The average citizen is unaware of what happens to the information they post to the internet. We share pictures and make comments without hesitation, not realizing that our words are forever ingrained into the fabric of the internet, being forever viewable to the world. Our online activity is constantly on display and is being tracked at every moment. The United States has been granted the ability to secretly examine, store, and distribute the metadata of potentially billions of people with the greatest surveillance capabilities ever seen in human history; with all the power concentrated almost exclusively within the Executive Branch of the government; specifically surveillance agencies such as the NSA, and the FISC courts that approve of their
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Since then, the agency has expanded in power and size, due to further technological innovation, and the passing of the USA PATRIOT Act, granting them increased surveillance capabilities in order to defend the American people against the growing threat of terrorism. In order to collect cellular and internet metadata, the NSA has built intercept stations in buildings owned by major internet and telecommunication companies to access audio, video, photographs, emails, documents, and connection logs (National Security Agency). With this information the NSA claims they are able to stop the threat of terrorism. There is an inherent value in surveillance since it allows our government to extract information from threats in order to protect the American people. The issue is deciding whether to continue this mass surveillance program, although it turns out to be less useful than originally …show more content…
According to the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public interest research group, since the formation of FISA courts in 1978, they have approved of 38,269 requests without modification, and denied 12 (EPIC). The court keeps their warrant requests secret in order to keep classified information private, but when the court sometimes goes years without denying a single request, the authenticity of the FISC courts begins to come into question. When a government body meant to control the NSA is letting them do as they please, it raises the call for modification of these courts. The courts cannot release records of every warrant request due to security concerns, but possibly requiring the executive branch to release summaries of FISC Court opinions on significant cases to make sure their interpretation of the constitution aligns with the rest of the US Government, may be a good place to start to increase transparency, and make sure their rulings are constitutional (Brennan
Since then, the agency has expanded in power and size, due to further technological innovation, and the passing of the USA PATRIOT Act, granting them increased surveillance capabilities in order to defend the American people against the growing threat of terrorism. In order to collect cellular and internet metadata, the NSA has built intercept stations in buildings owned by major internet and telecommunication companies to access audio, video, photographs, emails, documents, and connection logs (National Security Agency). With this information the NSA claims they are able to stop the threat of terrorism. There is an inherent value in surveillance since it allows our government to extract information from threats in order to protect the American people. The issue is deciding whether to continue this mass surveillance program, although it turns out to be less useful than originally …show more content…
According to the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public interest research group, since the formation of FISA courts in 1978, they have approved of 38,269 requests without modification, and denied 12 (EPIC). The court keeps their warrant requests secret in order to keep classified information private, but when the court sometimes goes years without denying a single request, the authenticity of the FISC courts begins to come into question. When a government body meant to control the NSA is letting them do as they please, it raises the call for modification of these courts. The courts cannot release records of every warrant request due to security concerns, but possibly requiring the executive branch to release summaries of FISC Court opinions on significant cases to make sure their interpretation of the constitution aligns with the rest of the US Government, may be a good place to start to increase transparency, and make sure their rulings are constitutional (Brennan