The Controversy Over U.S. Domestic Surveillance

The Controversy Over U.S. Domestic Surveillance
Ever since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and an
area in Pennsylvania, in which nearly 3,000 helpless individuals were killed, the U.S. Congress
began to pass legislation that would strengthen the United State's counterterrorism efforts. Less than
a month after the horrific attack, the National Security Agency (NSA) started a "special collection
program" with intentions to track communications among suspected terrorists and Al Qaeda leaders.
Then on October 4, 2001, President George W. Bush authorized the NSA to monitor domestic
communications in order to track down suspected terrorists. Two problems shortly arose from
Bush's decision: the fact that his authorization to NSA was carried out in secret and also that
monitoring the domestic communications was done without a warrant. This proved to be illegal
since the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act states that the government is prohibited from
eavesdropping inside the United States without first getting a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court (FISA court). In order to counteract the issues he had caused, on October 26,
2001 Bush signed the Patriot Act; a law that would expand the government's electronic surveillance
powers. After signing this law Bush stated, "The existing law was written in the era of rotary
telephones. This new law that I sign today will allow surveillance of all communications used by
terrorists, including emails, the
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The Nsa 's National Security Agency
The National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless collection of metadata has been questioned on
constitutional grounds. Specifically, the NSA's program has been argued to be in violation of the
Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which states that all citizens are to be free from any
unreasonable search or seizure. Proponents of the NSA's collection of metadata believe that it is a
crucial tool in preventing terrorist attacks, while opponents of the program believe that its
questionable constitutional validity, along with its lack of clear success in preventing a single
terrorist attack, leaves the NSA's metadata collection program in desperate need of reform or
outright abolishment.
I. THE NSA'S PURPOSE AND THE EVOLUTION OF GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE It is
important to note what the NSA is tasked to do before discussing the constitutional arguments
against its metadata program. As Abdulmajeed Alhogbani, in his work, "Going Dark: Scratching the
Surface of Government Surveillance," informs, the agency has two tasks: "1) information assurance,
which prevents foreign agents from obtaining classified information, and 2) signals intelligence,
which collects and analyzes foreign intelligence" (475). Metadata collection does not fall under
either of these tasks.
Prior to the establishment of the National Security Agency in 1952, the earliest surveillance measure
enacted in the United States was the Communications Act of 1934, which centralized "the regulatory
process of

The Night
It was a beautiful day the sun illuminating off the building, the bustling cities with people going to
work. However, there was a plan amiss a horrible, deadly plan. Hundreds of people flying in four
planes, going to different places. Believing it was just a normal plane trip the planes filled with new
flyers and old, the young child impatiently trying to jump up and down in their seats, the tired
people trying to obtain a wink of sleep, the business man worrying about the work they missed
while in flight, and the tourist and sightseers looking out the windows. Amidst all this action
something was wrong, and the passengers could feel it in their bones. One of the planes starts to get
low enough the passenger could see building, getting ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
After this horrible event, it came to light that multiple different organization in the government had
information on this attack, but they did not put the information together. Hundreds dead in this
horrible act of terrorism, this horrible act that lives in thousands of memories for ages to come. This
atrocious act that was known all around the world. Afterwards, due to fear and desire entrench in
society to not have this happen again, we declare a war on terror and created the patriot act and
create the NSA to spy on suspected terrorist and those in connecting with them. This act gave the
government the ability to record all things people of this country did on the internet and phones, but
this service does record all things, but it does not keep and scan anything that is not from a
suspected terrorist or person in connect with said terrorist. It doesn't just scan everything Americans
search or say for key words. It keys in one certain people and what they say.
Though I know this would not be passed now and there is a great debate about the NSA at the
moment, however I know it for the betterment of the country, I know it helps keep us safe, I know it
needs to stay and I know that it was the right thing to do. We as American believe in privacy. We
believe in our rights, but we need to be safe, if the government doesn't stop a terrorist attack, who
would we blame. One person having their communication watched

NSA Surveillance: Does It Violate the Fourth Ammendment
Does NSA's secret surveillance program violates fourth amendment? Can people abuse it? A few
months ago, Edward Snowden leaked confidential information about a NSA surveillance program
known as PRISM. NSA agents have been recording and listening to our phone calls, reading our text
messages and emails, and archiving our activities. There has been controversy about whether it is a
violation of our privacy right. There has been a lot of talk about abuse of this program. Journalists
have been the primary target of this unauthorized surveillance according to some report. I intend to
find out if there is any abuse of this program, and also whether it violates our fourth amendment
right or not. King, Geoffrey. "Clear and present danger: the NSA, surveillance and the threat to press
freedom." Nieman Reports 68.1 (2014): 38+. Academic OneFile. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. Geoffrey King
has been working to protect the rights of journalists through advocacy, public education, and
engagement with policymakers worldwide. King wrote this article about the negative aspects of the
NSA surveillance; mostly how it is effecting journalism. This article is a really great source to prove
how NSA is breaking the law and threatening the freedom of press. Pike, George H. "The NSA and
an imperfect world." Information Today Oct. 2013: 22. Academic OneFile. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
George H. Pike is the Director of the Pritzker Legal Research Center and Senior Lecturer at

Essay On NSA Snooping
Government Surveillance:
Stop NSA Snooping The National Security Agency can find out much more about someone than you
think. The NSA must stop its intrusion of our privacy. This is a direct violation of our fourth
amendment, which states that citizens should be allowed their confidentiality. Not only is it a blatant
attack on our liberty, but also just unorganised. Just like weapons left overseas, in the same way Al–
Qaeda repurposed the Afghans' weapons, the software the NSA uses can be collected by any
evildoer. When Edward Snowden released information of the mass NSA surveillance Americans felt
betrayed. The NSA's illegal conduct must come to an end. The NSA's illegal spying is in complete
contrast with our constitution, the base of our society. According to the Cornell University Law
School, the fourth amendment states that:
[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized. –Cornell U ... Show more content on
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The constitution was created to provide the people with their rights. The amendment that protects
one's privacy, the fourth, is just like the right of free speech and the right to bear arms. It should be
equally respected, not infringed upon. The 4th amendment isn't the only idea that protects our rights.
Unlawful surveillance is also a key to breaking article I, section 9, clause 2 of the Constitution: "The
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or
invasion the public safety may require it." The NSA's illegal surveillance is unabashedly insulting to
our

