ipl-logo

The Revelations Of Mass Surveillance Brought To Light By Edward Snowden

472 Words2 Pages

Ludovic Bouan
PTSI 2

Side Effects of Mass Surveillance

The revelations of mass surveillance, brought to light by Edward Snowden in 2013, initiated a heated global debate regarding our online privacy. Many people feel that mass surveillance poses no real threat to them, because they aren't doing anything wrong and have nothing to hide. Google CEO Eric Schmidt famously said: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." After all, only bad people need to hide what they are doing. By building upon proven observations of human nature, and then analysing the implications this point of view imposes, I will explain why this argument is perverse and why we must protect our society from mass surveillance. …show more content…

We need the opportunity to escape the judgmental view of others; the reason being that we do have things to hide: feelings, opinions, beliefs, judgments, interests, etc. If not we wouldn’t have locks on our doors and we wouldn’t mind expressing our deepest feelings or eccentric opinions in public. When we are being watched we make decisions that conform to social norms and we are therefore not expressing our true identity. The Internet is intended to be a tool of liberation, where everyone is free to speak their mind and share with the entire world anonymously sans judgement, but mass surveillance is changing that. Because we act in a socially acceptable manner when being watched, mass surveillance is encaging our minds, crushing the freedom we used to exert, and coercing us into

Show More
Related

Government Surveillance In Fahrenheit 451, By Ray Bradbury

707 Words | 3 Pages

Government surveillance is more prevalent than ever, and it is more out in the open than ever. This proves how government surveillance is often invasive and often defended by the judicial system created to protect the citizens, but instead attacks

Read More

Similarities Between Fahrenheit 451 And 1984

269 Words | 2 Pages

Novels like Fahrenheit 451, George Orwell’s 1984, and The Hunger Games depict a dystopia similar to the world of surveillance that we see today. These fictional novels have have come to life through surveillance technology, casting the image of surveillance as a form of control. Oppressive surveillance has become a pattern in real life as seen in the Red Scare and the Cold War. History and literature, both have made the public and Congress more aware of ‘Big Brother government’. Author, Grey, communicates that the recent growth in surveillance is not about the technology, but the physical surveillance tactics our government has adopted.

Read More

Dbq Essay On Edward Snowden

1418 Words | 6 Pages

Edward Snowden perfectly sums up the thought process behind the rejection of the mass surveillance: “Privacy isn’t about something to hide. Privacy is about something to protect… freedom of speech doesn’t mean much if you can’t have a quiet space… arguing that you don’t have privacy because you have nothing to hide is like arguing that you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” (Document 2). The point of view is from an ardent Libertarian that has contributed to Ron Paul’s campaign numerous times. Edward Snowden firmly believes in the right to self.

Read More

Analysis Of Everyone Is Watching You By Nadine Strossen

571 Words | 3 Pages

By using strong supporting arguments In the essay entitled, Everyone is Watching You, by Nadine Strossen. Strossen’s goal in the essay is to influence her readers that surveillance cameras do more damage than good, and that something needs to be done to eliminate them. Her controversy on this matter was very vigorous, Strossen convincingly argues that surveillance cameras are an atrocious idea and needs to be stopped. She does a satisfying job of catering to her viewers in her essay. With a topic that pertains to everybody, she takes the opportunity to use this to her convenience.

Read More

Is Invading Our Privacy By Julie Myhreis: Article Analysis

2507 Words | 11 Pages

It can be said that the Internet affects every aspect in society’s lives from the things they see and read on there. Although many see the Internet as only doing good, there are people who are using it to violate the privacy of others. Such people are those who run our government, working on unauthorized surveillance by using the Internet to do so. In

Read More

Documentary Citizenfour Thesis Statement

724 Words | 3 Pages

The controversial issue raised is whether to sacrifice the individual privacy in return for national security. The ones usually support the idea with the reason of how effective it is in safety keeping. According to a survey conducted by Horne in 1998 (as cited in Isnard 2001, p.3-4), there is an interrelated link between the decreasing crime rate and the presence of CCTVs. The population is socialized to behave well according to laws under conspicuous surveillance.

