Electronic Surveillance Case Study

Post 9/11 Privacy Rights: The Case Against Electronic Surveillance In response to concerns about terrorism after the attacks on September 11,2001, the government of the United States enacted new guidelines for conducting surveillance on the public. This paper will discuss the implementation of electronic surveillance as a tool to combat terrorism and will make the case against sweeping electronic surveillance of American citizens and others in this country. Various examples of increased surveillance along with decreasing privacy right will help the reader to conclude that these tactics have not reduced incidents of any type of crime, including terrorism. This paper will also discuss several types of electronic surveillance, including the collection of metadata from telephone records, which intruded on the private lives of citizens and did not increase their safety in any meaningful way. Some examples of electronic communications include emails, social media accounts, other internet based media, and law enforcement body cameras. Most types of electronic postings leave electronic signatures that can be traced back to both the writer and the reader. …show more content…
The privacy rights of many Americans were violated by this tactic. Both the incoming and outgoing email addresses were recorded in databases and some private emails were read. Identities of private citizens who have not broken any laws and who are not involved in terrorism could be exposed through this surveillance of email communications. In the 21st century, most communications are conducted through the use of the internet. The NSA reached very deeply into the private and legal electronic activities of many Americans. These electronic surveillance activities clearly violate the right to privacy that most Americans expect when they use simple, modern, and common