Preview

NSA Does Not Spy On Everyone Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1237 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
NSA Does Not Spy On Everyone Essay
No, the NSA Does Not Spy on Everyone, Everywhere: Why the National Security Agency’s Data Surveillance Programs are Both Legal and Necessary
Remember where you were when the attacks of September 11th happened? Think back to that time. Think back to the scenes of burning rubble. Think back to the shock that all Americans felt at the ability of foreign terrorists to penetrate this country’s defenses and launch such an attack like that on American soil. If someone had told you that America would go almost a decade without another terrorist attack, would you have believed them? Probably not; which begs the question , why did that attack never come? Marc Thiessen, resident counterterrorism fellow at the American Enterprise Institute explains, that, “[T]there are only two possibilities. Either the terrorists lost interest in attacking us again, or we found out what their plans were and stopped them from carrying them out.”1 He asserts that, “T[t]he reason that attack did not happen is because America abandoned the law enforcement approach to terrorism that failed to stop the 1992 World Trade Center bombing, that failed to stop
…show more content…
sSurveillance may not: 1). intentionally target anyone known to be inside the United States, 2). seek to reverse target a person believed to be in the United States through their contacts with individuals outside the US, 3). intentionally target any US person, or 4). intentionally collect any communication where the sender and all receivers are known to be in the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    To ensure expressive, associational, and privacy rights are strengthened instead of being compromised by new technology is the goal of the Protecting Civil Liberties and protect the core democratic rights when corporate and government practices that rely on new technology that invades these rights. The government regularly tracks all calls of nearly every common American and spy on a large number of Americans’ international calls, text messages, and emails. Whistle blower Eric Snowden, a contractor with NSA, willfully and knowingly exposed the government’s most sensitive surveillance techniques without authorization and the most fundamental rights as individuals. The ACLU has been fighting for over 12 years to end government surveillance’s lack of oversight that allows it to invade the rights and lives of millions of Americans. When the case against mass surveillance reached the Supreme Court several years ago, was dismissed due to lack of sufficient evidence of the secret programs. Leading the way, the ACLU’s struggle to rein in the surveillance superstructure which strikes at the core of our privacy rights, freedom of speech and association will continue. ("ACLU: National…

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    This provision is indisputably constitutional as it does not do anything the jeopardize the general rights and privacy of the average citizen, which is why it is “proper.” As a matter of fact, it helps government agencies unravel terrorist networks and further weaken them, and that is why it is “necessary” (Abramson & Godoy,…

    • 1254 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The events that took place on September 11th 2001 showed America that we need to expect the unexpected and prepare for the future. On this day, 19 terrorists from a group called al-Qaeda hijacked 4 commercial passenger planes. Two of them were crashed into the Twin Towers of New York City’s World Trade Center. The third plane was crashed into The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane they say was intended to be crashed into the White House itself, but the plane landed in Pennsylvania instead. Following 9/11, the U.S. government took many steps to try to make the country safer, such as heightened airport security, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Patriot Act.…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I chose to focus my analysis on Edward Snowden and his disclosure of classified domestic surveillance documents. When the leak first came out, I was upset at the thought of my privacy being violated by the NSA. However, the feeling dissipated when I considered the protection making that sacrifice affords. The NSA, like many organizations, are sometimes faced with ethical dilemmas. Occasionally, there is no right answer. Thus, the decision made, while not ideal, is the lesser of evils. In his TED talk interview, Snowden stated, “Your rights matter because you never know when you're going to need them” (TED, 13:20). While I admit his statement did trigger the reexamination of my stance, I arrived at the same position. Perhaps, I will look back…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some people believe, when the NSA spies on their own citizens illegally it creates an atmosphere of distrust between the government and its’ citizens; the NSA might believe by doing so, they are saving and preventing certain situations from taking place. Edward Snowden revealed the level of infiltration in his statement about NSA spying. Woodburn stated that "Seven months after the initial Snowden leaks, sixty-three percent of Americans stated that they were dissatisfied with the government's Surveillance of U.S. citizens" (28). U.S citizens disagree at times with their government's choices, and the National Security Agency infiltrating cell phone and computers makes this situation worse. Americans resent the government taking away their right to privacy in order to find terrorists. But, terrorists have found United States citizens, born in the USA, to help them commit terrorist acts and the NSA is wasting time and effort searching into American people while they are allowing real threats happen.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Ethics are “moral principles that govern behavior” (Oxford). The cornerstone of American democracy is offering inherent rights and freedom, but the term privacy must be evaluated. Recently, America has become a country that has drawn much unwanted attention to its government to due reports of the National Security Agency storing information gathered from people’s phones without letting the public know. Before going any further into research, it should be noted that as an American, there is certainly an inherited bias throughout the paper. This problem with the NSA has unearthed many feelings from the public and also politicians who either support or go against the storage of phone records. Since Edward Snowden released hard facts that the NSA was indeed storing phone records, people seem to either have a big problem with the bulk collection, or no problem at all (5). The NSA claims that colleting phone records is necessary in order to protect the world from possible terrorist threats, but civil libertarians say that because the government is not legally required to destroy the information once it has been collected, it is therefore an invasion of privacy (5). It is clear that in order to keep everyone safe, America not only has the right, but also the full responsibility of gathering intelligence in any way possible…