The Changes Our Country Has Gone through After 9-11
I would say that, as far as a college student, I am in a somewhat unique position to analyze many of
the changes that our country has gone through since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. While
the majority of college students today were not even teenagers yet, in 2001 I was already a ripe old
age of 25. I remember that day clearly and all of the feelings and emotions that came along with
learning the awful truth of what had happened. That day is one of the most defining moments in our
history. In the following years, our country has changed drastically in many ways that many college
students of today can only read about. One of the most obvious changes since 9/11 is the change that
has been made at the airports. You cannot walk near an airport without seeing security that just
didn't exist before 9/11. I can recall being able to walk all the way to the gate to escort a friend or
family member even though I was not flying with them, but that ended very quickly. Of course there
were ID checks and metal detectors to go through security, but nowhere near the hassle that it has
become today. Congress and President Bush felt something had to be done to increase security at the
airports, so the TSA was created. "The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, (.pdf, 104kb)
passed by the 107th Congress and signed on November 19, 2001, established TSA and required the
completion of more than 30 mandates by the end of 2002. In the largest civilian undertaking in the
history of

NSA Wiretapping Essays
The NSA has been secretly ordered to eavesdrop by the Bush administration after the 9/11 terrorist
attack. The base of where the NSA has been operating their wiretapping agenda is in Bluff Dale,
Utah the building sprawls 1,500,000 square feet and possess the capacity to hold as much as five
zeta bytes of data it has cost almost $2,000,000,000. The act of spying over the USA citizens even
though they are suspicious is a threat to the people's privacy and the privacy of other countries'
members are being infringed on by the NSA by the act of wiretapping. The action of wiretapping
violates laws for privacy, like the Bill of Right's Amendment Four which says "Every subject has a
right to be secure from all unreasonable searches, and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
NSA chief Keith Alexander says that they have prevented many terrorist attacks, such as a foiled
plot of the bombing NajibuUah Zazi's plot to bomb the New York subways in 2009, but while doing
so many of the employees of the NSA can just get countless of other people's information this has
violated the people's rights. The whole program is relatable to the communism in China and Stalin's
action in Russia. There were many conspirators to the NSA surveillance operation such as Verizon,
Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Boundless Informant. Verizon gave them access to all of its call
records for a three month period, it was an untargeted meaning they snooped on calls without
suspecting anyone of wrongdoing. While on the internet side the NSA secured private data from
huge tech companies such as Google, Apple and Microsoft. As NSA's program PRISM collects the
data Boundless Informant organizes and indexes metadata. The system collects different kinds of
data the data are called metadata and can come from phones, internet, and your cookies. The NSA
has also acquired many people's addresses and buddy list connected from their phones. The
wiretapping of the NSA has affected not just Americans it has affected many countries they have felt
unease with the USA in negotiations. When President Obama proposed the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership designed to open markets in the United States and the 28–nation

Annotated Bibliography Of The Usa Patriot Act
Part Two: The Search Results
Before, I had a difficult time finding decent articles or any at all. I figured it was my keywords and I
needed to put less in the search bar. The articles I have found so far are really long and dry. Because
of this, it was harder to comprehend. I started with the Annotated Bibliography and have found
decent information analyzing.
What I have been learning recently is that too many Americans are paranoid that the government is
constantly looking at their emails and phone calls. Kevin Maney claims that most of the data at NSA
sits in storage because no one has time to look at it all (Maney). I strongly agree with him and it
seems logical. Yet Americans will be worried either way.
Friday November 11th, I saw many articles of history claiming that government surveillance has
been happening since Watergate and after the 9/11 attacks. Jane Harman implies that security
sparked from the mistake of not protecting enough (Harman). The USA PATRIOT Act gave the
government the authority to research forms of communication prior to 9/11 ("Domestic"). President
George W. Bush authorized the National Security Agency, NSA, to look into the media and is
believed to be the largest intelligence agency in the United States ("Domestic"). NSA has a location
in Utah that can hold about 100 years of international data (Maney). Also, Lauren Regan claims that
the new facility will be 1.5 million square feet (Regan 32). It's shocking that they've made that big
of a

Pursuit of Privacy and The National Security Agency
Officially given its name on the fourth of November 1952, the National Security Agency was
developed to ensure the safety of American citizens (Howe 11). In an effort to prevent any
unauthorized spying on innocent civilians a court known as FISA was created in 1978 to regulate the
NSA. Up until the events of September 11th, 2001, the NSA was used strictly as a tool for foreign
investigation to decipher international communications ("Frequently Asked Questions About NSA"
1). Twenty–three days after the Twin Towers fell, President Bush passed the Patriot Act ("Timeline
of NSA Domestic Spying" 16). This act ushered the NSA into a position of limitless capability.
Millions of Americans are having their personal lives followed, tracked, and recorded into mass data
pools. This unethical acquisition of personal information is in strict violation of the Fourth
Amendment. Immediate action must be taken by the Government to return the rights assured by our
Founding Fathers and the Constitution.
The NSA was established in 1952 by order of President Harry Truman (Howe 11). Preceding the
official announcement of the National Security Agency the United States had an organization called
the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA). The Armed Forces Security Agency played a key role
in the United State's victory over the Axis Powers, which entailed Japan, Germany, and Italy, during
World War II (Howe 17). The NSA was developed as a way to continue surveillance into the post–
war era.

Surveillance and Spying on the Home Front Since 9/11
Every since 9/11, the surveillance in the United States has become stricter and of more importance.
The security is more top–notch than it has ever been because of the fear a future terrorist attack
striking once again. The United States government is doing this for safety issues and the protection
of Americans, but many are against the whole idea of having the government spy on you and others
actually agree with it.
John Yoo who was the deputy assistant general in the Justice Department's office of Legal Councel
and he also took part in the legality of the NSA domestic surveillance program. Yoo supports
government surveillance.
One of Yoo's arguments is since that the enemy is a group of people and not a nation, these terrorists
can possibly disguise themselves as American citizens. The NSA has to identify where certain
communications can reveal certain threats. Al Qaeda is disguising messages and the NSA is trying
their best to interpret them and found out the meanings. Yoo says that Al Qaeda uses the Internet,
uses cell phones, and talks on the phone like average innocent Americans. So NSA needs to be able
to interpret all types of communication. Yoo says that during Wartime enemies are trying to attack
the U.S. and since the government needs to take action they have the right constitutional power to
try to intercept the communications to try to see if let's say this person making the call is a potential
enemy. When the interviewer brings up the fourth amendment and

No Place At Hide By Glenn Greenwald
No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald is about the National Security Agency (NSA), an agency of
the United States government. The primary purpose of the NSA is to gather and analyze information
with the intent of preserving the national security and the safety of the citizens, especially from
terroristic threats. In 2013, Edward Snowden, a contractor working for the NSA released classified
information which showed that the agency was spying on Americans and collecting information
without a warrant, which is against the law and Americans' basic rights. Greenwald was one of the
first journalists that Snowden had contacted when he was looking to leak the information. No Place
to Hide is an account of all of the events leading up to, during, and after the news broke. An
important basis of the book is the Fourth Amendment and the significance that Americans place on
their right to privacy:
"The right of the people to be secure in their person, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches, seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized" (Greenwald, 3).
Many believed that their Fourth Amendment rights were being violated by the Patriot Act and the
mass overreaching of the information that the NSA collected. The Patriot Act was signed into action
in 2001 shortly after 9/11 and was meant to protect the

