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Watch the video above and review the timeline here. Edward Snowden released documents that showed the large scale surveillance waged by the U.S. government. Your task this week will be to examine the Snowden case and the place of surveillance in our American democracy. Answer the prompts below to guide you when writing your post. Share any other perspectives you have on the topic.
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57 Comments
Kaylie Otsuka
4/29/2014 11:36:21 am
Snowden tells that all media, including phone messages, any conversations with friends, things online and especially the internet are all under surveillance. Even if you’re not doing anything wrong we are being watched. Even if we never do anything wrong, if they raise suspicion they can go back to the surveillance record and paint people to be something that they are not. Snowden mentions that, "if they want to get you, they'll get you in time." The surveillance of the government completely expels the freedom of speech and privacy from the individual. The outcome of America is therefore controlled by the all powerful government, mending policy vs. law as a practice where policy can be broken. Such leads to the abuse of power by the government over the people, predicted to turn our current society into tyranny. The government should not be available to this information. Storing this information for massive periods of time should not be allowed. Snowden stated that, "any analyst at any time can target anyone." Essentially, the NSA could anonymously wire tap anyone if they wanted to and use these tips to their advantage without direct consent. Such exposure by the government is considered abuse of power over individuals, yet to analysts, such as Snowden, it’s a normal state of business that people don't take as serious as it is. Yes, I believe Snowden did the right thing by exploiting the abuse of the government. He believes that the content sensors should be the people’s decision rather than the governments. He resembles the importance of the people in relativity to the all powerful government and its secrecy. We absolutely cannot have true democracy with the current level of centralized surveillance. Because the people are being continuously spied on and may be pinned for crimes they have no direct link to, the government is clearly overtaking the American people. Because the US government has become a world power agency, they could essentially pay off triads, get international intelligence involved, pass on secrets internationally, and make things disappear. People are always watched and preserved in order to maintain more control of national and global society. It reminds me of George Orwell’s book 1984, where entire citizens who challenged the government were disintegrated into thin air. I believe this type of governmental power is completely taking over our society until the people will no longer have a voice.
Imani Sanders
4/30/2014 02:32:12 pm
I remember 1984, and thinking ' who thinks of this stuff?' Yet, even in his time and day, he was visionary in seeing the future and possible corruption of government. Yet if the writer would've seen how advanced the technology makes it easier for the government to do this, he probably would've envisioned this incident occurring as well. Nonetheless, I agree in your comments on saying the possibility of tyranny and basically more cons than negatives in a surveillance system. 5/2/2014 05:08:30 pm
Yes, I totally agree with you that “It reminds [you] of George Orwell’s book 1984, where entire citizens who challenged the government were disintegrated into thin air. I believe that the government doesn’t want citizen to tell them what to do and what not to be done. Moreover, it seems like that Snowden warns us that surveillance program. But on the other hand, will there any thing we do know, for instance, Snowden utilized this opportunity to leave America because he obtained a terrible new about him that someone is going after him about anther affair.
Theodore Libby
5/4/2014 04:01:46 pm
I totally agree with your point about the centralized government and about Snowden's decision to speak out. I think a centralized government with this kind of survallence is not good and will probably in an Big Brother / 1984 situation which is bad. I also think Snowden's did the right thing by speaking out and telling us about these issues of survallence. Now we can do something about it.
Duc Doan
5/5/2014 05:21:35 am
Snowden decision to speak out shows how brave he was. This kind of surveillance shows how much power the central government has. they think they can do anything and get away with it so snowden exposed them. This is good considering many people would have kept their mouth shut.
Eduardo Ruiz
5/5/2014 02:41:21 pm
I agree with you completely, even by referencing to the novel 1984. This is just a slippery slope to what else this mass surveillance could lead to. It could go from “I’m only watching everything you do to keep you safe,” to even more terrifying “I’m only building these walls to keep bad people out not to keep you guys trapped inside.” This maybe my imagination just getting the better of me but we have seen many government start off good and go completely evil.
Imani Sanders
4/30/2014 02:23:49 pm
Snowden exposed surveillance happening within the government. Snowden said the NSA surveillance the US public and globally. This includes other cities and exposing the hidden surveillance of other countries. Including the tracking of a owners IP link and using that to surveillance and inspect their virtual life. The potential use of surveillance is stopping potential crime before it can occur. Only if being used with correct procedure and assurance that its the right target. Of course the abuse is having someone watching our every move, and having dominant control over our lives, which is absurd. The government should not have control of our information. The information that is being shared between one another is private. Privacy is still a issue in the ever so evolving state of technology, as we all know. Yet the government should not have control of this information because the possibility of manipulation and corruption is a huge issue within the public's concern of the government. Snowden did the right thing. He stood for something he believed we should all have access to, and he put his life and career on the line for a important cause. He saw the future in a sense, and where we are heading, and he decided to act on it and make a change of pattern. In having a centralization of surveillance this high, democracy is not evident. We didn't get to have a vote on what we as a people should do about this, and our voice was muted. Of course not, its not possible in this case.
