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Pros And Cons Of NSA Surveillance

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Despite public outcry and threats of impeachment, the National Security Administration’s (NSA) surveillance programs including US984XN, also known as PRISM, benefit the citizens of the United States of America. First of all, these programs are there to protect us from the very real threat of terrorist activity (The verge, 2013). Second, despite uninformed claims to the contrary, these programs could well be legal. Finally, this surveillance does very little to impact the amount of privacy we have in this digital age. The NSA’s surveillance is not a threat to the rights of law abiding US citizens, and should be allowed to continue. The state of global and domestic affairs necessitates the existence of surveillance programs like those implemented …show more content…

Following the national outrage of September 11, the Bush administration passed the Patriot Act in 2001. This allowed the government to surveillance suspected terrorists without a warrant. These government powers were extended in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 2006. These laws were passed through congress. Arguments by some that this warrantless surveillance violates the Fourth Amendment ignores the legal concept of ‘substantive due process.’ Simply put, substantive due process is the method the courts use to determine which parts of the constitution to uphold (Francis, 2013). For example, in the past it was argued that federally mandated minimum wage laws violated the right to make contracts, a right protected under the constitution. However, through substantive due process, the courts ruled that minimum wage laws were for the public benefit, and therefore constitutional (Legal Information Institute). The fact that these surveillance programs are explicitly for national defense makes it likely that they will be upheld if brought before the United States Supreme Court, especially considering the ideological leanings of Supreme Court

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The Pros And Cons Of The Patriot Act

174 Words | 1 Pages

This act increased the federal powers imposed on the citizens in order to help their efforts towards investigating terrorists. These powers included telephone taps, internet taps, voice mail, grand jury information, immigration, money laundering, and crime. While these powers made it easier for the government to track down possible suspects of terrorism, it interfered with the people’s right to privacy. All the provisions under the Patriot Act can be used on the citizens with the approval of a court order. Furthermore, it interfered with the Fourth Amendment.

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What Are The Arguments Against Section 702

253 Words | 2 Pages

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows the United States government to gather foreign intelligence information concerning persons located outside of the country that are, or are connected to, a potential threat against the nation. In addition to protecting national security, the communications data collected under Section 702 has been used for criminal prosecution in domestic court cases. Since it passed in 2008, scholars have raised questions over the act’s constitutionality, especially about its consistence with the Fourth Amendment which protects both US and non-US persons against unreasonable searches and seizures. These scholars argue that not all communications gathered under Section 702 meet the reasonableness requirement of the Fourth Amendment and should therefore not be used in criminal cases. However, Section 702 mainly conflicts with the Constitution only when the act is used inappropriately by agencies to investigate people residing within the US rather than for its intended purpose of gathering foreign intelligence.

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Pros And Cons Of The US Patriot Act

615 Words | 3 Pages

Introduction Signed into law on 26 October 2001, the US Patriot Act was meant to strengthen security controls and provide Americans with an opportunity to act in the defense of their freedom. Caused by the September 11 terrorist attacks, this rule was intended to help Americans protect themselves from future similar strikes. However, since its enactment 16 years ago, this legislation has provided a veil with which impunity and civil rights violators can hide behind as they perpetrate crime in the name of national security. The act augmented safety and intelligence agencies' powers to acquire confidential information.

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Pros And Cons Of The Patriot Act

255 Words | 2 Pages

Due to the enactment of the The Patriot Act back in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, the United States has felt its effect on their right to privacy. Many believe that the US has taken advantage of the act to spy on innocent Americans rather than actually gathering information on terrorists. Certain methods are used such as eavesdropping on phone calls, The Prism Program which contains vital information of americans across the internet. A bulk database of phone numbers etc, The Patriot Act does have its positive aspects in certain areas except privacy. However, it also comes with its cons as well.

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Patriot Act Pros And Cons

953 Words | 4 Pages

One group that argues this is the American Civil Liberties Union, which strongly disagrees with the Patriot Act. They have stated that investigations into the Patriot Act, “reveal thousands of violations of law,” (ACLU), while this is simply not true. One controversial piece of the Patriot Act are roving wiretaps. These allow government investigators to follow and put surveillance on certain people, rather than certain devices, so that they may save time and effort. According to Nathan Sales, a law professor at George Mason University, “Federal courts agree that Title III’s roving wiretaps authority is constitutional and… provides strong support for constitutionality,” (Sales).

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The Pros And Cons Of The USA Patriot Act

1074 Words | 5 Pages

A highly successful program of the Patriot Act in reducing the threat of homegrown terrorism is through the increased attack on fraudulent money laundering. By targeting money laundering, the primary source of funding for terrorist organizations is effectively reduced. This act also expanded other forms of surveillance as well, increasing the authorization for wiretaps and searches by requiring very little evidence to enable one. The act further relaxes pre-measures for the invasion of US residents with the “Sneak and Peak” provision which allows law enforcement to search a suspect’s home without immediately notifying them, potentially for months (“Is the USA Patriot Act Necessary”, 2005). The USA Patriot Act played a huge role in setting current standards for immigrant treatment, “Once it became statutory, the Act gave the legal authorities the unfettered right to detain foreigners for an unlimited length of time, based solely on distrust, without the detainees having due process of law” (Smith, C. S., & Hung, L., 2010, p. 32).

