Anthony Mejia

English 1010
Mr. Anderson
Exploratory Essay
11/26/14

Government Surveillance: An Exploratory Research Paper

By
Anthony Mejia
English 1010
SLCC
Fall 2014

Introduction

Over the last several years the U.S. government has been acting similar to Big Brother, by
keeping surveillance on its citizens through any means of technology like phone calls, text
messages , internet usage. But unlike Big Brother the National Security Agency (NSA) has
been doing all of its spying in secret, just recently a whistle blower, Edward Snowden, has
revealed documents exposing the NSA and their actions. The NSA claims to be going
through data and recording information for the protection against terrorists such as the
Islamic State In S (ISIS), the NSA uses the information it can get to get to prevent
bombing and other dangers the ISIS group might commit. As the government searches
through danger they also go through everyone elses privacy and it brings up the question

Anthony Mejia
English 1010
Mr. Anderson
Exploratory Essay
11/26/14

has the government gained more power over its citizens. I believe the NSA has given itself
more power than it needs and there should be more regulations in order to balance the
branches again.
Edward Snowden the Whistleblower

In an interview with Edward Snowden by three reporters, Glenn Greenwald, Ewen

McAskill, and Laura Poitras, from The Guardian discuss Edward Snowdens true intentions
for the release of secret government documents. This piece also provides background on
Edwards life which has had an influence on his final decisions about revealing the NSAs
secret surveillance information which had been going on for years. Edward Snowden did
not graduate high school but did earn a GED which led his decision to joining the army. In
the army he realized a few things about U.S. politics and decided to take a different route
and began learning to use computers for the military. After that he worked for several
governmental buildings as Security which eventually lead to his position of Technical
Assistant for the CIA. While working with the CIA Edward Snowden had gained
knowledge about several CIA activities. But before acting out he hoped for the Obama
Administration to make changes before releasing the documents about the NSA spying on
U.S. citizens and many other countries. You cant wait around for someone else to act
demonstrates how Edward felt after finding out that the President was not going to do
anything. I dont want public attention because I dont want the story to be about. I want it
to be about the U.S. government is doing shows how Edward knew how the Media might
change the topic and place him as a traitor and the center of attention while the NSA hides.
Edward has put his life at risked and placed himself on the most wanted list to warn people

Anthony Mejia
English 1010
Mr. Anderson
Exploratory Essay
11/26/14

about the potential danger. There are all sorts of documents that would have made a big
impact that I didnt turn over because harming isnt my goal, Transparency is Edward
simply wants to inform the public, not harm the government. This article was missing
information about the NSA, its main purpose was to show who the whistleblower really is
but it could have had other information such as how long the government has been spying.
Who Watches Over Us

Not only does the government have an eye on us, but the companies also use our
information for their needs. In an academic journal Government and Corporate Internet
Surveillance by Gabriela J. Verri, Luiza Bender, and Eduardon Dondonis, it provides both
historical evidence of government surveillance and examples of companies using personal
information. Starting with companies they use pure internet to profile customers by
examining their purchases and likes and then they send or recommend certain products.
Companies like phone services have been aiding the government by supplying them with
access to the databases. Corporate internet surveillance has not been invasive but they do
tend to keep track of peoples purchases. Large corporations have been gathering data to sell
to sell to other companies. The real threat lies with the government as the article states
although surveillance is often recognized as a social phenomenon rather than as state
practices, the vertical employment of surveillance techniques by powerful actors such as
government and economic corporations has acquired a bold and extensive character the last
few decades which means that most people are either unaware or simply do not believe,
but nonetheless it has become more powerful over the last several years. A reason why we
must be aware is because history tends to believe to repeat itself time after time.

Anthony Mejia
English 1010
Mr. Anderson
Exploratory Essay
11/26/14

Surveillance ultimately exists to preserve human rights and social value. Nonetheless it
can be a dangerous weapon against them, as frequently is the case with power Too much
power has always been a problem in history as it tends to bring conflicts internal and
external to any state. The article defines the term privacy as the distinction between the
Public sphere of political activity and the private sphere associated with family and
domestic life and as the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed
by other people. This provides a set of guidelines between the dilemmas of abusing a
persons privacy or right to privacy. Having a private life from the government even dates
back to the origin of America with the founding fathers that agreed that the government
should not interfere with ones private life United States Constitution already addressed
the issue, most notably the Fourth Amendment of 1978, As a part of the American Bill of
Rights, it prohibited unreasonable searches and seizures and required any warrant to be
judicially sanctioned which was one of the many reasons while the colonists had issues
with the British government.
As time goes on changes occur in order to adapt to challenges such as threats and
dangers which can mean sacrificing rights. For example the fourth amendment would not
allow the government to read any mail that does not belong to them. But in times of crisis
the government has gone through citizens personal mail like during times of war and civil
disorder. In the United States, warrantless wiretapping was not considered a constitutional
harm for a long time overtime people simply become unaware or it does not bother them
at all. It is also difficult to claim that spying is occurring without strong evidence. After
World War 2 regulations were introduced to control government surveillance and limit its

Anthony Mejia
English 1010
Mr. Anderson
Exploratory Essay
11/26/14

power. Universal Declaration of Human rights has 3 articles in which were created to once
again protect citizens from their government. The Code of Fair Information practice was
created by the United States department of Health, Education and Welfare; it affirmed that
no personal data record-keeping systems whose very existence was a secret should exist. It
also stated that any person had a right to find out what information about them was
recorded and for what it was used demonstrates the precautions taken to protect privacy,
but then during the cold war the 1974 Patriot Act and the 1978 FISA were made to allow
surveillance for the sake of preventing inside threats. This allowed for both foreign and
domestic spying to occur and be considered legal. During this time ARPA was inventing a
new form of communicating which is now known as the internet. As time moved on
technology has advanced the use of surveillance technology has not only found overall
acceptable justification in democratic societies, but has completely crossed the publicprivate border and expanded to the corporative sphere according to the article. With the
technology available the government is also able to profile people in order to distinguish
and locate criminals, but that makes everyone initially a suspect. However effective and
beneficial mass surveillance technologies might be for public safety, it cannot be ignored
that they compromise the right to privacy of thousands of individuals. United Kingdom,
the U.S, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand make up the Five Eyes arrangement, which
runs the Echelon surveillance system, monitoring communication flows around the globe
through data mining. Each of the five national intelligence agencies oversees a designated
region, examining political, military, diplomatic, and economic content of
communications with so much surveillance going on there should be more regulations to

Anthony Mejia
English 1010
Mr. Anderson
Exploratory Essay
11/26/14

ensure privacy is being protected. This article was mainly the history of surveillance in the
U.S. and a brief description about other countries. The article lacked details about the
connection with the corporations and government.

Edward Snowden Hero or Traitor

Sensitive information has been released for all to see, including terrorists which
have been a problem for the U.S. army. In an online article by Rowan Scarborough
Islamic State Using Snowden Info to Evade U.S Intelligence published by Washington
Times, the whistleblower Edward Snowden has been claimed to have done more damage
than good by releasing secret documents owned by the NSA about the NSAs activities.
With the documents exposed according to officials like Chris Inglis (who is the NSAs
deputy director) and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden (who ran the NSA when Al
Qaeda struck on Sept. 11) claim that the terrorists are now able to avoid detection. Certain
files that were revealed to the public demonstrated the process in which the NSA was using
in order to locate the terrorists. Because of Edward Snowdens actions the Islamic group
has regained the power to strike at random and cause chaos. The specific details that were
revealed established a set of guidelines for the ISIS group to use in order to stay under the

Anthony Mejia
English 1010
Mr. Anderson
Exploratory Essay
11/26/14

radar. What angers intelligence officials is that Mr. Snowden claims to be an activist and
reformer on the issue of privacy, yet he exposed basic spying techniques for finding
terrorists who want to kill Americans. These officials believe that Edward Snowden is a
traitor and he has given a huge advantage in this war which is fought with knowledge such
as whom, where, and when. This article claims that the government does things in secrecy
in order to help and protect the nation and nothing more. This article provides solid
evidence that Edwards actions have lead to bad out comes for the military. The article
lacks support for their previous accomplishments as the military preventing and locating
more than one terrorists leader.
Why Government Surveillance can be Dangerous

