NSA SCANDAL
In
the early weeks of June 2013, Edward Snowden, an employee of Booz Allen
Hamilton, leaked classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents to notable
newspapers including The Washington Post and
The Guardian. Subsequently, Snowden
fled the country. The information he released to the newspaper demonstrated
that the United States government was collecting bulk phone and email data from
United States citizens via large companies including but not limited to Verizon,
Google, and Facebook (Meyer, 2013). This news angered millions of Americans for
various reasons. Some Americans believed Snowden was a traitor that revealed
American secrets. Others believed Snowden was a hero that rightfully identified
a United States wrongdoing. Instantly this became a large-scale debate and a
clear injustice. Though an argument exists that Snowden committed the
injustice, I insist the United States government is largely at fault and should
provide a remedy to both Snowden and the people of the United States.
Granted the United States’
Constitution does not grant citizens with the explicit right to privacy, the
evolution of statues and court cases have created an implicit right to privacy.
Whether it is freedom from unreasonable searches/seizures or a case like Griswold v. Connecticut, privacy rights
have increasingly gained importance in United States history. Snowden’s actions
helped reveal the process and statues, which granted the NSA the ability to
obtain unlimited data from U.S. citizens. Due to the secret Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court, the FBI and NSA were able to collect virtually
unlimited and unconstrained information ranging from call duration, calling
card numbers and incoming/terminating numbers (Greenwald, 2013). On top of that, the manner in which the NSA
obtained authority to access information was extremely secretive. Secrets are
undoubtedly a part of the U.S. government but as these secrets intrude on our believed
rights, like privacy, it becomes unacceptable to the American people.
As Julian Sanchez, a surveillance
expert explained, “We've certainly seen the government increasingly strain the
bounds of 'relevance' to collect large numbers of records at once (Greenwald,
2013).” Going behind the
American people’s backs and simultaneously invading people’s privacy is
unacceptable by the United States government. This becomes a huge justice issue
for the American people as the NSA, White House, and Department of Justice all
declined to comment (Greenwald, 2013). The United States government clearly violated people’s
rights and their refusal to admit wrongdoing to the United States citizens is a
clear injustice.
Another
injustice done is to Edward Snowden himself. Even though Snowden is a
whistleblower, he revealed an injustice of the United States that could have
gone undetected for years. He educated the American people about the wrong
doings of our country. In no way, shape or form did he endanger the safety of the
United States or aid our enemies. For just over a half of year, Snowden has
been hiding out in China and Russia seeking a safe haven and ways to continue
his life. Leaving the United States was his only option to continuing his life
in freedom. If Snowden did not act on the violations he saw, who would?
Snowden
risked his career, family, and life for the sake of the American people. The
actions of the NSA were arguably a threat to the United States system of
government. Rather than treat Snowden as a criminal, the United States should
bring Snowden in, correct the wrongdoings, and if feasible allow Snowden a new
life in the United States. Whether it is our classmates, co-workers, or
acquaintances, it is important to educate those around us about what the NSA
and U.S. government has done. As Snowden said, “I really
want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which I hope this will
trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to
live in. (Greenwald, 2013)."
Works Cited
Greenwald, Glenn (2013). Edward
Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance
revelations. The Guardian. Retrieved
from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa- whistleblower-surveillance
Greenwald, Glenn (2013). NSA
collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily. The
Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com /world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order
Meyer, David (2013). These are the
companies alleged to have links to the NSA surveillance
scandal. Gigaom. Retrieved from https://gigaom.com/2013/08/
30/ these-are-the-companies-alleged-to-have-links-to-the-nsa-surveillance- scandal
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