“Before Sept. 11, the idea that Americans would voluntarily agree to live their lives under the gaze of a network of biometric surveillance cameras, peering at them in government buildings, shopping malls, subways and stadiums, would have seemed unthinkable, a dystopian fantasy of a society that had surrendered privacy and anonymity”(Jeffrey Rosen). Where were you on September 11, 2001? Do you remember the world before this tragic incident? Throughout history, the United States has adopted forms of legislation with the intention of improving national security. From prohibition, to gun laws, the outcomes of these legislations have not always been good. In a post 9/11 era, the American people were devastated by the attacks on the world trade center. Politicians rushed in a bipartisan agreement to push and enact the Patriot Act with the intent of keeping the United States safe. Immediately after 9/11, a panic broke out and many Americans supported the idea of giving up their rights for safety without any hesitation. Now, twelve years later, many skeptics call in to question the Patriot Act and the agencies created as a result of the legislation. In 2001, Former Senator Russ Feingold was the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act. Senator Feingold stated, "The first caution was that we must continue to respect our Constitution and protect our civil liberties in the wake of the attacks" (Statement on the USA PATRIOT Act). With fear fresh in their minds, many Americans were blinded by the promises of national security. The breath-taking expansion of police power that the United States government took after 9/11 now poses as a troubling issue. Americans need to address the issues of government surveillance because it affects t... ... middle of paper ... ...r 23, 2013 Spitz, Malte. "Your Phone Company is Watching." TED. July 2012. Lecture. November 22, 2013 "Statement on the USA PATRIOT Act (10/25/01)." Sen. Russell Feingolds Statement on the USA PATRIOT Act (10/25/01). Electronic Privacy Information Center, 25 Oct. 2001. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. "Surveillance Under the USA PATRIOT Act." American Civil Liberties Union. American Civil Liberties Union, 10 Dec. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. "USA PATRIOT Act." The White House Archives. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. Zara, Christopher. "Alternatives To Google And Gmail: Private Search And Email Services Promise Online Anonymity In The Wake Of NSA Surveillance." International Business Times. IBT Media Inc., 21 June 2013. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. Zara, Christopher. "Hope For The Surveillance State Repeal Act?" International Business Times. IBT Media Inc., 19 Oct. 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.
Less than one week after the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S.A. Patriot Act was introduced to Congress. One month later, the act passed in the Senate with a vote of 98-1. A frightened nation had cried for protection against further attacks, but certainly got more than they had asked for. Russell Feingold, the only Senator to vote down the act, referred to it as, “legislation on the fly, unlike anything [he] had ever seen.” In their haste to protect our great nation, Congress suspended, “normal procedural processes, such as interagency review and committee hearings,” and, “many provisions were not checked for their constitutionality, lack of judicial oversight, and potential for abuse.” Ninety-eight senators were willing to overlook key civil liberty issues contained within the 342 page act. The lone dissenting vote, Wisconsin Senator Russell Feingold, felt that our battle against terrorism would be lost “without firing a shot” if we were to “sacrifice the liberties of the American people.” Feingold duly defended American civil liberties at the risk of his career, truly exemplifying political courage as defined by John F. Kennedy.
Is the American government trustworthy? Edward Joseph Snowden (2013) released to the United States press* selected information about the surveillance of ordinary citizens by the U.S.A.’s National Security Agency (N.S.A.), and its interconnection to phone and social media companies. The motion picture Citizenfour (2014), shows the original taping of those revelations. Snowden said that some people do nothing about this tracking because they have nothing to hide. He claims that this inverts the model of responsibility. He believes that everyone should encrypt Internet messages and abandon electronic media companies that track personal information and Internet behavior (op.cit, 2014). Snowden also stressed to Lawrence Lessig (2014) the importance of the press and the first amendment (Lessig – Snowden Interview Transcript, [16:28]). These dynamics illustrate Lessig’s (2006) constrain-enable pattern of powers that keep society in check (2006, Code: Version 2.0, p. 122). Consider Lessig’s (2006) question what is “the threat to liberty?” (2006, p. 120). Terrorism is a real threat (Weber, 2013). Surveillance by social media and websites, rather than the government, has the greater negative impact on its users.
The government is always watching to ensure safety of their country, including everything and everyone in it. Camera surveillance has become an accepted and almost expected addition to modern safety and crime prevention (“Where” para 1). Many people willingly give authorization to companies like Google and Facebook to make billions selling their personal preferences, interests, and data. Canada participates with the United States and other countries in monitoring national and even global communications (“Where” para 2). Many question the usefulness of this kind of surveillance (Hier, Let, and Walby 1).However, surveillance, used non-discriminatorily, is, arguably, the key technology to preventing terrorist plots (Eijkman 1). Government surveillance is a rising global controversy; and, although minimal coverage could possibly result in safer communities, too much surveillance will result in the violation of citizen’s privacy.
Current advancements in technology has given the government more tools for surveillance and thus leads to growing concerns for privacy. The two main categories of surveillance technologies are the ones that allow the government to gather information where previously unavailable or harder to obtain, and the ones that allow the government to process public information more quickly and efficiently (Simmons, 2007). The first category includes technologies like eavesdropping devices and hidden cameras. These are clear offenders of privacy because they are capable of gathering information while being largely unnoticed. The second category would include technologies that are used in a public space, like cameras in a public park. While these devices
Since September 11, 2001 many people can say that America has changed. Many people question if America has changed for the better or has it just gotten worse. Since the day those four planes crashed around the United States people’s lives have been changed. Many may not realize how their lives have changed, but with new laws passed life is different within America. The United States Patriot Act is one of the laws passed after 9/11: singed into order on October 26, 2001 just 45 days after the attack. The United States Patriot Act was put in place in order to protect Americans, yet has been affecting American’s civil liberties and caused controversy all over the United States.