Edward Snowden LAUSD essay
Edward Snowden, a twenty–nine–year–old former C.I.A. technical assistant, has disclosed
information concerning the National Security Agency programs and their surveillance practices. It
has been revealed that the FBI and NSA are allowed to spy on hundreds of millions of innocent
Americans, that the NSA can keep information on a U.S. citizen for up to five years without a
warrant, and that the NSA watches and surveils other countries and global leaders clandestinely.
Edward Snowden, albeit he may be considered a criminal for leaking such information, is a more a
whistleblower as he unveiled information about the government and the NSA that is considered
unjustifiable and illegal.
Edward Snowden's title as a whistleblower is emphasized by ... Show more content on
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Not only do they invade Americans' privacy, but they also target other countries such as Germany
and China. German included that over a dozen bills have been introduced in congress to narrow the
public surveillance authorities and increase transparency regarding continuing programs. Therefore,
it's important to understand that legal actions are being taken, which illustrates officials' consensus
with Snowden and the misconducts shown through his leaks. Edward Snowden informed the nation
on illicit activity within the government, exemplifying his epithet as whistleblower. From the point
of view of people in China or Germany, he would easily be considered a whistleblower as well.
However, many people, and Toobin in "Edward Snowden is No Hero," may say that Edward
Snowden is considered more of a criminal since he participated in the unauthorized disclosure of
classified information, which is a crime that is warned of repeatedly to any government employee or
contractor. Although Snowden did perform this act, in the given circumstances, he isn't much of a
criminal since the crime he committed ultimately led to the acts of a whistleblower, publicly
benefiting the American citizens and enlightening the ignorant. This is evident as the leaks have
revealed that U.S. military

Edward Snowden and Wikileaks
Since the beginning of modern technology people have worried about being looked upon or spied on
without their knowing. Even before the internet was invented some people worried about their
phone calls being recorded or listened in on without their knowledge. In 1997 when the internet was
common in most households this made this idea of people being spied on much easier and on a
wider scale. The first proven threat of internet surveillance was in 2001 when the NSA(National
Security Agency) did a Large scale "warrantless surveillance"(Risen 'Bush Lets U.S Spy') of internet
traffic and data streams. This surveillance program was a way to gather data and prevent terrorist
attacks. However some speculated that this was not just to monitor the activities of suspected
terrorists. In 2013 when Edward Snowden released data that proved that the NSA was using their
surveillance on everyone it turned speculation into fact and fears of this were brought to the surface.
In the summer of 2013 one of the biggest leaks of classified documents was carried out by a man
named Edward Snowden (E. McAskill) . Edward Snowden worked as an sysamin (System
Administrator) for a security company that did contract work for the NSA. During his time working
at this company he released an estimated two hundred thousand classified documents. Within these
documents was evidence that the United States was performing a large scale surveillance operation
of its people (B. Denson). It is estimated that

Intentional Misuse by Members of the NSA
There have been at least 12 cases of intentional misuse by members of the NSA since 2003. Before
trial the accused either resigned or retired to escape disciplinary action. This means that they did spy
on people because if they did not they would go to the trial and be found innocent. However they
could have all been paid to retire by the government to hide a more sinister threat such as terrorist
demands or even aliens! Not only have the NSA been caught spying on American citizens but they
have been caught spying on European leaders, most notably the German Chancellor. The German
Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is believed to be the most powerful European leader by US officials.
They were caught spying on her phone calls when she visited Barack Obama in the USA. It is
impossible to stop this because "the NSA can plant bugs on hard drives and other machines ". US
Secretary of State John Kerry has said that in some cases, US spying has gone too far. However that
did not stop him from saying the extra 'security' was needed to thwart terrorist attacks. "In an
interview with Edward Snowden it was said that Obama was defending the unjustifiable and he
knew it ". This backs up the fact that "governments seek nothing less than total social control" .
Snowden also said that the "NSA hack everyone everywhere ".
"The NSA has more satellites on American citizens than they do on Russians ". This means the
Russians are more likely to get away with things such as terrorism in America than

Nsa Spying Scandal : Edward Snowden
"I think it's ridiculous for a citizen of a country that views his government's duty to protect me,
protect all of us from evil, from harm, from terrorists, from foreign powers meaning ill – to classify
a body of government that is designed to figure out what might hit us next and prevent it, throwing
them into an evil bucket is just thoughtless," Max Levchin, PayPal's co–founder told the press
regarding the NSA spying scandal1. Pandemonium struck once a man leaked to the world that the
NSA was spying on people through their electronics. The people could only imagine what kind of
information had been seen by the government. However, this was being done to protect them from
terroristic threats. Honestly, there is no legitimate reason to be afraid of this. The NSA should be
allowed to spy on the technology and social media of American citizens.
The person who revealed the NSA spying scandal was Edward Snowden. Snowden was born in
North Carolina and is 31 years old. Also, he is a high school dropout, has a GED, and spent a few
months in army training. He is a former NSA contractor, but left and leaked this data, and is now
considered a "whistleblower"2. In June 2013, he told the world what he had found while working
for the NSA. He revealed that they were looking at people's data in foreign countries and around the
U.S. Amid all this, Edward Snowden is currently on the FBI's most wanted list for doing this and he
is hiding in Russia at the moment. Snowden also revealed what

Persuasive Essay On Government Surveillance
Dan Idrees
11/29/17
Period A
Government surveillance is Getting watched by the government can be safe and can be quiet helpful
in some cases such as, when a crime is committed by a criminal they can use cameras to record what
happened and they can use that against the criminal.
Home Surveillance: Major companies such as Amazon, Google, and Apple are using smart home
devices such as Google Home, Amazon echo, to capture and collect everything that you are saying
in your household. Trevor Timm the chief editor for (The Guardian) " the government just admitted
it will use smart home devices for spying." The National Security Agency or the NSA collects all the
telephone messages, and even our Internet records and stores them. Surveillance should be have
height to where it should reach and should stop there not exceeding the lines. " Its providing ample
opportunity for intelligence agencies to spy on targets, and possibly the masses," pleas (The
Guardian). In a survey done by the (Pew Research Center) it claims that " 1 in 4 americans surveyed
that Uncle Sam is hacking their personal communications." This meaning that people believe that
their data, their personal files are being privately seen by someone that they don't know, but what is
there to hide for them.
Computers: Nowadays we also have to be worried about our computers getting hacked or having a
virus spread on them which can be caused by other countries that are trying to spy on us or take our
personal files.

