Abstract
The Fourth Amendment Act was set in place in the US constitution to ensure and assure privacy for the citizens. The Act and its application have been subject to scrutiny as to whether it is a broken promise or not. Terrorist activities have interfered with security globally and in the US particularly since the 9/11 attacks that claimed the lives of many Americans not to mention other victims. War on terrorism has been beefed up globally for the purpose of combating the crime. However, the said war on terror has been used as an excuse for the intrusion to privacy and it is a matter of great concern. In the quest for providing national security, technology has found its place. There is the misuse of the attributes of technology for instance that is proving to interfere with privacy for the excuse of the provision of national security as a means for citizen and societal good.
Key Words: Security, Fourth Amendment Act, Legislation, Privacy, Federal Government, Constitution.
Introduction
Every citizen’s rights to privacy against intrusions by the government are protected, in the US Constitution and under exceptional circumstances, rather exempt scenarios, can the privacy be intruded. This has been the mission of the Fourth Amendment Act since its inception in the US constitution. It is worth making the statement that private intrusions are in fact not protected under the Fourth Amendment Act. With the provisions of the Act clear in the minds of a good number of Americans, the need to address the terrorism issue and the war against the said vice is in order. The fight against terrorism has been beefed up, with the US leading the global environment in the fight. What has resulted in combating terrorism is more and more intrusion into privacy. The question that comes to mind is whether the invasions are helping in any given manner and if not should the intrusions stop already. Is devising new ways of ensuring and assuring the American citizen with security as far as terrorism is concerned?
War against terrorism vs. privacy
The fight against terror has the outcome of protecting the lives of human beings, in that at the end of the day; human life is spared. Providing national security at “all costs” is contradictory to the provisions of the Fourth Amendment Act. From my view, and in consideration of the above statement, it is notable that the Fourth Amendment Act has been violated in the war against terror. The notion that is evident in as far as both individuals and the federal government have taken part in is carrying out surveillance to ensure that protection is guaranteed. In this day and age, monitoring has taken up the front line as a tool for watching out for any potential danger that has the potential for causing harm. Drones, for instance, have found usage in this sense as noted by Schlag (2012), where their usage has gained popularity for both federal and domestic purposes, with their illegal use at times. Addressing the bigger picture, the right to privacy has been impaired; in the fallacy that personal protection has been elevated to greater heights with surveillance.
The Act explicitly mentions that exemptions for the intrusion of the rights to privacy can be applied when and only when there is probable cause for the intrusions. According to Badgely (2011), the author mentions that the Federal government has at some point been in cahoots with private corporations for national security. The next thing that comes to mind while making reference to the Act is that private intrusions are not protected under the Act. A cat and mouse game is evident in this sense where the implementers of the Act are in fact taking part in activities that are playing with the considerations evident in the legislation. While making the point of the fact that the government in the strictest sense is violating the Fourth Amendment law, this is said in a concerned manner.
Warrants granted by the US to monitor each of the citizens’ phone calls have not been heard. Personal information that is at the disposal of the private corporations like the information citizens dish out for third party free services, e.g., personal data given can be easily retrievable for government assessment of matters security. The occurrence of intrusion to personal data has been made possible owing to cloud computing technology for instance and the “public-private partnerships” that exist between the administration and the private corporations (Ohm, 2012). Such scenarios, claiming to be meant for societal good are intruding on the privacy promised by the Fourth Amendment legislation, in the quest for security.
Conclusion
Questions still linger in the minds of people as to whether in reality, the Fourth Amendment Act would still apply when the American society woke up to the world that the citizens accorded full consent to be watched. This idea addresses the point that the Amendment would have been thoroughly violated when adding in the notion of war against terrorism in the above picture. Whether the Fourth Amendment legislation is a broken promise or not, the Act should be subject to further review and adjustment to ensure privacy in the wake of national security and the war on terror.
References
Bagley, A. W. (2011). Don't be evil: The Fourth Amendment in the age of Google, national security, and digital papers and effects. Alb. LJ Sci. & Tech., 21, 153.
Ohm, P. (2012). The Fourth Amendment in a World without Privacy. Mississippi Law Journal, 81(5), 1309.
Schlag, C. (2012). New Privacy Battle: How the Expanding Use of Drones Continues to Erode Our Concept of Privacy and Privacy Rights, The. Pitt. J. Tech. L. & Pol'y, 13, i.
