The Fourth Amendment Analysis

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Within the last several years the Government of the United States has been caught red-handed collecting citizens’ public and private information through web traffic and other web-based mediums. The Government has employed the use of secret court orders as well as surveillance programs such as PRISM in which they work closely with private organizations to obtain this information. The issue was widely brought to the public eye by the confidential files that Edward J. Snowden released in 2013 through 2014. The revelation of the widespread surveillance by the Government has sparked a national debate on the limits the government has to access this information, primarily in regards to protection from “potential threats” to the United States. This …show more content…
Under this amendment, a citizen has the right to be secure in their persons, houses, and papers. The amendment also guarantees that for a warrant to be issued there must be probable cause and a description of what is to be searched and or seized. The Government’s search and seizure of citizens personal and private information directly violates the Fourth Amendment by not producing a proper warrant and undermining the security of citizens. This not only applies to the Federal Government in regards to agencies like the NSA, but also to state and local governments through law enforcement with devices like IMSI-catchers (StingRay). A reasonable approach to enforce the fourth amendment to a higher standard would be a constitutional revision to explicitly include web-based …show more content…
Typically, school officials limit the access of content to which students have access. Schools use web-monitoring software to filter and block websites it does not want students to access. This type of software typically also creates a log of activity from users on the network which includes students. However, this only applies to the school’s private network. So long as schools are only monitoring the activity of students for the purpose of upholding the integrity of the school and its educational values, then there is no Constitutional infringement. However, upon the collection or distribution of private student information, the Constitutional rights of that student have been infringed upon. There is a fine line in a school ecosystem, but it must be upheld and closely