In the last century, the Right to Privacy in America and most countries globally has evolved significantly. According to Dorff, Supreme Court Judge Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren wrote an article that gave a warning the country had no laws that took into consideration the privacy of the regular citizens who did not have much to hide and went on with their lives (para 3). A case in a New York Court in the year 1902 ruled that no law prevented any company from using pictures of individuals without permission or paying them. Giving evidence that the public was not well protected from invasion of their privacy (para 4).
Security concerns have often been used to justify a breach of privacy. Law enforcement groups have created different measures such as the use of surveillance cameras including in the most public places to monitor the activities of unsuspecting citizens. The high-tech machines that are used can generate personal information in a touch of a button. Data such as passenger records in flight, cell phone call lists, and license numbers are readily available from the police.
Reports of the NSA spying on citizens were first brought to the light back in 2005 where they were accused of interrupting phone calls and other internet communication media. PRISM is one of the programs used which allows the government to collect videos, pictures emails and other documents of the main internet companies with approved orders in the guise of Patriot Act.
A recent issue by the French government gave warning to parents to stop publicizing pictures of their children. They stated that in future the children would turn back at them and sue them for the shame and embarrassment that they would face due to pictures that were posted especially on social media in their early years. The president of the country had an emergency meeting with his leadership to address claims that had also been brought to light that the U.S was spying on leaders from other nations. The measures were then concluded to be taken to protect the countries from imminent terrorism.
The government went on to give strict instructions that the privacy of their leaders as well as their citizens was to be respected. According to CBS, Major Garret explained that the allegations were not to be taken as a source of differences between them as both countries work on many foreign policies. The situation would be a risk such as negotiating with Iran to fight the nuclear weapons war as well as the ongoing Isis in Iraq and Syria (para 4).
Edward Snowden came to the limelight after accusing the American government of hypocrisy in the way they handle public privacy. Labeled as a controversial man, he is a former NASA and CIA agent who made public the strategy that the government had put in place to use the electronic medium to monitor activities of its people. Quickly became a fugitive and had to go to exile in Russia. He also accused the U.S of tapping on Angela Merkel a German Chancellor. They were said to be spying on allied politicians to monitor their plans. The act was in itself described as a law to stop a person from expressing themselves although it was cited as a security issue. According to The Nation, attempts by the government to shut him up would be both politically and diplomatically wrong, and therefore, he continues to enjoy that freedom in what he calls the representation of the people from a person that has worked for the government and knew how it operates (para 4).
Several court cases have been set up to try and defend the rights of the people of America. In July 2013, EFF filed a suit named the First Unitarian Vs. NSA. The metadata that was being collected by the government was claimed to be used for other reasons that were not of National Security. Such issues included the religious and political affiliations especially if gathered in large numbers. The push by the group made the Director of the National Intelligence to agree that the data collected part of a bigger program that was not what was being said (EFF Para 6).
In 2014 however, the EFF and ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and American Civil Liberties of Idaho came together and joined the team for Anna Smith, the neonatal nurse who challenged the government over the mass collection of telephone logs in the Smith VS. Obama case. The third party Doctrine that was used against her to gather her personal, political, professional intimate and religious associations was challenged by the group vigorously (EFF para 8). The team continued to state that the whistleblowers who would be significant in the case were also under surveillance, and therefore the information they had was rendered irrelevant most of the times after being tapped into. The chilling effect applied on them then made then scared to be part of the process. However, Carney defended the administration saying that there were several other ways that they could use to ensure that their information was safe which was contestable. The methods are created to make sure that the national security issues are addressed mainly before the case evidence.
Work Cited
Dorff, Victor. Privacy: A Failed Experiment? The Huffington Post. 20 April 2016. Web 26 April 2016. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victor-dorff/privacy-a-failed- experiment_b_9730878.html).
Electronic Frontier Foundation. NSA Spying on Americans. EFF. N.d Web. 26 April 2016. (https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying)
The Nation. Edward Snowden’s New Bombshell. The Nation. Thailand’s Independent Newspaper. 5 October 2015. Web. 26 April 2016. (http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Edward-Snowdens-new-bombshell- 30270177.html).