Movies, books, and many historical evidence warns us of governments which gain
too much power, it can easily lead to a dictatorship. In the article The Dangers of
Surveillance published through the Harvard Law Review by Neil M. Richard informs the
public of the negative impact in which government expanding its power over its citizens.
The NSA has been very secret about its intentions of recording all data that has been
collected, We now know that governments have been buying and borrowing private-sector
databases, and we recently learned that the NSA has been building a massive data and
supercomputing center in Utah, apparently with the goal of intercepting and storing much
of the worlds internet communications for decryption and analysis and continues to
expand. According to this piece government surveillance is harmful because of the
following: it can interfere with civil liberties, it can cause a great amount of conflict for the
one being watched, and it disables intellectual freedom. If the government has access to

Anthony Mejia
English 1010
Mr. Anderson
Exploratory Essay
11/26/14

phone records and internet activities than that allows them to receive personal information
which can be easily abused and lead to actions such as blackmail, coerce, and
discrimination against the people under to scrutiny. There have been multiple warnings
from history, special documents, and culture. For example dictatorship governments have
need to know and control everything. They depend on its citizens to follow rules and
quickly locate those whom disobey. So in situation like these secret police are sent out to
do all the dirty work of spying. The Constitution was created among the Bill of Rights in
order to preserve the rights of the citizens and to limit the governments power.

The author believes that intellectual privacy is affected

when spying occurs because it places pressure and disables people to have their own
thought. For example George Orwells warning in !984 where the citizens had no choice
but to think all alike, if they tried to walk another path they were tortured back. In the novel
the government has eyes on everyone at all times even in their homes. Fear causes people
to conform and it eliminates freedom of speech which is critical in a democracy. They also
create a power imbalance between watcher and watched that creates a risk of blackmail,
undue persuasion, and discrimination. If the government is allowed to watch what stops

Anthony Mejia
English 1010
Mr. Anderson
Exploratory Essay
11/26/14

them from abusing their power. Blackmailing am important figure was once on the agenda
of the FBIs where they planned to frame Martin Luther King Jr. So what if they need to
pass a bill which supports their cause and they require more votes what stops them from
blackmailing congress. With all the information available to them they can easily start to
profile people and categorize them to threat potentials but how many innocents will be
caught and placed with criminals.
The NSA is doing its job as national security and providing protection by trying to
prevent chaos from occurring, but by doing so they are invading our privacy through
technology. Benjamin Franklin a Founding Father of the United States of America once
said, those who surrender freedom for security will not have nor they deserve, either one
risking our rights is a huge gamble because there is a greater chance of losing them
completely rather than gaining them back. The NSA has been doing its surveillance in
secret which creates paranoia to those accept the truth, but as Benjamin Franklin also said
it is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority as citizens we should be
aware of all government activities.
Works Cited
Greenwald, Glenn, Ewen MacAskill, and Laura Poitras. Edward Snowden: The
Whistleblower behind the NSA Surveillance Relations The Guardian(2013): 1-9.web
Mullikin, Arwen, and Shawon M. Rahman. The Ethical Dilemma Of The USA
Government wiretapping International Journal of Managing Information Technology
Vol.2, (2010): 30-36.web

Anthony Mejia
English 1010
Mr. Anderson
Exploratory Essay
11/26/14

Richards, Neil M.The Dangers Of Surveillance.Harvard Law Review(2013)132.webhttp://www.harvardlawreview.org

Scarborough, Rowan.Islamic State Using Leaked Snowden Info to Evade U.S.
Intelligence. The Washington Times (2014): n pag. Web oct. 2014
Verri, Gabriela J., Luiza Bender, and Eduardo Dondinis. Governmeant and Corporative
Internet Surveillance. Federal University of Rio Grande Do Sul Vol.2 (2014): 411-43. web