CYNTHIA YANG
5/2/2014 07:52:37 am
Having dominant control over our lives is absurd. There's no more privatization in this country anymore. Remember how Professor Crain mentioned the drones, and how they watch everyone from every corner? There's no privacy anywhere. Eventually there will be drones flying everywhere all over the country. The government has so much power and it’s scary because if the policy doesn’t change like what Snowden had applied, then it will only get worse.
Dolly Perez
5/4/2014 12:37:26 pm
I agree with you, he did stand up for what he believed in. Which is a good thing because not many people have the confiendce to stand up to the government and release their information; having fear that they will be prosecuted. It's sad that our government feel that they need to watch our every move and invade the peoples privacy; the need to control another persons life when they can bearly control their own. This is no democracy. It's the people against the government. Even at times the people against each other. It really frustrates me to know that we are being watched after as if we are animals and not treated as human beings. It even makes me feel as if I am a criminal; watching my every move as if I'm going to over turn the government. This makes me want too. This should be a reason to want to bring down this sorry american government. Why can't we know what they are doing or what their intentions are? Oh that's right they don't want us to know because they want to control us rather than it be the other way around.
Joann Truong
5/5/2014 04:49:12 pm
The government is totally taking away our rights by doing what they are doing. Also, how is it possible that they have access to our information and we can't even have access to our information when it is our information. It is ridiculous.I totally agree, we should be able to take a stand and vote on whether or not the government has that right. I don't think they should. I usually don't vote but if we could vote on that, I would be the first one to vote.
Frank Arredondo
5/1/2014 05:51:10 am
The Edward Showden case is particularly interesting in the sense he has been the first former NSA employee to publically identify himself and criticize the agency. What he shared was information of how the NSA obtained information abroad and domestically here in the United States. The time of wire taps and phones taps seen in Hollywood movies has involved into something on steroids in a way. As those methods can be used a large portion of todays information is obtained via the Internet. It can be from social media sites like Facebook and twitter, as well video sharing sites like YouTube as well just normal based communication sites like Skype. All these things are monitored and used to obtain information from a global standpoint, but as well a domestic. Many US citizens have had their information obtained and sorted then saved to a mass database somewhere according to Snowden. The may point though made by Snowden brought is how this affects the American Democracy system. Which according to Snowdens interview the only thing that contains the NSA is policy created between governments and parties to keep one another in check. However, these policies described by him are only that policies and not law. Which can affect our privacy as citizens. If the people can not decided how far is to far or what amount of information gather is appropriate does that then not go against what is democracy was created for? In our democracy the people have the right to vote for what the government can and cannot do, but according to Snowden this is not needed if these things that the NSA are doing is under policies and no laws that prevent them from doing what they already are. I understand that like Snowden said something’s are to get intelligence to protect the United States of America, but as well there is a point when all it takes is a couple things for average American citizens to become targeted by the United States as a threat. In the Aljazeera America timeline we saw that 3 billion pieces of surveillance was taken on just American citizens alone, and out of that number how many where actual threats to America I wonder.
Jennifer Hernandez
5/2/2014 06:37:34 am
I agree that we can't really be recalled as a democracy if we can't even decide, limit, or even ban what the NSA is doing regarding the amount of information they obtain from us the citizens. Like Snowden also talked about, that the people can know all this information, but still won't do anything only because they are fed through fear by the government that we need to be under surveillance because we may have bigger and worse attacks in the states. If we really want to change these polices, the people really have to get moving. Like you said in the last sentence regarding the 3 billion pieces of surveillance, I think that it is insane to even use so much on American citizens alone when in reality majority may not even pose any form of a threat in the first place.
Leslie Werle
5/1/2014 12:12:57 pm
Alvin Luna
5/1/2014 01:59:44 pm
I completely agree that it is frightening to know that the government has their hands on the majority of our information. We have no privacy and that's not right. I don't think the government has the right to our information and Snowden definitely did the right thing.
Kaylie Otsuka
5/4/2014 02:52:08 am
Hi Leslie,
Brenda Rangel
5/4/2014 08:32:36 am
I agree with both you and Alvin in terms of the government's ability to access to majority of our information. I feel this leaves individual citizens exposed to hackers gaining personal information.
