Government Intervention: A Threat to Privacy

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Recommended: ethical aspects of electronic surveillance

I have seen it all over the news. NSA, this. NSA, that. The talk of government surveillance has been stirring up some arguments among the people of America. As a US citizen myself, I am a bit concerned that I have government officials following my every move on the computer. Then again, it is all in effort to prevent terrorist attacks, such as the horrific 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers, from happening again—or so they say. Some skeptics believe that there is a dark side to our government, one that was just recently leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. According to Justin Brookman, the government has been fishing out data from companies who already have large amounts of data from users like us (“Privacy in a World of Persistent Surveillance”). But what is NSA going to do with all the miscellaneous data they collected from us? What kind of information have they found? And what about foreigners inside the US—how does the government deal with them? Where do we draw the line? How much is too much? September 11, 2001 was one of the darkest days the US had ever experienced. It was coordinated by nineteen terrorists, all thirsty for revenge for the change Americans brought with them to the Middle East. From then on, our government has developed policies that strengthened our security, such as the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act was signed just a few weeks after 9/11 by President George W. Bush. It expanded government power to detect terrorism faster and more efficiently (MacDonald). Its goals include increased funding for the Technical Support Center at the FBI, more employment of translators at the FBI, increased duration of FISA surveillance of non-US citizens, and access to certain business records for f... ... middle of paper ... ...Fight Against Terrorism. N.p.: n.p., Mar. 2004. PDF. Savage, Charlie. "C.I.A. Is Said to Pay AT&T for Call Data." NY Times. N.p., 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. . Schmitt, Eric. "Qaeda Plot Leak Has Undermined U.S. Intelligence." NY Times. N.p., 29 Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. . Strickland, Lee. "Without Civil Liberties Homeland Security Will Fall." University of Maryland. N.p., 23 Dec. 2005. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. . Wainstein, Kenneth L. "The Protect America Act Is Necessary to Thwart Terrorism."National Security. Ed. David M. Haugen. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.

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