Surveillance Essay

Decent Essays
Surveillance is something that has been part of the world since the beginning of time. In ancient civilizations, enemies used to spy on each other to gauge the strength of opposing armies and so forth. Spying tactics were also employed during the world wars and the race for nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, surveillance has taken a different dimension from being used for military and political advantage in the past to a much broader function which now involves looking into the lives of innocent citizens. With the advancement of technology in the 21st century and the increase in terrorist attacks, several governments have resorted to give more protection to their citizens by employing the use of electronic surveillance. Across the globe, the United …show more content…
citizens have been oblivious of the government’s use of electronic surveillance to monitor their private information for years. The use of electronic surveillance in the manner of wire tapping and eavesdropping has enabled the U.S. government to apprehend criminals for quite some time now (Landau 301). Despite worries from the public, the government did not relent. As the concern for the privacy of personal information grew, classified information under the care of NSA was leaked in 2013. This information revealed that innocent people numbering millions had been put under surveillance illegally by the NSA. In further pursuit of people’s private information, the NSA has moved from cameras and phone conversations to surveillance via the internet. With the current generation being driven by technology and connectivity via the World Wide Web, this basically means that personal information can no longer be considered personal. No one can consider themselves free from the eyes of the government. The NSA defends its act of surveillance as being beneficial to national security. It sees it as a critical weapon against crime and terrorism. Nevertheless, the surveillance is targeted at everyone, criminal and innocent alike, thereby putting the innocent ones at …show more content…
It should be accountable and transparent to its citizens in every way possible (Shamsi and Abdo n.p). As much as the use of electronic surveillance has proved to be negative, it has also been quite helpful. As such, it would be appropriate for the government to find a way to make the use of surveillance be of more impact towards catching criminals and stopping terror attacks than risking or destroying the lives of innocent citizens. One way of achieving this would be to direct surveillance specifically to known criminals or individuals with proven records of misconduct. The government should also limit its surveillance to guidelines within the law. Such laws that pertain to restrictions of overboard surveillance by the government need to be amended by congress. Congress should further make certain that the executive branch operates within the limits of those laws to impact change. The executive branch in turn should make sure that law enforcement agencies only conducted surveillance with probable cause. They should also make sure that the intelligence agency are set fully guarantee the protection of the civil liberty and privacy of Americans. Ultimately a system of checks and balances that guarantees accountability and transparency is the way forward to ensuring that crime is fought and citizens are protected at the same

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 1377 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The United States of America the National Security Agency has been working for ages to assure that the country is safe, but recently it has become a rising concern that they have overstepped their boundaries of American citizen’s privacy by operating surveillance technology all around the country and storing data form every phone call of citizens. With the American Citizens’ privacy at stake, each branch of government took its stand against the matter. The Judicial Branch has to come up with a legal compromise; the Legislative Branch and Congress are working to make surveillance laws that would better please its citizens, and the Executive Branch and the president have agreed to come up with an alternative to Section 215 of The Patriot Act. The Supreme Court has to establish a legal compromise to the surveillance of the American citizens considering it was said that what the National Security Agency/Central Security was doing went against Section 215 of the Patriot Act.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    9/11 Research Paper

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The purpose of the government having surveillance everywhere is to not only catch crimes that have happened, but also to prevent future crimes. Sinha (2013) explained how along with video cameras recording the public, the government also had spy programs that monitor phone calls, text messages, and emails for up to a year (p. 866). Following the tragic 9/11terrorist attacks, the government started using surveillance to monitor the public to prevent future attacks and…

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are so many citizens of the United States who do not agree or like the NSA’s involvement in communication networks. For example, “This country was founded on the notion of liberty. So it is striking to us that we have reached a point in our history when the expectation of privacy and liberty is dissolving” (Paul and Yoho). A major argument against the NSA is that it violates the rights of the countries people. Paul and Yoho say “We need to go back to the basics and use the Fourth Amendment as our guide.”…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The creation of the Department of Homeland Security and establishment of the US Patriot Act was a result of the understanding that in order to have freedom, certain aspects of daily life would have to change. One aspect of change has been law enforcement’s move towards militarization, evolving from basic military like organizational structure to changes in uniform colors, equipment and vehicles. Citizens see this evolution as a “police vs citizens” stance rather than community oriented policing. The other and more clandestine policing problem has been the National Security Agency (NSA) and its domestic surveillance. While domestic surveillance is said to provide valuable evidence to prevent terrorism, it has resulted in whistleblowers like Edward Snowden leaking classified information exposing the extent of the surveillance and the infringement on personal privacy.…

    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the article “The Internet is a surveillance state”, which appeared on CNN.com on March 16, 2013, Bruce Schneier claims the government can see our every move on the internet. He goes on to state, “Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, whether we like it or not, we’re being tracked at all times.” (55). He uses specific and persuasive examples from his work experience to share his thoughts and beliefs on a subject that not everyone is aware of, but the ones who do are usually chilled by it. This paper will analyze Schneier’s article from his view as an American security technologist, cryptologist, and author of “Liars and authors:…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nelson And Rubio Essay

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dear Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, It has been brought to my attention that the Government has access to surveillance systems that can monitor our phone calls, text messages, emails and etc if needed. I agree that the government should have this right, but I believe there must be some strict guidelines placed in order to ensure the personal privacy of citizens. While discussing this topic, it may seem scary to think as a citizen, that everything in our personal lives isn’t as private as we imagined it to be. But, the questions we all seem to ask ourselves about this issue is, “Why is all of our information so important to the government anyways?” or, “I haven’t done anything wrong, so why would they need to look at my texts or listen to my phone calls?”, and last but not least, “How is this legal?…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Citizenfour Throughout the world, the government scrutinizes citizens without them knowing about it. Devices such as computers and cellphones are being hacked by the NSA and used to monitor everyone’s actions. The documentary, Citizenfour, reveals how the government has expanded its surveillance methods. The government’s secrecy of spying on peoples lives not only declines individual’s privacy, but their freedom as well.…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Patriot Act Essay

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages

    While leaving them feeling more than unhappy. From the patriot act the government is allowed to do anything, if it can be related to terrorism. The abilities the government has to invade an individual’s privacy is unethical. Citizens may think the patriot act is here to help us, but it actually takes away more privacy than one thinks. From the patriot act, the government has too much power, allowing them to monitor the life of every individual without their…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Importance Of The NSA

    • 1376 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The sole purpose of the NSA program was to safeguard our national security in a more expansive, efficient manner. The center on law and security (2007) states “…this requirement to demonstrate all of the substantive and procedural elements of FISA to the Attorney General's satisfaction before any surveillance can begin, would fatally impair the President's ability to carry out his constitutional responsibility to collect foreign intelligence to protect our Nation from attack” (p. 9). Any implementation involving citizen’s privacy is assured to draw controversy, and the root of the problem with this program was a management…

    • 1376 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why are we so worried about being watch? It’s not like you’re doing anything wrong, right? Surveillance is a very talked about topic as of the present day. Should the government or any funded entity have the ability to watch us? Ask yourself this, are you doing anything wrong.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Whereas constitutionality of government surveillance is questionable, these laws, along with the countless other sections and statutes in and related to the PATRIOT Act, permit government agencies, under scrutiny, of course, to conduct surveillance to protect our country from terrorist threats and…

    • 1195 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Forward: When Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA was spying on us in 2012, I expected people to be outraged. I expected a massive public backlash that would lead to reform. By and large, the public’s reaction has been underwhelming. For one reason or another, government surveillance is a topic that many people don’t know about or don’t talk about. I’ve talked to people about surveillance before, and many of them were unaware of key details about it.…

    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Today’s internet has become an integral part of our daily lives. It changed the world in so many positive ways, but it has also a negative side to it. The negative issues that we are facing today with internet are our online privacy and data breaches. Recently, many people were divided in terms of their strong views about the importance of privacy and the exchange “between security needs and personal privacy” (Rainie & Maniam, 2016) as millions of Americans were also affected by online threats and privacy breaches and at the same time concerned with our security. The focus has been on government monitoring, although there are some other significant issues and concerns about how industries use our data.…

    • 952 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are quite a few government and intelligence agencies including the National Security Agency (NSA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and also state and local law enforcement agencies. With modern day technology becoming so advanced, agencies must find new ways to stay ahead and on top of the security for the nation. The National Security Agency’s mass surveillance has expanded in the years since September 11, 2001. Many people happen to be against government monitoring only because they are unaware of how data is retrieved, analyzed, and stored by the government networks. The process is more than just collecting information from phone calls, emails, and other online communications.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays