Informative Essay On The NSA

We live in a world of ever growing technology. A world more connected than ever before in human history and no one saw it coming even a few decades ago. In that short time, we have seen a world always connected, where everyone can know nearly anything about anyone and everything. It also means that there is more potential for someone to be watching us without our knowing. This can be done through the internet or through what most usually think of when thinking of surveillance, cameras. Surveillance can be done by anyone who truly wants to do it. Usually it’s done by internet corporations like Google, who collects the data of their users all the time and it’s done by governments. In this essay, I’ll be focusing on the United States government’s

In response to the September 11 attacks in 2001, a grieving nation passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act or in short, the USA PATRIOT Act. The law, still in effect today, expanded the government’s abilities to gather information by any means, like surveillance, which is where the NSA got the right to spy on the United States and its allies. Does the government’s right to surveil the people and collect their data sound like it’s straight from a book? George Orwell warned us back in 1949 with his novel 1984. The dystopia in the novel takes place in the land of Oceania and London. The government of Oceania, led by “The Party” and their leader Big Brother, have complete control over their people and their lives. They are always watching. In 1984, Big Brother can see everything that happens if it’s in range of a telescreen, like a TV camera and through anything Big Brother’s face is on, including money. Anything suspected of being a threat is swiftly eliminated and the people cannot do anything simply because they never know if they are even being listened to. In Oceania, there is no such thing as privacy. Clearly, our world never reached the point of 1984, but it still rings true today that we don’t know when we are being watched online or

He believed that “we must strive to promote their welfare (people); we must respect their rights…” (132). Respect the rights of the people. In the case of government surveillance, they are the “we” and they should be respecting the American people’s right to privacy. To clarify, I am not saying the government should completely abandon their surveillance and spying programs, though it should be limited. I understand like most people, we do truly live in a dangerous world, one of unpredictability and one where the United States is hated by many others. We are constantly threatened and it is the job of the government to keep its citizens safe, but the PATRIOT ACT violates our right to privacy and our Fourth Amendment Right to “be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” I believe the what the PATRIOT ACT allows the NSA to do violates that very right, because it is unreasonable to look through everyone’s emails and search