Surveillance In Big Brother
Privacy and Protection In George Orwell's 1984, Big Brother uses surveillance to spy on everything
from people's everyday actions to thoughts in their mind's privacy. The government controls much
of the citizens, and this book has left a horrifying image to its readers for the future of government
surveillance. As much as it sounds extreme, this could be the near future of Americans if
surveillance programs continue to grow. Due to the many findings of Edward Snowden on the flaws
of surveillance programs, changes must be made to the NSA Domestic Surveillance Programs.
Many different intelligence agencies, private and government–run, serve to keep America safe.
Some of the best known of these are the CIA or the FBI, which commonly appear in films. The topic
of surveillance, however, mostly ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Also, not to say anything bad about Snowden, but think about it. The people in the surveillance
industry are like Snowden, people like you and me, who have the same temptations. Although they
themselves live under surveillance and they are careful not to do anything, monkeys fall off their
trees. There aren't just a few people handling our private info; there are millions! Who knows what
they could do with our information? The government also fails the trust factor with its lies. In The
Domestic Surveillance Lie, Eddlem tells how the government misrepresented the issues about the
collection and misuse of personal data (Eddlem). The recurring denial and acknowledgment of the
truth creates nihilism and doubt among citizens. If the government keeps trying to hide things from
its citizens, the relationship that they are trying to create is going to be destroyed. It is easy to get
carried away with authority, but the government must make a conscious change in that. In
conclusion, NSA's current Domestic Surveillance Program must go through adjustments to meet the
requirements of the

Nsa Should Be Stopped. Nsa
NSA should be stopped The NSA, The National Security Agency that is under the government
control was initially intended to protect the USA by tethering through technology devices to attempt
to pick up any suspicious activities. The problem is that many feel as if the NSA has no right to
evade their privacy. The NSA should be penalize every time they do so, or should have some type of
warrant, but only for last resort, or stopped completely. There are many other ways to go about
finding troublesome threats like antagonist programs like CDT as I mentioned earlier. Having your
privacy tampered with isn't worth it. The NSA is not needed that bad. "After years of denial, much
of which likely constituted perjury, officials of the National Security Agency (NSA) admitted to
having conducted unwarranted surveillance of Americans, a violation of the protections against such
searches provided by the Fourth Amendment." "NSAAdmits Directly Targeting Americans for
Warrantless Surveillance." NSAAdmits Directly Targeting Americans for Warrantless Surveillance.
Web. 8 Apr. 2015. The NSA abuses their power by going to the extreme and spying on innocent
citizens warrantless. It isn't fair to the society. The NSA shouldn't be able to view anyone's personal
information without a warrant. With or without a warrant, The NSA should still have certain rules
that will create boundaries. President Obama and the National Security Chief stated that they do not
monitor the communications of

The Nsa Spying Is A Major Issue
Technology is in everything we do from using our home refrigerator, washer, cell phone, car, and
computers. When using certain devices you could potentially pass information out to others
pertaining to your personal private information. This information could be bank account and credit
card numbers, pins, and or passwords. We unconsciously don't even realize that we could be sharing
this information. We give out information that is randomly requested when we walk into a dentist
office or doctor's office, the local liquor store, or when we are using social media sites like
Instagram, Facebook, and Google. This is all collected, stored, and tracked by the NSA, and what is
our government is doing with it is unknown. In today's world NSA ... Show more content on
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"The way we've explained it to the American people," he said, "has gotten them so riled up that
nobody told them the facts about the program and the controls that go around it." (Sanger, NY
Times) General Alexander explained that the NSA does not research where it isn't necessary. He said
that the NSA only keeps surveillance where it thinks is necessary to defend against attacks and/or
security breaches. The Domestic Surveillance Directorate branch of the NSA states that their
mission is to collect, process, and store U.S. citizen data for the good of the Nation. The DS is trying
to protect U.S. citizens' information from aliens and terrorists. Their motto is "If you have nothing to
hide, you have nothing to fear" which implies that the DS is only collecting information that is
beneficial to the security of the Nation and it's citizens. To further protect the citizens of the United
States, the government has funded the building of the $1.5 Billion dollar Utah Data Center. This is
the center for a majority of the NSA tracking data. During an interview with the national security
expert, Buck Sexton, Sexton stated that "NSA derived data has officially been used in a criminal
prosecution" (The Blaze). Sexton believes that the NSA, as bad as it may seem in the eyes of the
public, has helped prosecute criminals and ward of acts of terrorism in the nation.
To represent the side

Nsa, Nsa And The Nsa
Working closely with the NSA, he realized the far reach with the everyday surveillance. While
working with Booz Allen he started copying top–secret documents from the NSA. In those
documents he realised NSA has been listening and watching most people 's conversations and
emails after 9/11 to see if "terrorist were planning to attack and never had to say anything to the
people because of the espionage act saying it 's ok to spy and not tell the people about it so they
couldn 't hide. After he had gotten enough documents he told his NSA supervisor that he got sick
with epilepsy. He then flew to Hong Kong, China on May 20, 2013 where he orchestrated to meet
with UK reporters from The Guardian and filmmaker Laura Poitras. On June 5, The ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
Since President Obama took office, the act had been invoked seven times as of June 2013. Snowden
remained in hiding for slightly more than a month. He initially planned to relocate to Ecuador for
asylum, but upon making a stopover, he became stranded in a Russian airport for a month when his
passport was annulled by the American government. The Russian government denied U.S. requests
to extradite Snowden. While some decried him as a traitor, others supported his cause, and more
than 100,000 people signed an online petition asking President Obama to pardon Snowden by late
June. The following month, Snowden made headlines again when it was announced that he had been
offered asylum in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia. Snowden soon made up his mind, expressing
an interest in staying in Russia. One of his lawyers, Anatoly Kucherena stated that Snowden would
seek temporary asylum in Russia and possibly apply for citizenship later. Snowden thanked Russia
for giving him asylum and said that "in the end the law is winning." That October, Snowden stated
that he no longer possessed any of the NSA files that he leaked to press. He gave the materials to the
journalists he met with in Hong Kong, but he didn 't keep copies for himself. Snowden explained
that "it wouldn 't serve the public interest" for him to have brought the files to Russia, according to
The New York Times. Around this time, Snowden 's father, Lon

