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File Name | S21-PF-13-CON-NSA-1.docx |
File Size | 264.95 KB |
Date added | January 11, 2021 |
Category | Archived |
Tags | NSA, NSDA, Public Forum, Season 21 |
Author | Vance Trefethen |
The National Security Agency is tasked with collecting “signals intelligence.” It spies on electronic communications around the world much like the CIA gets information using human agents in other countries. Intelligence agencies are/were supposed to focus their efforts on foreign targets, while law enforcement agencies were supposed to follow the Constitution and get search warrants before eavesdropping on American citizens.
In 2013, a contractor working at an NSA facility, Richard Snowden, published classified information showing the agency was collecting data, not just on foreign entities, but on American citizens. This opened the door to great controversy over the extent to which the US government should be spying on its own citizens.
This “CON” case argues that ending National Security Agency surveillance of US citizens and lawful permanent residents is the wrong thing to do. The data NSA is collecting on US citizens is data that’s already in the public domain anyway, since your bank, phone company, internet provider and Facebook already have it. By participating in the modern world, you long ago abandoned any claim of privacy on data you are sending out into cyberspace. People who report on the internet their love life, meals, political views and every other minor event in their lives can hardly complain their privacy is being invaded when such information is read by people they don’t know. There are already safeguards in place to prevent abuses of NSA data collection. And collection of large amounts of information can help spot patterns or identify anomalies that can thwart terrorists or other threats before they strike, saving lives and improving our national security.