What Is The Pros And Cons Of The Patriot Act

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After the biggest terrorist attack in US history, a bill was passed which was a result of what happens when a government panicked. After 9/11, the US government was afraid an attack would happen again. So in a panic, the USA PATRIOT Act was passed in the Senate on October 25 2001, just 45 days after the attack with a vote of 98:1. The USA PATRIOT Act stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. The purpose behind its name was that it deemed anyone who violated the PATRIOT Act unpatriotic or a traitor to the United States. Its intent was to give the FBI and NSA access to more private information if that person was deemed a suspect in terrorism. But since the act was rushed through Congress, there were opportunities for loopholes. But with the threat of terrorism on the table and the potential/suspected jeopardy of National Security, is it the US government right to decide which and who’s rights take priority when dealing with the issue? Although the PATRIOT Act has given the US Government the proper tools to detect more crime to keep the country safer, its rush through creation caused for misinterpretation, abuse of power and a violation of multiple civil liberties. Without the Patriot Act, finding terrorist plots before they occur would be a much harder job for the Government. When the Bush Administration first created the PATRIOT Act, they had good intentions. It was to give the NSA and FBI more tools and easier access to tools in order to more easily capture and disrupt terrorist activities before they start. These tools include wire taps, cable taps, collection of phone records, interception of emails and letters, travel information, personal records and social media tracking. The PRISM program was created in 2007 and it allowed the NSA and FBI DITU to track electronic communications such as Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Skype, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Apple as a few examples. This gives the central intelligence agencies direct access to audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents and connection logs for each of these systems. The PRISM program allows the NSA to more closely track suspected individuals, and it gives them insight into their thoughts and intentions. But to use the tools they still have to request warrants. …show more content…
They can’t just take a person’s records without a reason. Having the Patriot Act enables our country to be safer, especially with all the other terrorist attacks that have been happening all over the world, like the Berlin Bombings and the Paris Shootings. The Patriot Act also gives the public the reassurance that the government is doing something to try and keep them safe. As a result of all the surveillance there have been some minor terrorism acts that have been uncovered, and it works as a fear mechanism to scare the terrorists. Although the PATRIOT was created to keep the US safe, the intelligence agencies have abused their power on the fact that there are loopholes in the bill. On average, to pass a bill in Congress, it takes about 8 ½ months. The USA PATRIOT Act was passed in 45 days. There was no public hearing when it was first proposed, and all 345 pages of it, were printed at 3 am on the day of court hearing. That gave congressmen the time between 3 am and 11 am to read the bill. No one read it. Then the bill that was voted on the previous morning was changed at midnight. Almost all the revisions were efforts to expand the federal law enforcements and power. It used fighting terrorism as its only reason and got a surprising amount of support. Because The PATRIOT Act was so rushed in its creation, it is no surprise that it violates many human rights. It is scary, however, because of the extent of how much it violates certain rights like Information privacy, privacy of communications and territorial privacy. Information privacy are documents like medical records, credit information etc., Privacy of communications is anything that revolves around communicating with someone like emails, phone calls, letters. Territorial privacy is privacy regarding domestic and other environments like the home or work place. When the Act was passed, it was for use to find terrorist activities. It

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