Edward Snowden uses the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings as his central example in regards to government oversight and mass surveillance failure. Prior to the bombings, Russian authorities had been tracking and monitoring the Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev and informed US officials about the brothers (Zetter). Even though the US had been tipped off by Russia two years before the bombings took place, the FBI only performed a cursory investigation, even though they knew the Tsarnaevs were involved with extremism; no follow up investigation was ever made (Deluca). After the attack had occurred, even with surveillance footage of the suspected brothers, facial-recognition software, and two government databases, authorities could not identify the Tsarnaevs. The watch lists, which should have notified authorities if suspects traveled abroad, likewise failed: the databases had misspelled the suspects’ names by a letter and had the wrong birthdates. Surveillance technology was unsuccessful: the NSA collected data on the Tsarnaevs before the bombing, but had not realized that it was more important than the data they collected on millions of others (Zetter). …show more content…
He advocates for a targeted, thorough approach that concentrates on known radicals and extremists rather than attempting to scrutinize the data of thousands of others. The Boston marathon bombings model shows how bulk surveillance depletes its resources to observe the masses at the expense of being able to monitor and track specific people for which there are explicit causes for investigating, such the Tsarnaev
In unit six we learned about anthropology and entomology and how forensic scientist use it different cases. Even though entomology was not that useful in The Oklahoma bombing case, anthropology was extremely useful for identifying the victims. Since it was an explosion, Forensic anthropologist had to study different remains of the victim's body and use different techniques (such as examining bone development) to identify who they were. For example, the death toll was originally 169 people (one person higher) than it is now because of an unidentified left leg was found and they couldn’t find the body it originally came from. Later, medical examiners compared the size of the tibia of the leg to other victims right leg. Finally forensic found
"the shot heard round the world"-Ralph Waldo Emerson concord hymn. No this doesn't mean in 1770 all of the people in the world heard the shot. It means that this incident was known about throughout everywhere in the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson meant to say this to tell the significance behind the shooting and the outcome of the shooting as well. Many people also believed that this was the thing that's started it all. People thought that because of the outrages and protesting caused by the massacre it caused the start of the revolutionary war. The infamous Boston massacre was caused by colonists protesting unfair British actions and defensive British soldiers try to contain the crowd then sparking the revolution.
The United States, land of the free and the home of the brave, has been through many historical shootings and bombings, Events like the Boston Marathon bombing is a great example of a horrific event that happened to the American soil. The Boston Marathon bombing was a terrorist attack that killed 3 innocent civilians and estimated an amount of 264 other innocent civilians were injured. The Boston Marathon occurred on Patriot's Day, the third Monday of April. The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by several cities in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States(Wikipedia). The Marathon is always held on Patriots’ Day. Also, it is the world’s oldest annual marathon. Amateur and professional runners from all around the world,
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.
“A View of Part of the Town of Boston in New-England and British Ships of War: Landing Their Troops! 1768” is an engraving done by Paul Revere in May of 1770 in the wake of the success of “The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street”. Carved in protest of the british occupation of boston following the Intolerable acts as anti-british propaganda, weeks after the Boston Massacre. The widespread popularity of this print at the time shows the rising revolutionary movement.
A day that was supposed to be happy turned in seconds. People were injured or killed. Family members were devastated. The Boston Marathon was supposed to be a fun and exciting day for people watching and for the runners. We shouldn’t take every moment for granted, because you never know when it might be your last day or what we might consider "normal." April 15th 2013, will always be a day remembered in history.
Edward Snowden is America’s most recent controversial figure. People can’t decide if he is their hero or traitor. Nevertheless, his leaks on the U.S. government surveillance program, PRISM, demand an explanation. Many American citizens have been enraged by the thought of the government tracing their telecommunication systems. According to factbrowser.com 54% of internet users would rather have more online privacy, even at the risk of security (Facts Tagged with Privacy). They say it is an infringement on their privacy rights of the constitution. However, some of them don’t mind; they believe it will help thwart the acts of terrorists. Both sides make a good point, but the inevitable future is one where the government is adapting as technology is changing. In order for us to continue living in the new digital decade, we must accept the government’s ability to surveil us.
