Privacy vs. Surveillance

NSA Surveillance Program: A Threat to Civilians Privacy Since the beginning of WWI, spying activity has become a very important part of national security to United States. To track the activity of people, U.S.A. has many spying agencies and National Security Agency (NSA) is one of them. NSA is the main producer and manager of signal intelligence for the United States. It collects, monitors, translates, and analyses global information, and data for intelligence purposes and performs surveillance programs inside the United States. The activity of NSA and the issue of the privacy of citizens has long been debated for decades. With advanced technology and newly installed equipment it is possible to spy on almost everyone. Though the law enforcement officials consider the NSA surveillance programs as necessary weapons in the war of terror, the civil rights groups claim that it is a clear violation of civilian privacy protected by the Constitution of the United States. The U.S. Constitution gives every U.S. citizen the right to protect their privacy. The
Fourth Amendment prohibits “unreasonable ‘searches and seizures’ and sets out requirements for search warrants based on probable cause as determined by a neutral judge or magistrate” (U.S.
Constitution). But the NSA argues that because of security reasons surveillance programs should be continued and appeals to Congress “not to limit the powers” of NSA. After the disclosures of the classified documents by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, it has become clear that NSA willingly avoided judicial system, conducted much broader surveillance program and did not abide by the Constitution at a least bit. The Guardian reports the vastness of the disclosure shocked many people, including the elected representatives of the Congress who were unaware of the extent of the surveillance. NSA conducts domestic surveillance