Privacy In The 4th Amendment

Personal Privacy

There are many reasons why all counter-terrorism efforts potentially violate the 4th amendment. The government thinks that looking into other people’s privacy will be a better way to find their so called enemies but in doing so, that will also mean that they have to look into people’s information and some of those people may not have caused any crime of any sort. One targeting the wrong people for crimes they never committed, two searching a person without a valid warrant/reason, and invading in someone else's privacy without them knowing. It will be explained as to why it isn't right for the government to be spying on civilians as an excuse to save the country from potential enemies.

One of the main things the government does

persons. They are the people the government tracks to see if anything suspicious comes in to the U.S.. The Obama administration said that “extensive procedures, specifically approved by the court, to ensure that only non-U.S. persons outside the U.S. are targeted, and that minimize the acquisition, retention and dissemination of incidentally acquired information about U.S. persons.”(citation). The government searching people without having a warrant. The government has many tools in looking into people's information but the government doesn't realize that it is violating the 4th amendment by using the resources they have in looking into suspected people and that's the reason why we cannot trust our information to be safe with the government either way. David Cole, a lawyer who teaches constitutional law and national security at Georgetown University, and other legal analysts says that, “The world of computers has weakened the Fourth Amendment. "In the modern digital age, it means very, very little."(citation). The reason why he says this is because, before we had computers, no one knew who we were seeing or where we were going throughout the day, but if someone were to know they would have to wiretap our things to know. If the fourth amendment was follow the police would need a warrant to do that but in today's world we wouldn't need it anymore. Because since we share our things with other people for instance phone companies, credit card companies, or by making your local shopping card, the Supreme Court has the right to look at your personal documents as well. By doing so you let them know what you do, such as who you call, what you buy, and who you call, so you cannot call that information private. “Let's say the police or FBI wanted to gather intimate details about your life back in the old days — meaning, before computers came along. Whom are you meeting? What