Has the United States Become a Surveillance Society? Essay Example
After the incident that occurred on September 11, 2001, president George W Bush called for the congress to forge ways into which they could be in a position to monitor what was happening throughout the United States. The World Trade Centre was in rubble due to lack of information. Since then, the government has always had an eye on almost every communication made. According to Winston and Edelbach, (2012) it has reached a point where total surveillance has become the norm. American citizens are therefore unknowingly becoming targets of government surveillance.
According to the article by Schneier, (2016), there is an alleged government spying program. we can recall about the pentagon’s total information awareness that sought to sift through the databases to get the personal information to curb terrorism. This is a massive violation of the constitution
...mostly the debate and speech clause. There have been numerous cases filed in court on the same. Some have argued that there is no need to scoop the entire ocean just to catch a fish (Stoddart, 2011). Employees say that they risk losing their jobs for their political views if the government receives what they say in real time.
The alleged spying, however, continues to thrive amid the numerous complaints from the government has introduced laws that favor its existence. The fourth amendment of the constitution makes it possible for the government to justify itself in doing the act, the foreign intelligence, surveillance act of 1978, the United States signals intelligence directive 18, the executive order 12333 are some of the legal sources that govern the alleged government surveillance.
I would recommend that the courts of law may consider the problem
privacy leaks cause rather than the reasonable expectation of privacy when handling such cases. Companies such as google should also guard the information they get from their clients such as emails. It is wrong for them to share the information they get with the government.
Article 8 of the ECTR guarantees respect for private life. This is in accordance with the law. The government should, therefore, follow the law in order to implement it in the right way. I would also suggest that an independent institution whose mission will be overseeing particular investigative tools and practices be established. The goal should be ensuring fidelity and the privacy of all their clients. The information they give to the government should only be that that threatens the national security. The same institutions should be used to set rules that will govern particular investigative techniques.
In conclusion, surveillance has increasingly become common with the advancement of technology. It has far outstripped the development of the constitutional laws in the United States, a fact that necessitates the need to increase the pace of law amendments where necessary. If privacy is to be put into consideration, the courts of law should put more efforts on the matter. Scholars have observed that privacy is increasingly being squeezed out by technology. There is, therefore, the need for a clear definition of privacy. Failure to which, we will end up having people’s rights being abused in the presence of the law.
References
- Winston, M. E., & Edelbach, R. (2012). Society, ethics, and technology. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning
- Stoddart, E. (2011). Theological perspectives on a surveillance society: Watching and being watched. Farnham, England: Ashgate
Schneier, B. (2016). Data
and Goliath: The hidden battles to collect your data and control your world.
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