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Privacy Vs National Security

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Liberal associate justice of the Supreme Court, William J. Brennan Jr. said, “If the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion.” The great debate circling the minds of many individuals in the U.S. , what’s more important, our privacy or national security? In my perspective, privacy is more significant. Privacy can be defined in Constitutional Law as, “the right of people to make personal decisions regarding intimate matters; under the Common Law, the right of people to lead their lives in a manner that is reasonably secluded from public scrutiny, whether such scrutiny comes from a neighbor 's prying eyes, an investigator 's eavesdropping ears, or …show more content…

To “secure the general welfare.” But under the 4th Amendment of our constitution, we have the right “…to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” So the government is violating our 4th Amendment keeping tabs on its people through the two secret programs, that were exposed by the former Central Intelligence Agency, leaker, Edward Snowden. According to Michael B Kelley (2013), Barack Obama defended the programs by saying: “"You can’t have 100% security, and also then have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience … “the right balance” had been struck between security and privacy, and said that we are "going to have to make some choices as a society Americans.” This is something that should worry us all, it’s a dangerous choice made by people in power of our nation. Nobody feels protected/secured in a surveillance state. The nation is slowly turning similar to the book “1984” by George Orwell. Where “Big Brother” watches, records and controls every aspect of human life, including the thoughts going through your brain are considered crimes. The more power is given to our leaders, the greater the abuse can be. I have seen many people mention, "If you have nothing to hide then you should have no concern for your privacy." The thing that is wrong with that is that people don’t want everything in their lives disclosure to everyone. If someone was to get robbed, assaulted, raped, etc. would you want the details getting out and being published, so everyone knows? Nobody

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