National Security Letter

Whistleblowing is a problem most companies, countries or people in general fear because of the general backlash that usually follows them sometimes for years. There are many occasions especially in recent years where a whistleblowing case has made the evening news and created havoc not only for the party at fault, but the person doing the whistleblowing as well as the innocent bystanders. But sometimes you have to wonder are there really innocent bystanders. For the case in this section that I…

the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 which was added as Section 101 of the FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 1978 AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008. This act states that if not counteracted by another law “the United States Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence may authorize jointly, for a period of up to 1 year from the effective date of the authorization, the targeting of persons reasonably believed to be located outside of the United States to acquire foreign intelligence…

In many Americans eyes Edward Snowden can be seen as much as a traitor than a hero. Thirty year old Edward Snowden a former National Security Association contractor revealed the works of illegal government programs. The documents revealed detailed secret NSA programs and capabilities that have been and continued to be used to collect and store personal communications both within the United States and abroad. Snowden traveled from his homeland of Hawaii to Honk Kong to leak the documents to…

in defense to the U.S.S.R. amid the progressing Cold War. This report concentrates on the military, monetary, political and mental viewpoints of the United States in relationship to the U.S.S.R. NSC 68 was exhibited to President Truman by his National Security Council. It was fundamentally composed by Paul H. Nitze, named by Dean Acheson the Deputy Director of the State Department Policy Planning Staff. Nitze, the Chief of the Policy Planning Staff, was selected for his experience on the U.S.…

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, surveillance is the act of watching a person or a place, especially a person believed to be involved with criminal activity or a place where criminals gather (“untenable”). Surveillance, in the United States, is an extremely debated topic for many citizens. One person might contemplate what are the costs, and benefits; which was one of Katerina Hadjimatheou’s many points in her article on surveillance. Other citizens might ask themselves, how much of our…

information about the Patriot Act is highly classified (McCutcheon 6), with the only in depth information released by in 2013 by Edward Snowden. Because of this the Patriot Act needs to be abolished as it hurts America as a whole, it weakens national security by creating security theatre, it violates constitutional rights, and furthermore it ties up resources that could be better used in other more successful projects.…

According to BBC News, in June of 2013 the story broke through the newspaper, the Guardian that the United States National Security Agency (NSA), was spying on foreign leaders, people of power both in the US as well as other countries, and millions of Americans. On going stories also revealed that the NSA was collecting data from various allies such as Greece, France, and Italy. They also collected data from allies outside of Europe such as India, Japan, and South Korea (Edward Snowden: Leaks…

people. It feels as if the governments really believes that its greatest enemy is its own citizen. Although surveillance might hold some merit, in its present form the mass surveillance is certainly on the wrong track. In Harvard Law School National Security Journal, Austen D. Givens talks about the ratchet effect, He talks about how once an anti terrorism law is made, it is difficult to scale back and the law may get misused or misinterpreted with time, the laws that were designed for a…

I think Ed Snowden felt it was the right thing putting all the top secret files out in public. Why? Because he did not like the fact that the US government could see what private citizens do on our phones, computers, TV, and other electronic devices. Snowden believed the US Government had been spying on its people for many years. He wanted US citizens to know that their own government had been watching them through their electronics, secretly invading their privacy and tracking their every…

The National Security Administration (NSA) breach started by Edward Snowden started shockwaves of criticism in the government. However, it also revealed that many people will remain silent despite uncomfortableness of being monitored because goes against the majority. The majority, stems from the October, 2001, Patriot Act which the United States has since then taken liberties in the means of national security. The spiral of silence demonstrates that people are willing to sacrifice their privacy…