Should The Government Surveillance People's Privacy?

1585 Words4 Pages

At its core surveillance poses a real threat to citizens privacy. Privacy often affords people a degree of autonomy and allows them to interact with the greater society without fear of being watched. Surveillance networks work to gather, store, and mine through each person's data. People have no say in whether they want to opt-in or not. This, on the surface, seems merely routine and functional to most citizens. However, when people realize their data can be exploited or even manipulated for reasons unbeknownst to them then such acts are seen as what they really are, a complete breach of personal privacy. When considering surveillance people rarely discern that their personal vulnerabilities, private information, and day to day activity are being regularly gathered for whatever use the corporations and government deem fit without their input. Additionally, the all-encompassing privacy agreements of social media networking sites also threaten users privacy rights because they allow the sites to have absolute claims to their personal content …show more content…

In the name of security, the government has been deliberately proliferating its surveillance network. This perpetual need to have a secure state has also unknowingly led to the citizen's privacy being continuously exploited and eroded. This is clearly illustrated by the recent law passed by the Canadian government, to counter cyber-terrorism, called the Bill C-51. The bill outlines the government’s freedom to access people's information, alter their devices system how they see fit (i.e. through malware) and restrict their access to content. This shows the progression of surveillance and the resulting privacy invasion. Therefore, the continued proliferation of surveillance networks continues to undermine individuals privacy rights and its mere existence demonstrates that the expectation personal privacy is completely

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