Elizabeth Avalos
5/5/2014 02:35:07 pm
I absolutely agree with this entire post, both entry and comments. Privacy has been snatched from us and can now be considered a thing of the past, as unfortunate as that sounds. Surveillance can be a very useful resource, but I believe that it has now reached an uncomfortable level.
Alvin Luna
5/1/2014 01:57:53 pm
Edward Snowden was a former NSA contractor who exposed various forms of surveillance from the government. Forms such as tracking phone calls, text messages, emails and things of that nature. The entire internet is pretty much under surveillance. The potential uses of surveillance would be to catch criminals and use it for some form of justice. I think that abuses of surveillance are simply spying on people and reading their conversations. That isn't doing anyone any favors, it's just being used to spy rather than help. This level of surveillance impacts our democracy greatly because we have no privacy.The people that represent us are gathering our information and spying on us without consent. I believe that Snowden did the right thing because he showed us what's happening under closed doors. We were just being watched for no reason. If they have our information, doesn't that mean that anyone else can have it? Is it really that secure? I also wonder what our information is being used for. Why are we being spied on anyways? For all we know, someone could steal our information and use it for their own benefit. Snowden exploited that and it got everybody thinking.Of course the government didn't like it one bit. We should be able to own our own information and have at least a small amount of privacy. The government doesn't own us and shouldn't have the right to our information With all of this going around, it makes me wonder whether America really is the home of the free.
Armando Arzate
5/2/2014 01:55:57 am
Great post, it was well thought out and well written. I have to agree with all your key points regarding this country being one that is Free and that they should not be doing this behind our backs. I believe the government will or could get away with it as people are ignorant and fail to react when people like Snowden speak up. However, the reasoning behind it does not help or benefit the American People but puts them at many disadvantages.
Frank A.
5/5/2014 10:53:03 am
I agree with Armando in that your post is really well done. You defend your argument really well and clear to understand. It is interesting that after all this information came out into the news nothing really ever changed. Yes, Snowden left the United States, but that is really the only change that happened out of this entire case. Which is scary, because if the technology is out there to have our information so easily and our government uses it. What can other people do to have our information?
Armando Arzate
5/2/2014 01:51:42 am
Edward Snowden has exposed various aspects about NSA. He explains that the government can not only observe our every move but also keep record of it in massive storage compartments. Anything from downloading, talking, texting, searching, and much more done on your phones and computers can be monitored at any given time. Of course there are a few pros to giving the government the power of surveillance which all revolve around safety. People might believe that the government may catch criminals, “TERRORIST”, and any threats to benefit “the people’s safety” however; the cons in my opinion outweigh the pros. The government has been doing it in secrecy which that it’s self should set off red flags to the American people. If given the power of surveillance the government will not only demand more power but will also be depriving the American people of privacy and putting them at risk. The people will be at risk of being made or turned into a criminal, terrorist, etc. as the government will use the information to incriminate people based on how they choose to depict them. The government spying on other countries will also put us at risk when/if the other countries such as China find out the American Government is constantly hacking into their systems for their benefit. This will cause chaos as other countries will fill not only violated but will go to war as they feel it is invasion of privacy and something illegal. I believe Snowden is doing the right thing however, I question if it will be worth it. He is putting himself in danger as he is exposing the American Spy Agencies but will the people wake up? I understand Snowden cannot sit there and watch this happened before his eyes as it will affect the future however, people must latch on and do something about it. I deeply believe this will lead to nothing good as the government does not need these things it is just a form of gaining more power and being able to keep our every move on track. I doubt our safety is more important than our freedom. I would rather be at risk and free than oppressed and safe. There will be almost no democracy if this keeps taking place on the contrary this contrary will become something like a dictatorship what the government says go’s and that is that. Snowden is risking a lot for us to do something and I believe we should do something so we can not only help him but also our future generations.
Elizabeth Avalos
5/2/2014 03:15:55 am
Snowden has spoken up about the heavy surveillance that we are all being put under by the U.S. government, whether that be through careful documentation of text messages we send on a daily basis, the information we post online, or any type of conversations we engage in. Basically, we are always being watched and heard. If that alone is not bad enough, not only are we always under heavily watchful sets of eyes and ears, but we are also under surveillance by people we do not know and will never know. The people who are documenting our every move remain anonymous for as long as they live, if that is what they decide, which evidently has not been Snowden's case. Additionally, the U.S. government does not limit their surveillance to the American people, but rather holds spies at many of its embassies in other countries.
Cynthia Kay
5/2/2014 03:54:12 am
To be charged in violation of any law, it is incumbent upon the accusers to prove what law was violated. To be convicted of a violation of the law, the prosecution must convince a jury to convict based on the preponderance of the evidence. It is to the accused best interest to provide just cause to support their innocence.