...ary of 2013 demonstrated that the government's claims that over fifty terrorist threats had been averted (Bruce, 2013) were misleading and that it was standard investigative procedures, such as informants, tip offs and targeted operations that yielded positive results in nearly all cases. The NSA input was minimal and that only 1.8% of cases where initiated by its mass data collection programs. (Bergen et al., 2014)These inefficiencies are what Matthew Duffin; assistant professor at Utah Valley University believes are unethical. (Archner, 2014)
Since the terrorist attacks at Sept. 11, 2001, the surveillance issue often has turned away the table in the debate of individual privacy or counterterrorism. By passing the Patriot Act, Congress gave President Bush an immense law enforcement authority to boost U.S's counterterrorism, and the President used his enlarged powers to forward specific programs in order to reduce the threat of terrorism and defend the country’s safety.
In the past few years the National Security Agency has been all over the news, and not in a good way. Former contractor of the National Security Edward Snowden leaked classified documents to several media outlets on such a scale the world took notice. The day the world learned about the Prism program among others was June, 5, 2013 when Ed Snowden gave the specifics of the programs to The Guardian, and the Washington Post. Ed Snowden turned those secrets over as a member of the NSA but fled the country before the leaks so he would not be imprisoned by the authorities. Immediately after the leaks Ed Snowden became infamous with around the clock watch as to what country would grant his asylum, he currently resides in a Moscow airport pending appeal (Staff, 2013). He claimed he “did not want to live in a society like this” that’s why he decided to turn over states secret for all the world to see (Staff, 2013). Now that you know the man behind the leaks it is time that you find out about the program, and the reach and impact it really had.
The American Revolution was the time the thirteen colonies fought for their independence from Britain. The revolution occurred from the aftermath of numerous events, including the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre was thought out as a propaganda event for colonialist, to aid for more support in the cause for the American Revolution. The tenacity for Britain to keep ahold their colonists loosened and like a rubber band, tensions within the two groups snapped. British soldiers were sent to Boston and fired upon the Boston mob, leaving five men dead after the end of the chaos. Trials took place to defend the soldiers in order to defend their rights as individuals. A fast occurrence, though, placed a scar onto the colonists to propel them to fight against Britain.
Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the extent of the N.S.A breaches of American privacy and in doing so, became ostracized by the media and barred from freely reentering America, his home country.
The American government used to be able to keep the people in happy ignorance to the fact that they watch every move they make. After certain revelations of people like Edward Snowden, the public knows the extent of the government spying. On June 5, 2013 Edward Snowden leaked documents of the NSA to the Guardian (The Guardian 2). The whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed to the world how the American government collects information like cell phone metadata, Internet history, emails, location from phones, and more. President Obama labeled the man a traitor because he showed the world the illegal acts the NSA performs on US citizens (Service of Snowden 1). The government breached the people’s security, and now the people are afraid because everyone is aware of how the US disapproves of people who do not agree with their programs. Obama said that these programs find information about terrorists living in the US, but he has lit...
It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of a friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument. To give the full picture of Edward Snowden I must start with his role in the government. Edward Snowden never graduated from high school, nor did he graduate from community college (Yann 1). In 2003 he joined the U.S. Army briefly until he was discharged when he broke both his legs in a training accident (BBC 1).
It is reasonable to argue that, governmental institutions or people with authority are subject to withhold a great deal of information from society. Many may argue that secrets are kept to ensure the safety of the nation. Thus, upholding the governmental duty of protecting the nation against possible threats. On the other hand, many believe that secrets may exist which violate our constitutional rights. Over the last year, Edward Snowden, has made headline news for leaking sensitive governmental information to the press. Edward Snowden is a 29-year-old high school drop-out, who was a tech specialist for the National Security Association. Snowden had discovered and later exposed the NSA for monitoring the nations e-mails, phone calls, and internet searches. As the allegations spread like wild fire, Edward Snowden sought asylum in Russia for one year. Snowden had a valid and justifiable reason to expose the NSA to the world because they were in violation of our fourth Amendment rights to unreasonable searches and seizures. The government called him a traitor, while others viewed him as a hero for exposing the government. Edward Snowden is a whistle blower because he felt that it is up to society to decide if governmental practices are just or unjust. Snowden does “express the highest respect for the law”, and he wanted to protect the right of privacy for American citizens.