The article “A Surveillance Society” By William E, Thompson States that surveillance is a major part of today’s society and most people throughout their day wouldn’t even notice if they were being watched. Cameras can be found on almost every street corner and in every gas station or convenient store. In The terrorist attacks of 9/11 played a major role in starting this technology trend, the United States government and Law enforcement started using cameras that they had set up to more or less spy on the US population. The US government then revised and expanded the Patriot Act in 2006, which in a nut shell meant, they were allowed to spy on anyone they wanted to through there daily routines. But it doesn’t stop there, large corporations and
Today, surveillance is heavily present in the U.S., and as a result citizens continue to face a threat of their privacy being invaded. Since 9/11, the National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of
Security Surveillance Cameras are a major concern in the modern world for every person. They play a major role as it records everything and it keeps proof of what is going around. Civilians are extremely worried about how security surveillance has gone out of control and they feel threatened. Wendy Kaminer’s article, “Trading Liberty for Illusions” was first published in Free Inquiry in the year 2002, claims that when Americans feel threatened, they tend to give up their freedoms for faux security measures. On the other hand, The Economist which is a weekly magazine published
The advancement in informative technology allows more individuals’ information to be readily accessible to those who have the means to acquire it. Thus it seems that with the improvement of technology, there will always be more innovative ways to breach an individual's privacy. If kept within the boundaries of the constitutional laws, surveillance can indeed be a good asset for the protection and defense of our county; however, if used to seek out individuals who are minorities, women, immigrants, etc, surveillance can be a dangerous weapon, which unfortunately at this current time, it is.
Throughout many years in the United States, there has been controversy over whether or not government surveillance and other technology is a violation of human rights. Ever since the publication of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, there has been an increase in debates on the subject. The novel itself exemplifies what a surveillance-based society is like, providing the reader with a point of view of what could happen to their own society. Discussion over the usage of information that the government has gathered has become one of the foremost topics being analyzed to this day. The information that is being viewed by surveillance would otherwise be private, or information that people would not want to be leaked out. Therefore, surveillance executed by the government and companies has become an infringement to the right of privacy, and United States citizens should take actions upon it before the world reflects the Orwellian vision of the future.
Most people concerned about the privacy implications of government surveillance aren’t arguing for no[sic] surveillance and absolute privacy. They’d be fine giving up some privacy as long as appropriate controls, limitations, oversight and accountability mechanisms were in place. ”(“5 Myths about Privacy”). The fight for privacy rights is by no means a recent conflict.
Adam D. Moore argues in his essay “Privacy Security and Government Surveillance” that it is “important to note the risk of mischief associated with criminals and terrorists compared to the kinds of mischief perpetrated by governments—even our government. In cases where there is a lack of accountability provisions and independent oversight, governments may pose the greater security risk” (Moore 146). Forfeit of individual privacy yields to an overstep of government. Moore cites FBI operations performed by the Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) “designed to infiltrate, disrupt, and if possible eliminate groups that were deemed to be enemies of the American way of life” (Moore 144). The grievances to this program took the it to federal court, where “Socialist Workers Party v. Attorney General found that ‘COINTELPRO was responsible for at least 204 burglaries by FBI agents, the use of 1,300 informants, the theft of 12,600 documents, 20,000 illegal wiretap days and 12,000 bug days’” (Moore 144). Government abuse is an issue that average citizens tend to overlook, but that deserve
“Personal privacy is a closely held American value,” Anna Eshoo. Even though this might be considered one of the biggest lies discovered in the 21st century, government surveillance should actually not come to a surprise to anybody. While no one can deny that we live in a real surveillance state today, predictions from novels such as 1984 are far from accurate. A dystopian novel filled with contradictions and an excessive left wing totalitarian government who hears, listens, and controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives is inaccurate to our current era of spying. Due to its dramatic end of the world environment, excessive government control, and inaccurate predictions of spying devices today, the novel 1984 has failed to foresee the modern
However, government agencies, especially in America, continue to lobby for increased surveillance capabilities, particularly as technologies change and move in the direction of social media. Communications surveillance has extended to Internet and digital communications. law enforcement agencies, like the NSA, have required internet providers and telecommunications companies to monitor users’ traffic. Many of these activities are performed under ambiguous legal basis and remain unknown to the general public, although the media’s recent preoccupation with these surveillance and privacy issues is a setting a trending agenda.
Over the last few years there have been many controversies over the invasion of privacy of individuals online. Many are not aware of how easily the government can obtain access to their personal information through their devices when they use the internet or simply use phones, as well as what type of protection is offered to them. People go through their daily lives without realizing the risk they may face and that their personal information can be in the hands of others without consent being granted. However the effects of online surveillance are quite more complex than what we’d expect them to be. Many are not aware of what the consequences of such behavior done by organizations like the NSA are. The surveillance actions that take place by the government are unethical because they invade the privacy of individuals by accessing and retaining personal information without their consent. Furthermore, they try to access this information