Leslie Werle
5/3/2014 11:54:23 am
After I watched the video and wrote my post I sat down and talked to my mother about Snowden, who LOVES to discuss things like this with me. We ended at pretty much the same point you did. We both agreed that what the government is doing is scary and in our eyes unethical (that's just our opinion). I would hope that even before Snowden came out and let everyone know the depth of surveillance going on, they knew that texts and emails and such were not secure and that nothing incriminating should ever be transmitted that way. Also, there are apps for your phone where you can gps track your friends so what makes us think it wouldn't be easy for the government to do that also. My point being that I was not surprised that we were being watched and listened to. Beside all of that you are right that Snowden is guilty. He signed a contract and made promises when he got his security clearance and as good as his intentions were he did break the law. I hope it is opening the eyes of some people and will spark some change in our country but the way that it came about is upsetting. Especially if information Snowden found made it to our enemies also.
Jennifer Hernandez
5/2/2014 07:03:20 am
In the video, Edward Snowden talked about the main form of surveillance, through the internet and their own sensors, they wiretap anyone through personal e-mail as well. He also said that the NSA do it through these procedures because they are an intelligence agency who want and will get information through any means possible to keep in check those who “seem” to be affiliated with foreign governments or any forms of terrorism. It is the cheapest and easiest way for them to surveillance all of us. Abuses that the NSA or government would overall be through fear, authoritative, and power. Snowden point out that the NSA has the power to convict you if you fall under any types of suspicion and revert back to your past information and most likely turn it against you at any point. He also points out that the if any person or him in this case since he went against the NSA to even put this information out, would be given the patriotism card and be called as a man who is going against ones country or government for not supporting their form of “protection.” He also says that the people have the power to over through such policies, but chose not to only because they are told that in any current situation that we need surveillance because we may have bigger attacks coming our way, when it really isn’t always the case, since everyone is in danger every day. Regarding democracy, looking as how we weren’t informed before about any of this in the past, this country would not seem as democratic since we aren’t making any decisions nor are we allowed to make any limits to the amount of information they can take. I think that many who want protection would feel that the government should obtain some sort of information, but be limited to a certain extent to what they could keep or even see since it is a matter of privacy. For those who would care to the utmost about their privacy, they would most likely want to ban surveillance. Like Snowden explains, this type of form of surveillance should be up to the people since it should be done democratically. I think that Snowden did the right thing, many who may even work for the NSA don’t tend to have any interest in what matter to the people or are scared, so they live a “comfortable life,” while Snowden somewhat broke free from that to give the people what they should know as American citizens.
CYNTHIA YANG
5/2/2014 07:47:11 am
According to the twenty nine year old, Edward Snowden, he mentions that the government has the privilege access to any type of surveillance in the United States. In the United States, there is no privacy beyond the people who live in this world. No one has privacy because those who have the power to access surveillance can wire tap anyone, including the public people, the federal judges, or even the President of the United States of America. One of the abuses of mass surveillance is that everything is recorded from search engines to phone calls. This makes everyone a target and it allows the government to have power and control over us. It collects information and stores it for certain purposes. I like the fact that this helps out with preventing terrorism, solving problems and crimes, or anything horrible from happening but privacy comes into a big factor to most people in the world (me included). Anyone can or may be accused of anything due to mass surveillance because they can look a bit suspicious. A person may be doing no harm to anyone whatsoever and still be accuses for something he/she did which is wrong. Being watch and recorded twenty-four seven doesn’t show that the world’s a safer place, it shows how much the people allows this to happen. We will eventually lose our place in the stand and the government will take full control over us all. Mass surveillance is dangerous because it’s kept a secret. Only the higher authority would have access to this which is unfair. Who gives them the power to monitor our phone calls or even text messages? It’s something called privacy. Even so, what if there’s someone who does work with the authority and have access to all these records and they were to sell all these information? People would then get scammed. The government should not have this kind of power to even keep surveillance on anyone. Nor should they have the power to keep this kind of information because it’s unethical. Snowden did the right thing about coming out with what the government has been planning behind the people’s back. The society voted on people they believed in to give them protection. If the government has this much power, who knows what else they have planning for us in the future. And no, I don’t think we can have a true democracy with the level of centralization of surveillance due to the fact that if the government has too much power, it can make them unstoppable.
