2. Fourth Amendment
The 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.
3. Why The Fourth Amendment Was
Added To The Constitution
Before the American Revolution English agents could enter any
colonist’s house or building to look for prohibited goods without
probable cause.
Our forefathers wanted to protect it’s citizens from its newly formed
government and put the prohibition against unreasonable searches
and seizures in the Bill of Rights .
4. Wiretapping
Started 1890
New York made it a felony in 1892
Police ignored law and continued wire tapping
listening to private conversations
Popular for catching bootleggers 1919-1933
In 1934 the U.S. Congress Passed Federal
Communications Act making warrantless
wiretapping illegal
FBI Continued wire tapping despite ruling and is
still done today
5. Bugs
FBI tried using bugs to get around law which
is a hidden microphone used for surveillance
Tried placing a bug outside phone booth
thinking it did not intrude into the booth
Supreme court ruled the Fourth Amendment
protected people not places so bugging is
illegal also.
6. Operation Shamrock
Government illegally censored all messages entering
and leaving country from foreign governments
Started duringWorldWar II
NSA took over in 1952
Transition from telegram to computers allowed for
key word and phrase search
Became useful for monitoring governmental
concerns among foreign nations and U.S. civilians
(Cuba,Vietnam,War on Drugs).
Ended in 1975 after Congressional and press scrutiny
7. Carnivore Surveillance
System
Developed by FBI in 1990 to monitor Internet
traffic
With a search warrant it was set up at the
suspect’s internet service provider to detect and
record packets
FBI forced an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to
allow them to use it without a warrant and it was
upheld by the U.S. District Court
FBI replaced it in 2001 with a commercial
software that could perform the same function
8. After 9/11
2002 CIA captured several al-Qaeda members
along with their computers and cell phones
This allowed NSA to eavesdrop without a
warrant and disrupt future terrorist attacks
List grew to 500 inside USA, including US
citizens, and 5000 to 7000 outside USA
2010 Federal District Court in San Francisco
rules warrantless wiretapping illegal
Still under appeal by Obama administration
9. TALON Database
Created in 2003 by Department of Defense
Database of reports of suspicious activities
near military bases
2005 NBC News found anti-war protesters
and college students protesting on-campus
military recruiting were added to the data
base
Department of Defense removed many of
these reports after an in-house review
TALON was shut down September 17, 2007
10. Covert Government Activities
Today
Andrew Snowden a contractor working for NSA
recently released information that the NSA is
using secret surveillance against the American
public
All electronic communication from anyone in the
country can be intercepted, stored, and retrieved
by NSA
Snowden a junior employee who didn’t even
work directly for the federal government had
access to this information
11. Terrorists Activities
Continue
Despite covert government surveillance
terrorists activities continue in the US and
around the world
The bombing of the Boston Marathon April
15, 2003 using two pressure cooker bombs
3 people died and 264 others were injured
Two brothers of Chechen origin are convicted
of committing the attacks
They were caught because of camera
surveillance at the scene
12. Safety VS Privacy
Where do we draw the line between our right to
privacy and our safety
Citizens want their right to privacy, but they also
want the government to ensure their safety and
security
Covert government surveillance has been around
since the 1890’s and continues to this day
We need to find common ground between
surveillance accountability and our privacy
13. References
Boston MarathonTerror Attack Fast Facts. (2013, July 11).CNN, Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/03/us/boston-marathon-terror-attack-fast-facts/
Daniel Ellsberg:Snowden's NSA LeakWas Heroic, Historic. (n.d.).Justice Integrity Project,
Retrieved from http://www.justice-integrity.org/faq/490-daniel-ellsberg-snowden-s-nsa-
leak-was-heroic-historic
Quinn, M. J. (Ed.). (2013).Ethics ForThe Information Age(5 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: