it hurting America emotionally, but it is hurting America physically with the economy. These government agencies are making numerous unnecessary purchases every day with the attempt at securing our homeland. Why is it necessary to live in constant paranoia if the majority of America is doing nothing wrong? There are other ways to stop terrorism, and spying on the public is not one of them. Domestic surveillance is not necessary by any
In the case of Snowden, the NSA mishandled it’s database by using a third party contractor such as Booz Allen Hamilton to work on it’s internal programs. Snowden only worked for Booz Allen Hamilton for three months before flying to Honolulu, Hawaii where he operated on the NSA’s systems and collected troves of information in which he then infamously leaked. The NSA as it is right now is a major agency composed of 30,000-40,000 employees which should be able to perform maintenance on their own systems. Another fault in the Snowden case was that the Honolulu base was a new operation which meant it did not have the security measures as the other NSA bases. This is how Snowden was able to collect massive amounts of information without the NSA having red lights going off.
From a CBS News poll, done in June, six in ten Americans say “…they disapproved of federal government’s collecting phone records of ordinary Americans in order to reduce terrorism.” ‘Is government surveillance of citizens justified?’ was asked on Debate.org, forty percent said yes, the other sixty percent said no. Another question on the same site was “Is it justifiable to violate certain civil liberties in the name of national security?” thirty percent said yes to this question, sixty seven percent said no. What most Americans do not know is exactly what the government is monitoring and how much surveillance they have on its citizens.
... potentially criminal. Similar to the collection of consumer data, the information gathered by the government is also subject to abuse by people who are granted access privilege. For example, in 2007, a federal agent was charged with using a government database to track the travel pattern of his ex-girlfriend (Lee).
Government Surveillance violates our Bill of Right The Fourth Amendment has protected the people from unreasonable searches from police or any other government official. I agree with Christopher Soghoian, technology can in fact be a civil rights issue due to government surveillance. Invading our civil rights by government officials has been and attempt more than once before.
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