Edward Snowden
The Ethical Dilemma of Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden is a twenty-nine year old man who betrayed the U.S. government. He is now in hiding in Hong Kong. Edward revealed the mass collection of government eavesdropping. The government was collecting cell phone data. Not only was the National Security Agency collecting data from U.S. citizens, but they were also collecting data from other people around the world. Edward Snowden gained access to the information through his job with the N.S.A. “After only three months, Snowden began collecting top-secret documents regarding NSA domestic surveillance practices, which he found disturbing”(Edward Snowden.biography). There is a large debate over whether or not this act was heroic or that of a traitor. The answer is clear: Edward Snowden did our country a favor. His acts were a great public service. Snowden went on television and leaked secure information that belonged to the N.S.A. The N.S.A. was collecting this information without probable cause. By collecting this information the United States government went against the Fourth Amendment and an oath taken by the employees of the United States government. The government was spying on phone records and emails of people around the world with full knowledge that what they were doing was wrong. Snowden showed us that the government is not always what people think it is. Many people were so quick to say that Snowden was a traitor. The only thing those people were considering when they made this judgment is what was being said on the television or what was being said by the United States government. The N.S.A was created to track terrorists, not to “routinely collet the phone logs of tens of millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, of Americans, who have no links to terrorism whatsoever” (Cassidy). It seems clear that the N.S.A. was misusing its power. The government should have been busy tracking terrorists and not spying on the citizens of the world. Do they have more
Edward Snowden is a twenty-nine year old man who betrayed the U.S. government. He is now in hiding in Hong Kong. Edward revealed the mass collection of government eavesdropping. The government was collecting cell phone data. Not only was the National Security Agency collecting data from U.S. citizens, but they were also collecting data from other people around the world. Edward Snowden gained access to the information through his job with the N.S.A. “After only three months, Snowden began collecting top-secret documents regarding NSA domestic surveillance practices, which he found disturbing”(Edward Snowden.biography). There is a large debate over whether or not this act was heroic or that of a traitor. The answer is clear: Edward Snowden did our country a favor. His acts were a great public service. Snowden went on television and leaked secure information that belonged to the N.S.A. The N.S.A. was collecting this information without probable cause. By collecting this information the United States government went against the Fourth Amendment and an oath taken by the employees of the United States government. The government was spying on phone records and emails of people around the world with full knowledge that what they were doing was wrong. Snowden showed us that the government is not always what people think it is. Many people were so quick to say that Snowden was a traitor. The only thing those people were considering when they made this judgment is what was being said on the television or what was being said by the United States government. The N.S.A was created to track terrorists, not to “routinely collet the phone logs of tens of millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, of Americans, who have no links to terrorism whatsoever” (Cassidy). It seems clear that the N.S.A. was misusing its power. The government should have been busy tracking terrorists and not spying on the citizens of the world. Do they have more