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| Changed the way they used technology Pew Research Center 2014-2015 |
According to USA TODAY investigations, this secret program was enacted way before the 9/11 terrorist attack happened. The government monitored not just millions, but instead billions of Americans’ phone calls. The scary thing about this is that this program was being used when George H.W. Bush was still in office way before President Bush signed the Patriot Act on September 14, 2001. The Patriot Act states that the President has authority to use all necessary and appropriate force against terrorism. On the other hand, a majority of Americans say that it is okay, since the government is doing their job to try to protect our country. The remaining said it is not okay; they are digging into our privacy without any sort of consent.
Ever since Americans started to become aware of the NSA and their sneaky activities, many citizens changed their behaviour due to fear of being reported or put under suspicion. According to the Pew Research Center in a survey conducted between 2014 and 2015, citizens changed their own behaviours on several different devices such as; e-mails, search engines, social media, cellular devices, mobile applications, text messaging and even landlines almost immediately. The fact that this spy program went on for decades has caused a lot of citizens to stop trusting our government and alter our own behaviour.
From my point of view, I feel that it is wrong of the NSA to go against the Fourth Amendment in the U.S. Bill of Rights which 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, 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.” The enacting of the Patriot Act can be seen as a weakening of the Bill of Rights. If the Fourth Amendment can be bypassed by an Act, then what could this cause for our other Constitutional rights? Let’s face it, our government spies on us. Without suspicion. Without warrants. Without probable cause. Without restraint. This would qualify as "unreasonable" in our old constitutional world (1789), wouldn't you agree? The government should stick to spying on American citizens through proper means, via a warrant, only if there is concrete evidence that a U.S. citizen could likely be under suspicion of appropriate crimes.
1 comment:
On April 30th, Angelica Nyoman posted a blog called "What Privacy?" regarding citizen privacy, The Patriot Act and The National Security Agency. She comments about wether the privacy of human rights is being jeopardized and that the government has been "spying" on us for decades before.
Looking into this Act I found that yes, it has been used before it was actually passed in 2001 but the confirmations made it reassuring that it was not to harm people. Angelica comments that "citizens changed their own behaviours on several different devices such as; e-mails, search engines, social media, cellular devices, mobile applications, text messaging and even landlines almost immediately" and I can see why it scares people to change their demeanor but the government isn't looking for petty conversations that occur in the daily life, they are looking for threats and out of the ordinary calls to other countries that raise a red flag. Like she states further on, I understand that people feel threatened and feel like they can't even be themselves but looking at the bigger picture this is to keep an eye on anything that might harm the citizens let alone this country. "The USA PATRIOT Act stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism". I agree with Angelica that the Fourth Amendment is being taken advantage of and totally looked over, but for the safety of my life and this country I don't mind having my conversations looked into.
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