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Pros And Cons Of The NSA Scandal

952 Words | 4 Pages

The NSA’s surveillance of American citizens caused a debate over whether or not the Fourth Amendment of the constitution was being violated. The NSA, and the Fourth Amendment have been a touchy subject for some American citizens. The NSA, or National Surveillance Agency, is being closely watched by American citizens since a debate has formed as to whether or not the actions of the NSA regarding the surveillance of American

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Patriot Act Pros And Cons

641 Words | 3 Pages

The PATRIOT Act violates Fourth Amendment: the right to an unlaw search and seizure, and because phone records are recorded without the knowledge of any American it violates the amendment. By secretly recording all phone calls the civil rights of all Americans are being restricted and denied. The government is way over-stepping their boundaries with the PATRIOT Act. Civil rights are of the most importance to every American and it is not something the government has any obligation to intrude upon. The FBI and the NSA break the law by recording the phone calls.

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Domestic Surveillance Pros And Cons

1543 Words | 7 Pages

The NSA or the National Security Agency carries out most of the domestic surveillance in the United States. Before the 9/11 attacks the NSA needed approval from a court, but after the attacks, they were given free reign to copy any data that possibly linked to terrorist activities. This led to many arguments over whether this collection of data was unconstitutional or not. The extent of this surveillance shocked many people; many civil rights advocates thought that this surveillance breached United States citizens’ rights. Because of the threat of domestic surveillance in the United States it should be decreased drastically but not entirely stopped.

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The Pros And Cons Of Surveillance Of The NSA

694 Words | 3 Pages

Whether these actions are considered constitutional though, are much a matter of opinion. According to the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, one is entitled to the right of not enduring an unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant. Some may say that the monitoring of internet activity violates this amendment due to the fact that there is no warrant needed, and we aren't exactly sure of when the monitoring is occuring. But of course, this is up to interpretation. It is also hard to say that can something is unconstitutional when it has been going on for a significant period of time, and the actions have been approved by congress.

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Fourth Amendment Pros And Cons

1189 Words | 5 Pages

In 2008, President Bush signed into law The FISA Amendment Act, an act which allowed the government to monitor Americans’ electronic devices. Bush claimed that this Act could help save lives, as mentioned before, but what he did not mention is that this allows the government to conduct surveillance without probable cause. (“How the NSA’s Surveillance Procedures Threaten Americans’ Privacy.”) When people heard about this, they became concerned, and many began to question if the NSA would abuse this power.

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Essay Against The 4th Amendment

806 Words | 4 Pages

“The specific complaint was that this provision violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that deals with the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” and seeks to protect this right by “requiring] law enforcement officers to obtain warrants before making most searches. ”(Kubic, 9). Many believe that this new Act is violating the 4th amendment and by extension the Constitution but FBI officers must get a court issued warrant before they can do anything. “Instead, the new law – while not entirely Rube Goldbergian in complexity and confusion – set out a cumbersome and more time-consuming and expensive process to provide much the same results as had the relatively simple Section 215 of the previous act. There seems little doubt that the changes have made the job of identifying potential terrorists more difficult.

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Violating The Fourth Amendment

210 Words | 1 Pages

The fourth amendment can be beneficial but, it can also to some U.S. citizens be invasion of privacy. The fourth amendment states “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,” some U.S. citizens believe that Law Enforcement, the Government and the NSA are violating the required guidelines of the Fourth Amendment. The NSA is conducted a mass U.S. surveillance not to believe specific individuals may be engaging in terrorist activity, but instead to believe all of us may be engaging in such activity. The government mass surveillance proves that U.S. citizens are considered suspects at all times. With the Patriot Act the NSA has access to

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The Credibility Of The Patriot Act

168 Words | 1 Pages

“The Patriot Act broadly undermines the rights of all Americans. It reduces judicial oversight of a host of investigative measures, including wiretaps, expands the government 's ability to track individuals ' Internet use and gives federal officials expansive new powers that are in no way limited to investigating terrorist crimes. ( thenation) It authorizes an end run around the Fourth Amendment by allowing the government to conduct wiretaps and searches in criminal investigations, without probable cause of a crime, as long as the government claims that it also seeks to gather foreign intelligence--an authority that is particularly questionable in light of recent disclosures from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the FBI has

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Pros And Cons Of Surveillance Society

1315 Words | 6 Pages

(Bilton, 2013) Surveillance of search engines permits information to be monitored so that if any hazardous search word like how to make bomb is looked it up several times by someone then it can be identified (Anon, 2014). Also, watching over the public assists police to capture crime suspects so that government organizations can protect national security (mass surveillance 위키피디아) To be specific, after terrible incident occurred in September 11, 2001, government of United States enacted the Patriot Act which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. The act was signed by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001 in the name of declaring war with terrorism. (위키피디아) The law grants the right to Federal Bureau of Investigation to profile people who fit certain stereotypes so that potential crime and potential terror can be prevented.

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