If someone told you “You are being watched every time you use digital communications, “how would you feel? The majority of people would probably feel discomfort. Sadly, you are being watched by the National Security Agency or NSA. While they allegedly keep us safe, the NSA shouldn't continue to monitor everyone’s digital communications. It gets every tax paying citizens money involved. They violate an amendment of the constitution. Likewise, there is a major loss of privacy. They simply have access to too much information. (Pathos)…
The government has complete authority to monitor calls, emails, finances and records without their permission which is complete violation of the civil rights that each citizen of America is entitled to also the language that is used in the patriot act pertaining to this segment is very vague and challenges the human rights of the…
The main argument government officials make is that Americans need to sacrifice their privacy so that the FBI and NSA are able to effectively protect them from terrorist attacks. The NSA has records of every single phone conversation ever had. This is a complete violation of all Americans privacy. The White House has even said that The Patriot Act has not caught or helped catch any terrorist that wouldn't have otherwise been caught. Government officials just want to be able to have something to back…
The thoughts of those looking into the affairs of the NSA think the government took a great idea, and honestly the only idea with today’s technological warfare, and got greedy with how much information they have collected and need to be watched very carefully. The most important information for any human being is the information we choose to keep private, it can be the most devastating information in the wrong hands and the United States Government is holding that exact information in bulk, with your name on a yellow folder.…
However the U. S. Constitution contains no actual right to privacy. The constitution only protects certain aspects of the individual.In the constitution certain amendments state only some things to be private not all. Some examples being, officials not being able to search your home without probable cause and no government involvement in making personal decisions. There is no actual right to overall privacy so the NSA has a right to go through different forms of communications in order to keep the people…
During the Boston Massacre, many of the colonists were upset with the British troops staying in the colonies monitoring the colonists("The Boston Massacre."). This is very similar to the NSA and how they have been monitoring communications between the US and other foreign entities. In both situations, citizens had lost the opportunity of freedom of some sort, as the troops in the American Revolution were stationed and eventually restricted and enforced laws on the people and the NSA could be considered as breaking the fourth amendment in monitoring these communications…
The NSA infiltrating the United States citizen's technology such as cell phones and computers is unjustified because there are no filters for the NSA or knowledge of their investigation taking place. For example "In his interview with RT, Binney emphasized that the FBI does not filter email messages but obtains and stores all of a person's e-mails, and when he or she becomes a target, their entire records are extracted and analyzed for the desired information" (NSA Whistleblower). Coming up with filtering processes would allow them to save time and filter out the non-terrorist threats. Many people make mistakes under pressure, knowing the National Security Agency is hunting you down is tons of pressure ask Osama bin…
The information was gathered about this “hack” though Edward Snowden (Savage, et al 4). Snowden is a former NSA contractor, who has leaked over 200,000 documents to the press. Recently, Snowden is involved in the huge news story about the NSA hacking into Google and Yahoo and collecting data about millions of account users of these networks. He leaked stories to The Guardian and The Washington Post during his NSA career, because he knew something was happening that needed told to the public. They are supposed to protect our country by bringing in information to help take down potential or current terrorist threats, and, instead, the government is wasting money to have them spy on innocent citizens. So far there’s not even a good reason to it, because not every single person who owns a phone or computer is a threat. Some use these things to do homework and talk to people, without the worry of someone tracking their information and keeping it in data centers “just in case.” It’s all very…
I believe that the government still has a right to perform those actions because it is for the overall safety of the people. Organizations such as The American Civil Liberties Union are protesting and criticizing the Patriot Act. I think that their arguments are not justified. Most of the citizens in the United States are not trying to perform a terrorist attack or break criminal laws. The people that are, are the ones that are affected by this act. If a citizen has nothing to hide, then they have nothing to worry about because they are not being…
That is why so many Americans oppose the Patriot Act. In the article “ With or Without the Patriot Act, Here’s How the NSA Can Still Spy on Americans” by Jason M. Breslow tells how the government can still access private information without the Patriot Act. In 2008, congress passed an amendment called FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) amendment. The amendment states that the government has authority to access popular Internet sites and collect communications of users. The amendment is geared towards non-citizens of the U.S., but the program can pick up communications between citizens and non-citizens living the U.S.…