Surveillance Of U.s. Citizens
Ameer Lee 4/30/2015 1108 ENGL In this day and age it is very hard to be secretive or private about
affair, whether it be business or the other sense of the word when two people come together as
forbidden lovers, ask Bill Clinton. One often acquires a feeling of eeriness while alone or when the
phone rings and no one is there. And that individual labels these incidents as paranoia or thinks
nothing of it. But what if this isn't coincidence? What if someone has tapped lines and to ensure it is
working the phone rings. Remember that "Collect call from", the government you received
yesterday? Wake up people. Surveillance of U.S. Citizens is real. The NSA is videotaping, tapping
the phone lines and watching us watching them. That ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This company is the juiciest part of the peach because everyone depends on them not only for valid
information but proof, pictures, recordings you name it. As the website say "Our customers know
they can count on us to provide what they need, when they need it, wherever they need it." But what
is that suppose to mean and why did they decide to use the word customers? Who are the industry
partners and allies? Is the NSA only keeping surveillance on possible threats in the USA or are they
watching U.S. citizens for entertainment or bigger purposes. If one was to really think about it it
takes time to observe the environment to know for sure that something is wrong with it. It is just like
looking into a camera and saying "there's the bad guy". Innocent U.S. citizens are being stoke and
having their right for privacy violated. These are peoples lives. NSA was established on November
4, 1952, by President Harry Truman. At the time Truman was sworn in as the 33rd president of the
U.S. after Roosevelt's unforeseen death. In hopes to end WWII the NSA was established and helped
win the war by breaking German and Japanese codes and encrypted messages. Ironically Truman
died in 1972 when the CSS and NSA joined forces. Seemed to be all fine and well using
surveillance for good and winning the war. The people were happy when their troops came home.
Where the NSA systems down when Bush became president? 9/11 did happen but no one could
predict or find information on this

Domestic Surveillance During The United States
Domestic Surveillance in the Unites States has been going on for decades without the public 's
knowledge. Domestic Surveillance didn 't seem important in the eye of the American government.
After the September attacks (9/11) congress started to treat Domestic Surveillance as a number one
priority. After September 11th Congress passed a law to use military force for those responsible for
the attacks in New York, NY. The go ahead with using military force did not give the President to
use surveillance without a warrant. Congress started to pass legislation against counterterrorism
efforts. The most controversial measures, including the 2001 USA Patriot Act that gave the US
federal government the ability to collect and analyze private information that has identified itself
with the United States of America.
With new found ways of viewing American citizens personal information the federal government
had to learn how not to get caught. American citizens have right to their privacy and with all the new
Domestic Surveillance programs many were warrantless. In 2002 Bush signed a presidential order
allowing the National Security Agency to monitor without a warrant. This presidential order applied
to international telephone calls and e–mail messages of thousands of citizens and legal residents
inside the United States. This program never had the requirements to obtain or produce a warrant
from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court but, as the 4th Amendment to the Constitution

Government Surveillance Of The United States
Over the past few years, government surveillance in the United States has become a widely debated
issue with two completely different sides. The National Security Agency, a government agency
known for it's efforts in spying and surveillance, has been at the center of this issue since it's
founding in the 1950's. The Cold War had just begun and the United States government was doing
anything they could to find potential terrorists and communists. In fact, many famous people
including Einstein were being spied on by the government to find citizens with potential ties to the
Soviet Union. (New York Times – New Details Emerge from the Einstein Files; How the FBI
Tracked His Phone Calls and His Trash) As the cold war came to an end in the early 90's, NSA
spying seemed to come to an end as well. However, their efforts stepped up significantly after the
terror attacks that occurred on 9/11. After 9/11, the government was on high alert for anybody that
could be a potential terrorist. The NSA quickly began spying on foreigners suspected of being
involved in terrorist activities or associating with potential terrorists. (Wikipedia – Mass
Surveillance in the United States) Soon after this, they started intercepting phone conversations and
even internet traffic through a program known as PRISM. This program was kept secret for quite a
while until NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked thousands of documents to reporters. (PBS –
How Edward Snowden Leaked Thousands of NSA Documents)
While

Pros And Cons Of Snowden
In 2013 former Central Intelligence Agency employee Edward Joseph Snowden leaked classified
information about the National Security Agency's ways of monitoring American citizens. Although
several politicians believe he should not be pardoned because of his violations of the Espionage Act
and disloyalty to the United States Government, president Obama should grant amnesty to Snowden
for revealing the NSA's domestic spying, his attempt to protect citizen's rights and NSA's
surveillance program being found to be illegal.
Thus, everything began when the computer professional landed a job in 2006 working as an
information–technologist storing, retrieving, transmitting and manipulating data at the Central
Intelligence Agency. After being suspected of venturing into classified files he left his job and
moved on to Booz Allen Hamilton. Throughout his years of working as an information–technologist
he compiled a large store of top secret documents on practices that he found invasive and disturbing.
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This act establishes the new powers given to the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Security
Agency and other federal agencies on domestic and international surveillance of electronic
communications. Federal appeals in New York looked into the situation and found it to be unlawful
because it exceeds the scope of what congress has authorized by conjointly studying the phone calls
of citizens not convoluted with terrorism. Information gathered from Snowden included the top
secret court order directing telecommunications company Verizon to relinquish all of its telephone
data to the NSA on an ongoing daily basis. Out of Snowden and the National Security Agency only
one has been found to have acted unlawfully– and it is not

Preserving Liberty
Out the side window of Chapultepec Lupita Mexican Restaurant in Houston, Texas is a white Public
Notary office with a colorful, geometric mural of a fierce bird rising against foreboding, building–
like structures. In a corner atop the mural, Thomas Jefferson's famous quote, "When government
fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny" stands for
all to see. Beneath Jefferson's wise words, the artist has declared Edward Snowden and Julian
Assange heroes. While plenty government officials condemn the actions of these demonized
"hacktivists," reconsider the summer of 2013, when Americans sat aghast in their living rooms as
reporters broke stories of the mass surveillance of American citizens through the collection of phone
records and user data from major American companies (i.e. Apple, Verizon, Facebook, and Google)
by the National Security Agency (NSA) (Scherer and Shuster). In early June 2013, several days
following the first reports, Edward Snowden, a thirty year–old libertarian, and former NSA
contractor, personally claimed responsibility for leaking the documents that proved the privacy
infringements (Scherer and Shuster). For the duration of the summer the world watched on as
Snowden and allies avoided the American manhunt like characters from a Mission Impossible
movie, concluding when Russia granted Snowden asylum for a year (Scherer and Shuster).
Snowden has been labeled everything from a "dangerous traitor" to a "Dark

