Essay about The NSA, Privacy and the War or Terrorism

Edward Snowden is America’s most recent controversial figure. People can’t decide if he is their hero or traitor. Nevertheless, his leaks on the U.S. government surveillance program, PRISM, demand an explanation. Many American citizens have been enraged by the thought of the government tracing their telecommunication systems. According to factbrowser.com 54% of internet users would rather have more online privacy, even at the risk of security (Facts Tagged with Privacy). They say it is an infringement on their privacy rights of the constitution. However, some of them don’t mind; they believe it will help thwart the acts of terrorists. Both sides make a good point, but the inevitable future is one where the government is adapting as†¦show more content†¦However, when the terrorists attacked in 2001, Bush immediately passed the Patriot Act in response. In section 215 of the Patriot Act, it allows the government to collect information regarding terrorist th reats. Basically, the outcome of the Act resulted in easier access to information about any individual. Then in 2005, people of foreign countries began to find out that the government was listening to them, so Congress passed the FISA amendments of 2007, stating that the U.S. government would only interfere with communication if it felt it was a direct threat to the United States. Laws governing surveillance were originally issued by the government to protect the country from terrorists. Yet, critics argue that the NSA program has not helped prevent any terrorist attacks (Elliott). On the contrary, statistics from propublic.org show that fifty-four failed terrorist attacks were identified by the NSA surveillance program. Of that fifty-four, thirteen of them were in the United States (Eliott). Since 9/11, a total of fifty terrorist attacks on U.S. have been thwarted (Carafano). By those numbers, twenty-five percent of terrorists attacks targeted toward the U.S. were foiled because of the NSA. According to heritage.org, between 2001 and 2009, a total of 471 terrorist attacks were against the United States (Carafano). The statistics show that the government needs more help in identifying terrorists. In addition, the government has said that theShow MoreRelatedThe Importance of the Telephone for Communicating1668 Words   |  7 PagesIn short public phones are no t such a nuisance, but private phones often tend to become a nuisance. Thats the big problem in having a telephone because sometimes they are invading our privacy especially those private telephones. This case study talks and explain the invading of some telephone company in the privacy of their client. IMPORTANCE OF TELEPHONE The use of the telephone is very important to all the people now a days, especially to the company. 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