Domestic and Mass Surveillance

Domestic surveillance has been active in the United States for years now. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was the first step taken by our government to help secure our nation electronically. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 is a United States federal law which prescribes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance collection. Over the years domestic surveillance has evolved due to terrorists act on U.S soil. The September 11 attack in which four coordinated terrorist attacked the twin towers and pentagon that took place in New York and Washington, D.C. was the catalyst for our nation and security. America quickly enforced security for airports, public areas, and cyber space. President Bush introduced the Patriot act which is the use of wiretaps, searches of business records and conducting surveillance of individuals suspected of terrorist-related activities not linked to terrorist groups after the attacks to help find and stop terrorist from acting out another inhumane and cowardly act.

While those laws have helped in the past, domestic surveillance quickly grew into a problem. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed that mass surveillance was being conducted on a majority of civilians by the NSA and PRISM. These scandals got citizens unease thinking in the back of their minds they might have been or are currently monitored. The Boston Marathon bombing where a known Islamic extremist planted two pressure cooker bombs killing 3 people and injuring 264 others is a prime example on why mass surveillance has failed us. Russia warned the U.S. about the terrorist that became an extremist and was possibly involved with extremist groups, FBI had questioned him, and the CIA had placed h...

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