Read More

Curbing The NSA Essay

669 Words | 3 Pages

While there are still debates on the exact scope of government surveillance, the fact that there have been steps taken to limit its excesses shows that the United States values individual rights. As technology advances and security threats evolve, it will be important for policymakers to continue to evaluate the role of surveillance in national security and ensure that privacy protections are not sacrificed in the name of

Read More

Persuasive Essay On Domestic Surveillance

1033 Words | 5 Pages

He revealed that the American government’s mass electronic surveillance program was occurring without anyone aware of it and without public debate over its value. Since then, there have been much needed changes, but there is still more than needs to occur. In short, much of what occurs in the process of mass surveillance brings the community more harm than good and is clearly unconstitutional.   Based upon information provided by Edward Snowden in 2013, an article from The Guardian suggested that the NSA monitored three billion

Read More

Informative Essay On The NSA

1767 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More

Surveillance In The Truman Show

1390 Words | 6 Pages

Surveillance is becoming increasingly integrated into human lives. Seemingly inconsequential minutiae like how long one spends in line at a grocery store or how many times a headline is clicked on a social media site are collected automatically by both public and private institutions. Whatever we do and wherever we go, there is likely some trace of it. This has led to great debates about the right to privacy, how much surveillance is too much, and under what circumstances surveillance is justifiable. Film and Television play important roles in these debates and in the way in which the public conceptualizes the utility and threat of surveillance more generally.

Read More

Pros And Cons Of NSA Surveillance

1525 Words | 7 Pages

NSA Surveillance "I can 't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they 're secretly building" (Edward Snowden). The NSA began monitoring and collecting sensitive and personal information from Americans such as their emails, phone calls, photos and other private material. Massive surveillance began in 2001 after the terrorist attack in New York and since then there has been a big peak in government watching. It 's unnecessary for the NSA to monitor American’s private conversations as well as other sensitive data because people should be able to have a sense of privacy in personal communication with others. Government watching is something that the government shouldn’t do because although there are bad people in this world it is irrelevant for them to watch everyone because not everyone is bad and many people disfavors this decision.

Read More

Pros And Cons Of Surveillance Of US Citizens

629 Words | 3 Pages

In the U.S. surveillance is quickly growing into a massive industry. This transition will drastically hurt America’s liberty. Americans have to recognize that the surveillance of U.S. citizens constitutes a threat to civil liberties because it’s comparable to the surveillance done by the Soviet Union, it will eventually lead to the U.S. becoming a totalitarian state, and it doesn't actually make anyone safer. Surveillance of U.S. citizens is comparable to the surveillance done by the Soviet Union on it’s citizens.

Read More

Literature Review: West Point Education

1131 Words | 5 Pages

Literature review After being requested to West Point as administrator in 1945, I appropriately reported for directions to the Army head of staff, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Shockingly he restricted his remarks to two focuses, the significance which he joined to the honour framework and his solid feeling that the foundation should incorporate into its educational programs a formal course intended to show cadets the standards of military initiative. In his view, this had never been sufficiently attempted previously in spite of the way that the arrangement for military authority was a prime goal of West Point instruction. Equipped with this command from General Eisenhower, upon assuming control over my obligations I quickly started a basic course

Read More

Pros And Cons Of Surveillance Society

1315 Words | 6 Pages

Big brother implies the authority that regulates and monitors information and citizens. Currently, technology developments such as closed-circuit television, black box, cell phone, and a bunch of search engines, allow to record every moves that people make and to give rise to surveillance society. Surveillance society has two sides of the coin. In this essay, I will deliver pros and cons about surveillance society and possible solutions to deal with the issue.

Read More

Essay On Government Surveillance

853 Words | 4 Pages

government took the use of surveillance to the next level. This level is unprecedented and unheard in human history. The government uses internet to surveil people’s private information. Several things happening around us that we don’t recognize in today’s world,. One of the things is the surveillance program.

Read More

More about The Revelations Of Mass Surveillance Brought To Light By Edward Snowden

Related Topics

Open Document