Fourth Amendment Right To Privacy

On June 6th, 2013 The Guardian and the Washington Post revealed the fact that the NSA had access to customer information on Apple, Microsoft, and Google computer products. The information obtained by the NSA was allegedly used to prevent any terrorist actions. However, the NSA has “[built] up a store of information on millions of US citizens, regardless of whether or not they are ‘persons of interest’ to the agency” (Brown). Although terrorist plots are a legitimate threat to America, the U.S government has overstepped its boundaries by violating the citizen’s of America’s fourth amendment right to privacy.
The United States of America was founded on the belief that governments should never skip the step of gaining consent of the people before making major decisions. The large amount of data on the NSA database is harmful to citizens if it is in the wrong hands, and those “wrong hands” could be from someone in the U.S who will use the information on the NSA database for malicious purposes. While the U.S government claims that the purpose of wire-tapping is for national security, how do the citizens of America know that …show more content…
The fourth amendment states that the right of the people to be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized” (U.S. Const., amend. IV). The NSA spying on U.S citizens is similar to an unreasonable search through a person’s private documents. Whether or not the U.S government feels they are justified for their actions, they are not. The attempts of the head members of NSA to paint Edward Snowden as a criminal, are hypocritical, and are a transparent ploy to shift the negativity away from