Introduction
In the recent times, the internet has grown to become a fundamental part of the everyday life of an average human being. People use the internet for a myriad of uses; from online shopping to networking with other people in their social circles through social networking sites. A large amount of information is exchanged through the internet as every second passes. Therefore the internet contains a minefield of information. This information ranges from general information to personal and private information. Owing to this richness in information, the United States of America government through the national security agency (NSA) has been involved in massive unlawful surveillance and harvesting of the communication records of the Americans. This dates back to 2001 and the surveillance was aided by the communication provider companies like AT&T. This contributed to major concerns on the privacy of users of the internet.
Internet Privacy
Internet privacy describes the fundamental right of the user of the internet to enjoy a high level of discreetness and security to all the type of data that is exchanged in an online session. It refers to the mandate of the user to freely decide how to store the personal data or the consent to provide it to third parties. The nature of the personal data involved in an online session can be personally identifying information or non-personally identifying information. Personally identifying information involves data such as address, age, sex, s and internet alibis. Non-personally identifying information includes browsing history and the conduct of a user on a website. This information is deemed as private and internet privacy refers to the right of the internet user to have this kind of information being protected from getting into the wrong hands without their consent.
Since the early 2001, the government if the United States of America with the assistance of the communication services provider AT&T has been illegally monitoring the communication records of the Americans. The information on this surveillance was out of the public domain until 2006 when a former employee of the company, Mark Klein, released written documentation of the evidence on what the NSA was doing. He revealed that since 2001, the company had allowed the NSA to tap into its user’s data stream and mine a large amount of personal information without the consent of the users.
According to the evidence provided by Klein, the company granted the national security agency (NSA) access to immense quantities of emails, search data and other records of internet use of more than a dozen other telecommunication providers. The documented evidence provided shows AT&T allowed NSA to tap into its networking facility in San Francisco. The tapping involved the use of a splitter to split divide the incoming internet stream of data into two identical streams. One stream was then passed to a secret room where an internet data analyzer was used to analyze the incoming content fast and indiscriminately.
The documented evidence further claimed that the secret data mining rooms were not only installed in the company’s facility in San Francisco but also in other facilities in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose. Most of the data that the system installed in the secret rooms analyses is primarily domestic data though international data was also monitored. The system is alleged to be able to mine the email content, search history andcall content including the number that made the call, the number to which the call was made and the duration of the call. The system can make duplicate copies of all the data transferred in the United States of America vial all the major fiber optic cable network infrastructure.
Government’s defense and justification of the illegal surveillance
Following the shocking revelations, the American media published a lot of stories shedding more light on the issue. This new wave of media attention saw more details of the massive infringement of the internet privacy of the users being revealed. Declassified government documents and records were published. These documents confirmed most of the allegations. The government admitted that it was collecting communication records data of the Americans. However, the government justified this collection of communication metadata as being surveillance of the communication between terrorists. The expose released by Mark Klein however showed that the NSA tapped into all communications records indiscriminately.
The government also defended itself on the allegations of infringement of internet privacy by asserting that what it was doing was legal under the patriotic act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This allows the government to collect any private information where there is a reasonable cause warranting the use of the personal information. The government alleged that the data that had been mined using two of its surveillance programs had been instrumental in the foiling of numerous terrorist plots.
Legal intervention
In response to the revelations of the illegal surveillance and the consequent infringement of the privacy rights of the citizens, many organizations have gone to court to protest the moves by the government. Many lawsuits have been filled in court and they are ongoing. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has been pioneering in fighting the government for infringing the fundamental rights of the Americans. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has sued the department of justice to demand for action and answers about the illegal surveillance by the NSA.Currently there are two lawsuits in the court filled by EFF.
Conclusion
References
Electronic Frontier Foundation. (2014). NSA spying on americans. Retrieved June 4th, 2014, from Electronic Frontier Foundation website: http://www.eff.org/nsa-spying
Free Press Action Fund. (2013). Reining in NSA Surveillance. Washington.
John W. Rollins, E. C. (2013). NSA Surveillance Leaks: Background and. Congressional Research Service, 1-21.
Mekovec, R. (2010). Internet privacy: Overview and preliminary research. Journal of information and organisational sciences, 195-209.