Surveillance Of Private Citizens
The debate between privacy and the surveillance of private citizens has been quite a huge and
controversial topic that has arisen in recent years. In terms of understanding how exactly it came to
be such a controversial topic, first a person should be able to understand exactly what it means to
have the surveillance of private citizens,why it has been said to be a good idea for a better and safe
society and the different terms that come up when one talks about the topic of surveilling private
citizens. Key ideas that should be noted for learning more about the topic would be for example
PRISM, TOR, and of course the opposing opinion of whether or not government collection for
security reasons is violating on people's individual rights, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
Governments around the world have said that by going through this process of collecting
information on it's own citizens, that it could help deal with security concerns. This idea of having
government surveillance programs keeping watch over it's citizens at least in the United States has
been prevalent since at least 911 when prior to the launch of Prism in 2007, there was another
program in place called the Terrorist Surveillance Program. In terms of what government
surveillance is being used for it is mainly to stop terrorist attacks from occurring. In order for this to
occur, the government sifts through the traffic of different telecommunications, Internet, phone calls,
web chats, and etc. As they are sifting through this traffic they will be looking for certain patterns,
which would be considered red flags. Through these red flags they can pinpoint certain people or
factors and then slowly build up a file on whether or not there is a certain terrorist or criminal threat
to the public or not.
In terms of whether or not government surveillance is a good thing, my argument would be that
mean it's necessarily a good thing to collect information on everyone, as that's what government
surveillance calls

Citizenfour: Global Surveillance
Terrorism has become a plague for many nations, and surveillance has become an emerging cure.
However, this cure is extremely controversial and was classified as top secret until very recently. In
September of 2016, a drama/thriller movie was published on an individual who revealed this
classified information called Snowden. Snowden is the Hollywood edition of Edward Snowden's
story. Meanwhile, Citizenfour, a documentary published in October of 2014, is the historical version
of the story.
Citizenfour is a film on Edward Snowden, alias Citizenfour, and his undertaking in exposing the
controversial and intrusive surveillance systems used by the National Security Agency (NSA) and
other agencies across the globe. The documentary is directed by ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Indeed you'll never be aware of all the things those agencies are doing to stop your identity being
stolen and stop a terrorist blowing you up (Watts)." First of all, ask yourself the following: would
you be willing to give a journalist the passwords to all of your social media accounts allowing them
to scroll through all of your online activities and publish whatever they find interesting? Greenwald
has asked this question to every person that has said a version of the saying but no one has ever
replied to him ("Why Privacy Matters."). The reality is that even those that disclaim the importance
of privacy, instinctively understand and value it. The ability to be "free of the judgmental eyes of
other people" is just as important as having liberty because everyone has something to hide, even the
government officials managing the surveillance ("Why Privacy Matters."). Furthermore, some
individuals require privacy

Citizenfour Film Analysis
CitizenFour is a documentary that suspensefully follows the unraveling of the leaks about the NSA
as carried out by Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald, and Edward Snowden. The documentary begins
with introducing the theme of the film, risk and democracy. CitizenFour begins with a voice over
from a government agent who explains their position, their mission, and their foresight in revealing
information pertaining to the NSA and Untied States government. The film proceeds with
introductory and diverse accounts about how surveillance has been integrated into our society with
such things like linkabilty. The film then moves into the narrative in the form of vignettes of Edward
Snowden and Glenn Greenwald. Edward relays all of the information and documents that he ...
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In terms of the technology and collaboration being utilized to create a surveillance state, the
filmmaker includes the perspectives of several experts to discuss the many examples of questionable
state control. This is seen in the discussion about linkability, the AT&T trial, the Verizon scandal,
and the various NSA programs. All of these discussions demonstrate what contribute to my
impression of the film– understanding the overwhelming power and potential for control the
government has been enacting for years. In addition to the technology, the film consistently
discusses the principality of this issue. Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, Mr. Applebaum, and
many others understand that while this is and will always be interpreted as a political statement, the
motivation for revealing and discussing such realities is rooted in defending democracy. The film is
somewhat a self–fulfilling prophecy in that sense– the NSA power increase post 9/11 was justified
under the guise of national security and those condemning Snowden and Greenwald claim the same
the threat. However, on a much larger level, the revelatory leaks

The Security Agency Nsa ( Nsa )
In early June of 2013, all the main broad casting channels broke the story that the National Security
Agency (NSA) was "spying" on United States citizens, and that communication in the U.S. was not
private. Edward Snowden, formerly worked as a technical contractor for the NSA at the time, gave
the media the information for the story. At the time of the release of the story, Snowden was in Hong
Kong. This trip was a deliberately planned in order to keep himself from being immediately
incarcerated in the United States. The NSA's surveillance efforts were increased after the 9/11
attacks, and have allegedly kept growing since then (Gross, 2013). Whether the surveillance was in
unconstitutional guidelines is something that is up for discussion now that the leaks have uncovered
the degree of the surveillance that is, and has been, taking place. Other NSA Contractors state that
the Constitution has been violated, but spokespeople from the NSA state that they are not "listening
in" on conversations entered into by the average American, nor are they reading emails or other
correspondence (Gross, 2013). The argument in the media and society concerning the NSA security
leak is fixated on whether Edward Snowden is a hero or a traitor, but in order to make a judgement
on that, one has to comprehend what Snowden actually did and how it affects society and the
government.
1
The National Security Agency is part of the United States Department of Defense. It is a cryptologic
intelligence

No Place To Fare, By Glenn Greenwald
Edward Snowden's disclosures about the National Intelligence Agency surveillance extension is
some of the most comprehensive news in recent history. It has incited a ferocious debate over
national security and information privacy. As the U.S government deliberates various reform
proposals, arguments continue on whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor (Simcox, 2015).
No place to hide, is a 2014 non–fiction book by the former constitutional lawyer and author Glenn
Greenwald. He argues in favour of U.S government accountability for the National Security Agency
illegal domestic spying program that allegedly aims to defend against potential terrorism. The
unreasonable level of surveillance breaches citizens and foreigners' privacy. Greenwald ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Greenwald uses experience, credentials, and conclusions of an expert to vouch for his argument,
which, in turn strengthens it. His usage of short quotes enables a critical voice while using evidence
to support his analysis.
Thirdly, Greenwald combines quantitative and qualitative data through visuals withdrawn from the
leaked archives of documents. To illustrate, he provides a chart from the NSA breakdown that
quantifies the number of calls and emails collected for each country. "For Poland, the chart shows
more than three million telephone calls on some days, for a thirty–day total of seventy–one million"
(p.99). He uses the charts from the leaked documents as evidence to support his argument on the
NSA's unreasonable levels of surveillance on foreign countries. The integration of visuals into the
book is vital for readability. A reader with no previous background in statistics can easily understand
the explanations to reveal important patterns. Therefore, it strengthens his argument.
Additionally, Greenwald's usage of qualitative data provides an insight into the problem of
surveillance. For example, Greenwald uses descriptive statements about intelligence and
surveillance based on observations, interviews or evaluations. For instance, Greenwald states, "those
state authorities have been assisted in their assault on privacy by a

NSAArgument Essay
"Even if you're not doing anything wrong, you're being watched and recorded," said former NSA
information technology contractor, Edward Snowden, as quoted in an article by CNN political
reporter, Jeremy Diamond. Despite his low position in the National Security Agency, Snowden
caught the world's eye in 2013 when he leaked documents revealing the NSA and FISC's plans for
mass domestic surveillance in the United States. His decision to reveal classified documents sent the
nation into widespread outrage. The NSA had access to not only metadata (records of activity), but
also content containing personal information that Americans rightfully assumed was protected by
laws such as the Stored Communications Act (SCA) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
Amendments Act ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The SCA was amended, the Cybersecurity Act was written into law, and the USA FREEDOM Act
was added to the USA PATRIOT Act, all in 2015 in an attempt to bring regulations on surveillance
procedures up to date. Regulations would add limitations to NSA's ability to access information.
Yet, according to an article in the Huffington Post, one of the most popular American political sites,
by lawyer Shayana Kadidal, "...as even advocates of the Freedom Act note, there are many other
ways in which the government could be sweeping in the same records." Clearly, the multiple
additions to the law in 2015 weren't sufficient enough to hold back the government. A document
titled "What Went Wrong with the FISA Court", by Elizabeth Goitein and Faiza Patel, published by
the Brennan Center for Justice (BCJ) at New York University Law School, suggests that "Congress
should require the government, on a periodic basis, to submit to the FISA Court for its review a list
of the selection terms used to acquire electronic communications under Section 702 [of FAA]."
Periodic reviews such as these would eliminate any chance of current laws becoming

The Negative Effects Of NSA Phone Tappinging
What is privacy? Is it the ability to be in a situation which allows you to do things without other
people seeing you or disturbing you? If it is, then it is always being violated by new and upcoming
technologies. One of many technologies that are challenging privacy is NSA Phone tapping. NSA
Phone tapping is a program that allows a person to monitor whom a person calls and when a person
calls. This program started in 1952 but required a warrant to spy on Americans. After the attacks on
the twin towers The white house asked the NSA what they could do to protect American while still
being legal. The White house allowed the NSA to track Americans calling a person from
Afghanistan. The NSA believed they were authorized to track domestic phone calls and emails,
eventually the attorney general decided the program was legal. Only recently when Edward
Snowden exposed the NSA of their wicked doings there has been an unrest among Americans. N
and advancing technologies such as NSA phone tapping has certainly negatively affected privacy in
this era because it causes the citizen's moral to be low, it can be obtained by bad people and it's
ineffective. NSA cell phone tapping has many negative effects that are endangering the privacy of
others and meanwhile lowers the morale of the people. For instance, cell phone tapping is causing
an unhappy community because they are being relinquished of their privacy. Another reason is, If
other people have this power it could cause many problems such as stolen information and it breaks
technical systems, as the very protocols of the Internet become untrusted(Gale, Opposing
Viewpoints). For instance, millions of people saw their computers shut down by ransomware with
demands for payments in digital currency to have their access restored. Therefore the NSA doesn't
trust the people that they work with because they could work for the enemy causing a massive cut in
employees. Some of the ex employees hack into the program for revenge(New York Times). Lastly,
The NSA has failed to pass constitutional muster and has been violating the Fourth Amendment by
collecting information from millions of ordinary Americans without a warrant. For instance, the
fourth amendment states "The right of

The Importance Of The National Security Agency
The role of the NSA and the agency's importance to this country have certainly been put under
scrutiny in the last few years. People are receptive that the United States government has secrets that
are set in place for the benefit of 'national security', however, citizens have been questioning the
country's intentions ever since the leak by Edward Snowden occurred. As technological advances
occur, the conceptualization of the agency's innocence and pure intentions slowly subside. When
Edward Snowden leaked top secret information about the country, legality and ethics were placed on
a metaphorical weight scale of importance to weigh what sacrifices were worth making. This
eventually led people to compromise their rights of privacy for a supposed ... Show more content on
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As this issue has been recognized in the past, the agency has been forced to go to court to face the
accusation of law bending. In some of these cases, there has been a ruling of unconstitutionality,
however, as time progressed and more of these cases had come to surface, former U.S. President
Bush moved all cases of this degree to a specific court. By doing this, the public began to feel that
the agency's illegal activities can be automatically defended by a mysterious and unexplained claim
of 'maintaining national security'. When attempting to evaluate the legality of their actions, only the
information available to the public can be evaluated, but even then, there are issues that have
appeared. When reviewing legality concerning national security, the president and congress will
undoubtedly come into play. This is a responsibility and action that the president gives approval for
to maintain his standards of national security. However, this does not mean that it is a legal route as
"FISA is a valid regulation of presidential powers, and therefore that the wiretapping program is
illegal" (Lee). As the agency's activities can be accused to be unconstitutional or illegal, it is easy to
assume they are aware of the loopholes and methods to get around this type of 'technicality' in their
eyes. Along with the concern of legality of surveillance, the ethics behind

Edward Snowden and The Government Data Collection Program
Lon Snowden, as well as others have compared Edward Snowden to "Paul Revere" and have called
him a "Hero" while others vilify him (Gidda 3). Technically what he has done is a crime, yet many
people rally to his defence. "There is every reason to believe the federal government has been
collecting every bit of information about every American's phone calls"(Hertzberg 2). Through
Edward Snowden's actions we have learned of the governments data collecting program: Prism. This
has provoked the public to question the credibility of the government. It has also stirred politicians
and citizens alike into a frenzy, debating over the legality, constitutionality, and necessity of these
covert operations. Edward Snowdens revelations on the NSA data ... Show more content on
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"Anyone who has made a call, sent a text, or done anything on the internet has their information
filed into a database"(Hertzburg 1). With all this archivation and collection of data from average
American citizens, the question has been asked, "is this constitutional?" In 2012 FISA was renewed
again and it will expire in 2017. The White House says until then, Prism and its data harvesting are
still legal. The government though, has reacted in many different ways. General Keith Alexander,
director of the NSA, says, "it's completely legal and says it keeps Americans safe"(Bucci). Other
political groups, like Florida based activist group Freedom Watch have said, "The NSA's actions are
illegal and Prism violates the constitution"(Kelion 3). The 4th amendment of the constitution
prohibits "unreasonable searches and seizures". If you believe the average American citizen is a
probable suspect for terrorism then Prism is constitutional. The group has filed a lawsuit against
president Obama and several high ranking officials of the NSA(Savage). Obama initially supported
the NSA's actions 100% but recently has changed his stance. He has announced that he has come up
with a proposal that will "end the aspect that most alarmed Americans", the collection of calling data
and habits. This reform gives the implication that it will stop the "NSA's largest area of data

National Security Agency Research Paper
The National Security Agency has been accused and found guilty of not following standard
procedures, giving inaccurate information, and unreasonably spying on U.S. Residents. In 2011, the
NSA violated 2,776 rules and court orders. There has been numerous incidents of the NSA
committing Illegal and unjust acts. There is nothing just about exploiting and infringe on our rights
as U.S. citizens.
The NSA role is to collect and process global information for foreign intelligence. They are to
protect all government systems and communications. They have over used their power for there own
gain. They have been found guilty of their actions but nobody has done anything. Nothing has
happened because people don't want to accept the fact that we are being ... Show more content on
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With their knowledge and power they have the ability to find history on anyone. They can use their
systems to find information on politicians and public leaders. Nobody should be able to find
information on anyone so easily. We should be able to have privacy and not having to worry about
someone recording our conversation. Imagine every call, text, email, message and conversation you
have had and knowing someone can see it all.
In December of 2015, the government wanted Apple to unlock and allow them to view all the files
of a terrorist's phone. Apple denied their request and told them it was against the terrorist's rights.
This wasn't the first time Apple was asked to decrypt one of their products. Apple protected the
rights of the people by not allowing the government access to their personal information.
The NSA servers are beginning to overflow and they are having to delete useless information that is
stored. "The National Security Agency's Special Source Operations branch manages "partnerships"
in which U.S. and foreign telecommunications companies allow the NSA to use their facilities to
intercept phone calls, emails and other data. This briefing describes problems with overcollection of
data from e–mail address books and buddy lists, as well as NSA efforts to filter out what it does not
need (washingtonpost.com)." Imagine a government serve with so many personal recorded
conversations that it is over over

Nsa Wiretapping And The Nsa
Recent controversy has exposed one of the most heated and long–standing debates about the
National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless wiretapping. Although that beginning of the program
conducted by the NSA is unknown, it is easily assumed that the NSA has been practicing such
surveillance activities for a long time, or as long as national security has been threatened.
Nevertheless, the program started well before the tragic events that unfolded on September 11, 2001,
with the Bush administration directing the NSA to begin secretly surveilling conversations between
U.S. citizens and suspected foreign terrorists. Post September 11, 2001, the United States learned
that the Bush administration repeatedly authorized the NSA to monitor phones calls and electronic–
mail (email) of people within the United States who were suspected of terrorist activities within the
homeland. The monitoring activities were conducted without a warrant and in violation of the U.S.
Constitution. The program became more of a topic after the September 11th attacks, and was part of
a broad pattern of the executive branch using "national security" as an excuse for encroaching on the
privacy rights of Americans with minimum to no oversight. In 2006, the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) was victories in the first of many rounds of litigation in the ACLU v. NSA case. The
U.S. District Court ruled that the NSA program violated First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment,
and the Foreign Intelligence

Wiretapping And Spying Stop Terrorism
Our argument is that the government should be able to wiretap and spy without warrant. My partner
brought up our first main contention which was how wiretapping and spying stop terrorism. Our
other contentions are is it helps speed up trials and brings a more accurate verdict, and there
wouldn't be as much paperwork if it was warrantless. Our next main contention that I will be
discussing is how wiretapping and spying stops organized crimes. The organized crimes that it
would be able to stop is murder, robbery, drug distribution, human trafficking, and many other
crimes. Think about all the lives that would be saved by spying on suspected people who would
commit the crimes... How warrantless wiretapping and spying will work is they will be able to listen
on conversations and read emails. After that they will be able to apprehend the suspect if they are
suspected of committing a crime. With crime and terrorism on the rise our country can seriously
benefit from warrantless wiretapping. The law enforcement and government officials using wiretaps
are not spying random but instead suspect criminals. Also when they collect information by using
wiretaps it does interfere with innocent U.S citizens. This is some of the reasoning behind our
argument. Why we know it work and help our country is other ... Show more content on
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Having a faster trial will help save money, right now a criminal trial can range from $40,000 to $17
million base on the offense. Being able to save the United States money will allows to spend money
on things for the better cause and not criminals. Think about it why we should spend so much
money criminals just so we can put them in jail, the money should go toward more important things
that will benefit our country. This is our last supporting point for our

The Rights Of American Citizens
In June 2013, Edward Snowden–a former agent for the Central Intelligence Agency–leaked
confidential government information to the public through The Guardian by journalists that
consequently published it on the Internet. In doing so, Snowden exposed the National Security
Agency's (NSA) spy programs that infringe upon the rights of American citizens, which has
catalyzed legal controversy and skepticism towards the United States government due to the
violation of privacy (Liu 2014). The Internet is a vast host for a plethora of information and
communication between people; private activities and messages between people are not protected
under United States laws, which can be exploited. The problem is seen in the NSA's unwarranted ...
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With the ever–changing dynamics of the Internet and its vast freedom, the United States government
needs to update its laws and create new laws to adapt to technology today. Currently, there are laws
today such as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) that were passed in order to
incorporate government surveillance into the electronic age; however, "it has not [been]
meaningfully updated since the advent of the World Wide Web" (1264). The Internet has been in
existence since 1969–and since the ECPA has not been updated since then, it is outdated. With such
an outdated and ineffective law, there needs to be changes made to public policy in correlation with
perpetually changing technology to protect the privacy rights of American citizens across social
networks. The CrimPC system is an ideal system to construct new privacy protection and
surveillance laws that do not violate the American Constitution, as "CrimPC regulates more
surveillance techniques than ECPA [by] restricting the use of undercover agents in law enforcement;
neither the ECPA nor any United States statute or constitutional provision regulates undercover
operatives" (1268).

A Short Note On Anti Internet Surveillance Speech
Nick Foker
AP English Lang, Period C
Ms. Pringle
March 2, 2016
Anti–Internet Surveillance Speech
There is a massive amount of videos online devoted to an experience that most of you have probably
experienced; it is an experience where a person, thinking they are alone, engages in some expressive
behavior, such as dancing or singing, only to discover that they are not alone, that there is someone
watching them. This discovery often causes them to immediately stop what they are doing and recoil
in shame and embarrassment, the sense of privacy that allowed them to express themselves gone.
Similarly, when Edward Snowden exposed how the government has turned the Internet, once known
as a revolutionary tool for self–expression and freedom, into a tool for mass surveillance, Internet
users recoiled in horror because they realized that their sense of privacy was completely false much
like the people in those videos. Why is privacy so important to us? The desire for privacy is
ingrained into our minds and when we do not have privacy our behavior is vastly different. Think to
yourself– do you behave differently by yourself than when you are with other people? Most likely,
the answer is yes. This is an example of the power of shame and the desire to conform to the rest of
society. When we take away privacy, we lose our true selves and are restricted in our behavior. This
idea can be applied to online privacy, too. Would you visit the same websites if you were using your

The Controversy Over U.S. Domestic Surveillance

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