The attacks on September 11, 2001 instilled great fear in the government as well as millions of Americans. In order to protect ourselves and prevent future terrorists attacks, President George W. Bush signed a bill called The USA Patriot Act which allowed government agencies such as The National Security Agency access to anything they needed to intercept acts of terrorism. The NSA then gained the power to wiretap individual’s phones,obtain their business records and spy on anyone they deemed could be suspected of terrorism. It was a time of panic for the United States, and these excessive searches without warrants weren’t given a second thought. However, it is now 2014 and citizen’s privacy is still being compromised more than ever without
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Ever since people became concerned about the amount of power given to the NSA, there were proposals to alter the bill to hold the government agency more accountable for their actions and place limits on who and what they can actually search, however the version passed by the House of Representatives left many of the more prominent issues unattended to. The current bill in place “requires the government to limit any requests for records to a ‘specific selection term’ but it defines ‘specific selection term’ broadly” (Sloan) This is one of the many loopholes placed in the bill allowing the government to search almost anything they want if they see the need without a warrant. “Credible evidence indicates that billions of everyday communication of ordinary Americans are swept up by government computers and run through a process that includes both data-mining and review of content.” (Cohn) This means that even our most private and personal phone calls, texts, and emails are subject to review by government officials. There should be more limits placed on how much the NSA can actually access and if they come across a person of interest or anything they deem suspicious, they should have to obtain a warrant so the person is aware they are going through their personal things. Otherwise, the government is taking away the right that has …show more content…
The government claims that that is classified information however many disasters have happened since then such as the Boston bombings and there was nothing done to prevent them from happening. “Little information is available beyond the NSA’s purpose and mission,” (National Security Agency) and its beginning to make the people question the effectiveness of the government's techniques. “Exposure of the surveillance capabilities have ‘had a profound impact on the economy, the security of the internet and the credibility of the U.S. government’s leadership when it comes to online governance.’” (Zetter) For instance, during the Boston bombings the NSA released information that they found leading to the discovery of the criminal after the fact, however they weren’t aware of his intent to bomb the marathon before it actually happened therefore were unable to prevent this act of terrorism. If the NSA would begin to release some of their findings, they would gain more credibility and there would be less discontent from the people about going through their personal
Ever since people became concerned about the amount of power given to the NSA, there were proposals to alter the bill to hold the government agency more accountable for their actions and place limits on who and what they can actually search, however the version passed by the House of Representatives left many of the more prominent issues unattended to. The current bill in place “requires the government to limit any requests for records to a ‘specific selection term’ but it defines ‘specific selection term’ broadly” (Sloan) This is one of the many loopholes placed in the bill allowing the government to search almost anything they want if they see the need without a warrant. “Credible evidence indicates that billions of everyday communication of ordinary Americans are swept up by government computers and run through a process that includes both data-mining and review of content.” (Cohn) This means that even our most private and personal phone calls, texts, and emails are subject to review by government officials. There should be more limits placed on how much the NSA can actually access and if they come across a person of interest or anything they deem suspicious, they should have to obtain a warrant so the person is aware they are going through their personal things. Otherwise, the government is taking away the right that has …show more content…
The government claims that that is classified information however many disasters have happened since then such as the Boston bombings and there was nothing done to prevent them from happening. “Little information is available beyond the NSA’s purpose and mission,” (National Security Agency) and its beginning to make the people question the effectiveness of the government's techniques. “Exposure of the surveillance capabilities have ‘had a profound impact on the economy, the security of the internet and the credibility of the U.S. government’s leadership when it comes to online governance.’” (Zetter) For instance, during the Boston bombings the NSA released information that they found leading to the discovery of the criminal after the fact, however they weren’t aware of his intent to bomb the marathon before it actually happened therefore were unable to prevent this act of terrorism. If the NSA would begin to release some of their findings, they would gain more credibility and there would be less discontent from the people about going through their personal