It has been three years since Edward Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency has been collecting cellphone metadata from nearly every single United States citizen on the basis of protecting this country from terrorism.
Now that the public is informed as to what our government is doing behind closed doors, at least to some extent, we have demanded transparency from our government. It has worked.
The fact that Congress and the president have passed the Freedom Act, which ends the provisions in the Patriot Act allowing government agencies like the NSA from collecting phone records of every American. This legislation represents a win for protectors of individual liberty and a loss for protectors of warrantless mass surveillance. However, to me the passage of the Freedom Act is merely a small step forward –if that.
Mike: “Living in a society where a stranger is keeping records of us through modern technology is both scary and creepy.”
Even though this law ends the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans citizens’ phone metadata, the NSA still has access to our information from the phone companies. If anything the Freedom Act has simply created a middleman, making it slightly inconvenient for the NSA to access our phone records. If we are to end mass surveillance entirely, then we need to propose a stronger bill.
It has to be one that prevents not just the NSA, but any government agency from spying on Americans. The NSA is still keeping records of our phone calls and will continue to do so. Also, it is not simply our phone records that are being collected. The NSA is collecting our emails and Internet history as well.
As you read this article, watch a YouTube video, or login to your Facebook page, the government keeps a record of it. This level of mass surveillance and breach of the constitution is unprecedented. Living in a society where a stranger is keeping records of us through modern technology is both scary and creepy.
There is a false dichotomy between protecting security and privacy, as if they are both mutually exclusive. All we have to do is examine the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution to determine why this assessment is completely false. It states that searches and seizures are only permissible by court ordered warrants usually issued by judges or magistrates. These warrants must include a stipulation that only upon probable cause can the individual or home be subject to investigation. This amendment was designed to prevent “general search warrants” or “writs of assistance” that were issued by the British government.
The courts used to give law enforcement officers written orders to help customs officials investigate the property of any individual as a means of searching for smuggled goods, which had become common in New England by 1760. The holder of a writ could enter into anyone’s home or private property and would not be held accountable for any damage whatsoever.
So if you want the government to be able to locate who you are and where you live through modern technology, break into your home, and wreck havoc, then by all means support the NSA’s warrantless mass surveillance program.
But if you are a supporter of individual liberty, then condemn the program and demand that law enforcement and government officials follow constitutional law and obtain a warrant upon probable cause for their search and seizure. If you’re someone who thinks that you have nothing to hide since you’re not a terrorist, just look to American history and you’ll understand that there is a legitimate reason for the 4th amendment’s existence.
The NSA spying program costs your money in addition to your privacy. Spying on Americans because they might be terrorists is very expensive. According to Johns Hopkins economics professor Steve Hanke, the NSA spying program costs each American taxpayer 574 dollars a year. Instead of paying someone to spy on us on the basis that we might be terrorists, I think our tax dollars would be better spent on health care, education, and infrastructure. Now you might be saying well, its OK to forfeit some of our individual liberty in order to protect our country form the imminent threat of terrorism. Guess again.
A White House approved government oversight board did an investigation on the NSA spying program and has not found any evidence to support the notion that the NSA spying program has stopped a single terrorist attack. Even President Obama, who once defended the program – claiming that we need to balance privacy with security– has determined that this program ought to be eliminated.
Let’s not forfeit our freedom to 9/11 fear mongers who use one single event in American history to justify a clear violation of the Constitution. We should celebrate the Freedom Act’s ability to demonstrate that freedom is not an antiquated concept. When the public understands – or simply even thinks – that the government is not being honest with us, we should demand more transparency.
The Freedom Act is a small step forward towards individual liberty and government transparency. However, we should always keep our eyes on the goal of the social contract between private citizens and the government. And by doing so, we demand more freedom, not less.
Images courtesy of iStockphoto
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