    • 1343 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The attacks of September 11, 2001 on our country was one of the most tragic and deadly days in our history. It brought a country together and the American strength of freedom and unity became a battle cry. After the dust had cleared, the questions came about that asked, how could this have happened? Were there not security and intelligence infrastructures and policies in place? Where did these failures occur? Will our country be vulnerable going forward? The events of 9/11 brought a large amount of vulnerabilities to the surface of our country’s security.…

    • 2595 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Surveillance In 1984

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Today, the advancement in surveillance secretly results in control of one’s life by the government and is hard to avoid in modern American society. The government collects phone and internet records from technology and communications companies. They track every phone call, purchases, emails, text messages, internet searches, social media communications, and more. If one wants privacy then it is best said by David Von Drehle that “Privacy is mostly an illusion”. It is a fact that over 85% of computers worldwide are being monitored by government agencies, banks, corporations, and others too.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Common Sense, Thomas Paine’s 1776 pamphlet advocating for American independence, “Government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.” Government surveillance programs and apparatuses cross the line between protection and oppression when they violate civil liberties and threaten the privacy of everyday Americans. In our society today, with our rapidly expanding surveillance complex, our civil liberties are more at risk than ever before as the country’s surveillance expands in the open-ended war on terrorism. In George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, the government utilizes surveillance methods to maintain control over the people of Oceania.…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After this terrorist attack exploited many of our weaknesses as a country, hundreds of billions of dollars spent to improve security and strength for our country's military defenses and commercial airlines. “There has not been a large-scale terror attack on the United States since 9/11. There have, however, been some foiled attacks -- the attempted bombing in Times Square last year, for instance, or the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing on a flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit (Hayes). America has clamped down on stopping this incidents from occurring in many different ways.…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Question #1: Compare/contrast the different aspects of legislation that govern the Intelligence process. Areas to be taken into consideration is how Intelligence Oversight contributes to the overall process and areas that that you deem could be improved upon.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The tragedy of September 11 revealed vulnerability to violence by non-state actors within U.S. borders. This was something we never thought would happen again after Pearl Harbor, to be attacked on our own land. These terrorist lived among us, while plotting to destroy us, it lend the question, how exactly do we stop someone who is not afraid to die? The only way to stop them is to foil the plan before it is carried out; this is the goal of the Patriot Act, for Homeland Security.…

    • 1486 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Kerr, Orin S. “Internet Surveillance Law After the USA Patriot Act: the Big Brother That…

    • 2726 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    NSA leaked

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Eight months later, media outlets around the world have published more than 100 revelations in over a dozen languages. We now know that the NSA has tracked private American citizens’ phone calls, emails and social connections; monitored Internet traffic in and out of the U.S.; and spied on allied countries and foreign companies alike. What we have learned so far suggests that the agency has gone from protecting national security to facilitating the United States’ political and economic advantage on the world stage.…

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The government is not spending enough time and resource in surveillance, which is resulting in the threats and decrease of national security. Surveillance is the act of observing, or monitoring a person. Monitoring a person can include the use of cameras, wiretaps, GPS tracking, and internet surveillance. Events such as the Oklahoma City bombing, and the attack on 9/11 lead to a law former President Bush passed. "On October 26th, 2001, Bush signed into law the USA Patriot Act." (Podesta) Government surveillance is an essential part of everyday life because not only does it keep the country under control, but ensures safety for Americans.…

    • 1858 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays