Essay about Privacy: National Security Agency and Privacy Rights

Submitted By mzzdimplez228
Words: 1800
Pages: 8
Open Document
During times of national crisis, we, as American citizens, may be less likely to think twice about being subjected to government surveillance. After all, it’s in the name of the greater good, and for the sake of protecting our country from terrorist threats, right? It’s not quite that simple. People shouldn’t be so quick to give up their privacy rights in the name of national security because this makes it too easy for the government to abuse their power and strip citizens of rights for reasons that may not be justified.

Now, some people will surely argue that giving up a few privacy rights is a small cost for making sure our country is safe. In his essay, “Invisible Man: Ethics in a World Without Secrets,” philosopher Peter Singer suggests that people will be more honest and altruistic if they feel that they are being watched, referring to Focault’s idea of the “panopticon” as an ideal model.1 Human beings are easily influenced by social pressures, so I don’t question the validity of Singer’s suggestion, but I have to ask, what will this feeling of being watched do to people’s personalities and sense of identity over time?

In George Orwell’s 1984, Orwell introduces the concept of “Big Brother,” a figure that has become synonymous with the idea of government surveillance.2 Big Brother is government surveillance at its worst (if you so much as think about rebellion, “the Party” will find you and torture you into submission, however long it takes), but I can’t help but sense a bit of Big Brother in Singer’s interpretation of the panopticon. The United States government may not be trying to control our thoughts and establish a totalitarian state, but will people still feel comfortable behaving naturally and “being themselves” if they feel like they are always under the government’s eye? How long will it take before people either start feeling the need to be surreptitious about their behavior and take it underground, or start basing their regular behavior on government ideals for fear of being accused of a crime otherwise (although I feel like the former possibility is more likely)?

The government may say that it needs to circumvent certain rights in order to crack down on terrorist threats, but there are ways to do so while protecting American citizens’ right to privacy and remaining within the limits of the Constitution. A perfect example of this is the US National Security Agency (NSA)’s pre-9/11 surveillance project, ThinThread. The NSA was falling behind, technologically speaking, as America headed into the Internet age. It was awash in more data than it could possibly comprehend with its information processing methods at the time. ThinThread, developed by NSA crypto-mathematician Bill Binney while working with the agency’s Signals Intelligence Automation Research Center (SARC), was going to be the solution.3 Journalist Jane Mayer explains in an article for the New Yorker, that what made ThinThread ingenious is that, “Instead of vacuuming up information around the world and then sending it all back to headquarters for analysis, ThinThread processed information as it was collected—discarding useless information on the spot and avoiding the overload problem that plagued centralized systems.”3 ThinThread was so thorough and good at collecting information that it picked up intelligence on American citizens without the NSA intending it to. As a fix, Binney built in a set of privacy controls. With these controls in place, data on American citizens would remain encrypted unless ThinThread flagged it as a potential threat. In this case, it would remain encrypted until NSA officials were able to obtain a proper warrant to access it. The NSA could scour the world for threats and pinpoint specific bits of potentially significant data, all while maintaining a reasonably small budget for the project, remaining within the confines of the law and protecting the privacy of American citizens. But after 9/11 that was
Show More

Related Documents: Essay about Privacy: National Security Agency and Privacy Rights

Why The Nsa's Domestic Surveillance Is Ineffective

According to Wikipedia, the National Security Agency is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence.[1] They have been a subject of controversy since the 1970s, when it was revealed that they had been wiretapping Americans’ telephones. Their surveillance has only grown since then, despite the fact that a majority of Americans disagree with it. [2] The NSA’s domestic surveillance is ineffective, unconstitutional…

Words 543 - Pages 3

Essay On The Fourth Amendment

As a result, governments have found it beneficial to set up agencies to monitor communication over social networks to identify and curtail possible cases of terrorist activities. Despite the positivity attached to this undertaking, it has been criticized because such surveillance breaches the privacy of citizens. Specifically, opponents of the undertaking argue surveillance breaches the fourth amendment as entrenched in the bill of rights. Notwithstanding, a keen inquiry into the motives of…

Words 696 - Pages 3

the fun Essay

Congress and the Right to Privacy An Introductory Essay by Donald R. Wolfensberger For the Congress Project Seminar on “Congress and Individual Privacy in a New Security Age” Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Monday, May 15, 2006 We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance at all times; where there are no secrets from government. –Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas (1966) An American has no sense of privacy. He does not know…

Words 4717 - Pages 19

FISA Pros And Cons

drafted in 1787 by our Founding Fathers and has been abided by ever since; its first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights, are an assurance provided to the population of America to ensure the protection of people’s rights under the power of the federal government. We fool ourselves into believing that our rights were protected back then and we continue to fool ourselves by believing our rights are protected now. The federal government has been lying to our faces and spying behind our backs for a while…

Words 1793 - Pages 8

Investigatory Powers Debate

Thank you for contacting me about intelligence oversight, our right to privacy and the draft Investigatory Powers Bill. I appreciate your concerns about protecting personal privacy, which is why I am pleased, as Theresa May outlined in her statement last week, as well as improving investigatory powers for our intelligence agencies and authorities, this Bill will increase intelligence oversight by asking a judge to approve all warrants to intercept data, even if already signed off by the Home Secretary…

Words 1266 - Pages 6

Americans Choice: Security Or Privacy

Americans’ Choice: Security or Privacy CMGT/441 Introduction to Information Systems Management In light of the recent news story about the phone data collection effort by the National Security Agency (NSA), the right to privacy and government is at the forefront of many minds. FAQ: What the NSA Phone Snooping Uproar is All About written by Jaikumar Vijayan (2013) provides the details and concerns with the NSA’s secret data collection. The topic of privacy is evaluated for the level of importance…

Words 757 - Pages 4

Assignment: Privacy and Ethical Issue Essay

8 Personal Actions – Case Two 8 Conclusion 9 References 10 Appendix A 12 Appendix B 18 PRIVACY AND SURVEILLANCE ETHICS INTRODUCTION Privacy and surveillance ethics are apparent in many different areas. Privacy is an individual’s right to control his or her own information. Surveillance is a method in which has the ability to breach an individual’s privacy. It is the monitoring of people by using techniques such as data collection and observation. Surveillance of individuals…

Words 4554 - Pages 19

Right to Privacy Essay

The right to privacy is mentioned in several amendments in the Constitution: “The First Amendment protects the privacy of beliefs The Third Amendment protects the privacy of home against the use of it for housing soldiers The Fourth Amendment protects privacy against unreasonable searches The Fifth Amendment protects against self-incrimination, which in turn protects the privacy of personal information The Ninth Amendment says that the “enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not…

Words 658 - Pages 3

Essay on Chapter 11

identify major national and international laws that relate to the practice of information security as well as come to understand the role of culture as it applies to ethics in information security. Chapter Objectives When you complete this chapter, you will be able to: Differentiate between law and ethics Identify major national and international laws that relate to the practice of information security Understand the role of culture as it applies to ethics in information security Access current…

Words 4410 - Pages 18

Usa-Patriot Act 9/11 Summary

Commission Report, National Security Letters, The Attorney General FBI Guidelines, the Homeland Security, and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. This reading shows the errors of the U.S. in terror situations as well as the conflict between the executive and legislative branches of the government. Learned from this reading is cooperation between agencies that may have prevented incidents, a better understanding of the law, and more teamwork between agencies. The USA-Patriot Act-9/11…

Words 1254 - Pages 6