Benefits Of The National Security Agency

It is widely debated, as a resident of the United States of America, whether or not it is socially beneficial or even acceptable in any way for the federal government as the National Security Agency otherwise known as the NSA to delve into information that is personal to you for the protection and well-being of the country.(NSA, 2015) Charlie Savage, an author and Washington correspondent for the New York Times, highlight the fact that the NSA is capable of reading SMS (Short Message Service) information between two people, record telephone conversations and even overseeing exchanges through IMs (Instant Messages) when you could be sharing credit or debit card information and passwords, it makes the majority of the United States’ populace wonder …show more content…
Many people feel that the government is too involved in their lives, while of course some others (depending on political stances) enjoy this aspect. However, in consideration of the NSA, most credence was lost when it was said by Edward J. Snowden, a computer professional that worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), that the United States federal government under the National Security Agency and United Kingdom’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) were gathering intelligence for national and international terroristic defense by observing private information between individuals who happened to be legal citizens of either country, which debatably violates the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution (O’Neill, 2014) and the Human Rights Act of 1998 in the United Kingdom, therefore infringing upon other lawful contracts in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (FindLaw UK, 2015). This makes the public wonder whether or not the country is using this information to gain knowledge about unlawful actions against the state, or simply collecting information to invade one’s …show more content…
Dustin Volz, a writer for the National Journal writes how many governmental authorities (generally Republican figures) state otherwise, explaining that it is necessary in the network to prevent terrorist activities, and these figures also attempt to pass bills to counteract reform issued by the US president (Volz, 2015). Jack A. Smith, writer for the Foreign Policy Journal and former editor of The Guardian explains how United States President Barack Obama has stated that the NSA is an essential piece to the web of national security, but that it and other surveillance programs should however be restarted and overhauled by his legislation so as to not delve into the lives of United States citizens so directly and fiercely. Shortly after stating this, his proposal was met by Congress and thereafter, quickly passed with intense backlash from Republican senators and representatives (Smith,