I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Lack of Privacy for the American Public

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Privacy is of the things that you miss only when it is gone. The increasing importance of the Internet on our daily lives has caused the line between what is private and public to blur. Recently the NSA surveillance of domestic and foreign individuals has raised many questions regarding privacy and straying government agencies. I for one do not want my private life in the hands of any government agency, regardless of how benevolent their intentions may seem. Therefore, it is natural that I would want to know more about an issue that plays such a crucial rule in my daily life. Additionally, the question of whether we should allow government agencies to have this much power concerns me. Furthermore, the NSA’s programs and capabilities fascinate me, the computing power and advanced data retrieval methods that are required is complex and enormous. My interest in computer science, concern for privacy, and questioning of government intentions are the reasons why I want to spend a whole semester researching this topic.
It is hard to get away from the scandal caused by Edward Snowden since it is plastered through out the news. I have read numerous articles regarding the issue already but most articles are always vague in regards to what the NSA is actually doing. For example, one informative article describes one of the methods that thee NSA uses to gather large amounts of data is to put in their own I servers into large centers of Internet traffic. At these locations the NSA will split the wire and attach a device so that any information that is traveling through the wire is replicated and then stored on their server for further analysis and recovery. In addition I have an adequate amount of knowledge regarding computer security because...

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...keep that in mind as to not bore anyone and bring new insight into the argument and not regurgitate what the media is saying. As I research more into my topic will be able to find better arguments and add ethos to the mix to persuade my audience.
Learning about the NSA and its programs will be a very interesting endeavor because it is something I find very interesting. The NSA’s programs are still a bit of an enigma but I hope to resolve this for my audience and myself. I will have to read the files leaked by Snowden in detail and draw my own conclusions, as apposed to using the medias view. Additionally, Questions regarding the reach, effectiveness and legality of the NSA programs will have to be answered. Once I gather sufficient information I will be capable of having a cohesive argument but until then, the best place to start will be the NSA leaked files.

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