citizens, and the government would have too much capability to go behind our backs, unnecessarily, and spy on us. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has freely admitted that it has not launched or found any extensive cases through the Patriot Act’s privileges. (Ybarra, n.d.) The question is, though, if they can not find any cases of terrorism, smuggling, or organized crimes what are they doing? The Government is spying on us through every piece of technology that we own. They can find us within the blink of an eye through our cell phones, computers, and bluetooth devices. They can hack into any of our Facebook accounts, emails, internet search browsers. They can view a person through their phone or computer's camera without them even knowing. The government can also turn on your microphones through the same devices and listen to you and what you are doing at any moment. The National Security Agency has put its codes into Android's operating systems, hacking into three quarters of the world's smartphones. (Tyler Durden, July 9th,…
National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander said surveillance programs have helped thwart more than 50 “potential terrorist events” around the world. Alexander said at least 10 of the attacks were set to take place in the United States, suggesting that most of the terrorism disrupted by the program had been set to occur abroad. And in defense of the program he added “NSA also disclosed that counterterrorism officials targeted fewer than 300 phone numbers or other “identifiers” last year in the massive call-tracking database secretly assembled by the U.S. government.”. FBI Director Sean Joyce said the Web traffic program (NSA data collection) had contributed to arrests averting a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange that resulted in criminal charges in 2008 (Gerstein, 2013). Since the government was able to foil 50 plots around the world using the data they collected since 2001, is it worth being spied on? Some may argue that yes since life itself is more important than privacy but that brings me back to my question. Was Ben Franklin incorrect when he stated that “He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.”? Some may argue that technology and society has changed and its time we protect ourselves against extremist by giving up some of our liberties. Bruce Schneier in his bestselling book Data and Goliath explains how we are fed a false narrative of how our surveillance state is able to stop terrorist attacks before they happen. In fact, Schneier argues, the idea that our government is able to parse all the invasive and personal data they collect on us is laughable. He added that The NSA repeatedly uses a connect-the-dots metaphor…
The Patriot Act was designed to try and eliminate acts of terrorism on the United States. This act was signed in 2001 by president George W. Bush. Just weeks after the terrorist attacks on 9/11(NBCNews). The Patriot Act allows for the government to identify terrorist. “This is done by wiretapping and monitoring text messages and phone calls’’(Diamond).I am not saying that are civil liberty aren't important but when it comes to keeping our citizens safe then this is the only choice. People who have nothing to hid should have no problem with the government monitoring them for the sake of people's lives. The patriot act has allowed for at least 50 terrorist attacks against the United States to be foiled since 9/11.(Johnson) This Act is doing…
Many people believe that this grants them a certain feeling of ease and rest because they know that there is something that helps identify and major threats and stop terrorist groups before anything drastic happen. This cause people to worry less and have a strong sense of safety. Others feel that this grants certain agencies to much power to spy and monitor them. People say that this takes away a lot of their own privacy and that it isn’t right. This causes them to feel a breach in their privacy and fear of what the government can do if they don’t have any limits. People against the act will want to get rid of it because they feel that the government will take advantage of this and they won’t know when to stop. Their belief is it breaks some of their own rights and this is wrong. The ACU and the ACLU are prime examples of this belief and this is why they are always fighting against it. The others believe that terrorism is a great threat not only to the United States but also around the world and some action needs to be taken immediately. The USA Patriot Act offers them exactly what they are looking for and they are willing to give up some privacy in order to find the bad people among them. Usually, the people in the United States don’t have to fear because if they don’t do anything suspicious, the government won’t look at them. It is only those certain few…
Today! ” the collection of Communication Information Data, Conducting and Investigation of Foreign Intelligence, Controlling of Money Laundering, Funding and Enhancing of National Border Security” (Doyle, 2002) have greatly concerned some groups like the American Civil Liberties, Citizens, and even the Private Sectors, because it might be intruding, and violation of the “American Peoples” constitutional rights. But even with these concerns and controversial issues, some say the country have been safe so far, because of the incertion of authority by the Patriot Act removing walls erected by President Clinton and allowing it to share information by the Homeland Security and Government Agencies and etc.…