Christopher
5/2/2014 08:33:00 am
In his interview with Glenn Greenwald, Edward Snowden details the massive amount of surveillance that occurs as part of the NSA’s (relatively) new procedural precedent. We, collectively, meaning everyone in the United States (and many, many more outside of the United States), are being spied on every day. Our emails, phone calls, text messages, and any personal information that is available online is being both recorded and collected; filed away for some rainy day when and if the government ever needs to use this information against you. The ideology behind this practice is that it is all for our good. The government (NSA in particular) is using a “dragnet” approach to intelligence gathering in which it spies on everyone, whether suspected guilty of a crime or not, in the hope that they will also possibly stumble upon some terrorist activity. And (until Snowden came forward and disclosed this information) they were doing it with no transparency whatsoever. This is fundamentally dangerous to any country espousing Democratic principles. If the government functions in secrecy and spies upon its citizens, knows our every thought; how then do we oppose such action, or any action for that matter, by our government if they are always one step ahead. Also, how can we decide, Democratically, what government action is in the best interest of our country if we don’t know what actions they are taking? Democracy requires an informed citizenry, and the operation of our security state requires just the opposite. It is at odds with the very ideals of democracy. In fact, as this article points out: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/03/the-spirit-of-the-fourth-amendment-and-the-nsas-disregard-for-it/284498/
Nico Passalacqua
5/5/2014 02:42:01 pm
Snowden did convey the information in an honest and transparent manner which I definitely appreciated and agree with. I also believe that it contradicts the 4th amendment, but seems that it doesn't explicitly state a disagreement of an "invasion of privacy". There is always a way for the American government to work around laws and policy to satisfy their desires.
Christopher
5/6/2014 05:38:30 am
Yea, I have to agree with you. Although it would appear that the 4th amendment would protect us against warrantless wiretapping and unconditional surveillance, we are only protected by our constitution to the extent that the supreme court upholds our rights as citizens, something which is occurring less and less.
Theodore Libby
5/2/2014 10:12:22 am
Edward Snowden described a system of surveillance that allowed anybody working in these intelligence communities (with the proper authority) to access anybody’s conversations and personal activities and at any time from any time. They could see everything from texts sent yesterday to emails sent 10 years ago. The potential use of this type of surveillance system is that it allows “enemies of the state” to be successfully tracked and physical evidence brought against them. Instead of having to set up an operation to gain the evidence, they could access a computer and search for it. The downside of this of course is that it can be used on anybody. In Snowden’s interview he made the point that with enough time everybody’s innocence will eventually go away. You may say something in 2009 that become a hot button issues in 2018 and suddenly you are on a watch list or are being monitored constantly as a possible threat. This level of surveillance impacts our democracy by taking away our privacy and our right to it. I don’t think we’re at that level where people are scared to speak their opinions for fear of being taken away in an unmarked black SUV but, we are diffinitly closer that world today than we were without this surveillance and this surveillance technology. I personally don’t think the government has a right to keep this history for two reasons. The first reason is that we have a right to our privacy and other people having the ability to listen in goes against our freedom to privacy. The second reason is that text messages and emails do not convey the same emotions and connotations that audible talk does. I could send a text massage sarcastically saying, “Oh yeah, ima just go blow up my highschool to get out of this test lol” and all of a sudden I’m being investigated for saying, “ ima just go blow up my highschool.” There are cases were this has actually happened and I personally find it very scary. (http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/12/tech/social-media/facebook-jailed-teen/).
Michael Plaza
5/5/2014 04:43:44 pm
Theodore, yes, I suppose that they can see texts and emails from ten years ago. Although what is the purpose for recording such information if it is not based in some type of solid justification as to the reason? Yes certain terrorists or criminals may be able to be brought to justice from such recordings, but as far as I am concerned any type of crime requires an overt step as to it's manifestation, and even then a search warrant is to be acquired by means of probable cause for an individual to be subject to physical surveillance. So is the NSA recording all and anybody's private messages and business a step toward treating all peoples of America as criminals?
Christian Ramirez
5/2/2014 10:49:13 am
Edward Snowden described how the NSA kepts constant ever growing files of each individual in this nation. On a domestic scale they gather our conversations via emails or texts as well as seeing us on cameras. After they monitored us the information was analyzed and stored. The forms of surveillance are very sophisticated ranging from voice, text, cameras, social media, etc. They do abuse these forms of surveillance as they could be watching, listening or spying in any other way at any time and that is very disturbing. I feel alienated and that the land of the free should be called the land of the watched. It makes me wonder if this even is a democracy and if so it is broken. I understand why they do this, I really do. I just feel that they shouldn't try to label us the enemy. The enemy is out there, out side of this nation. Snowden did the right thing and deserves a medal. I'd do the same thing if placed in his position. He believes that we the people should know that we're secretly being watched. A democracy shouldn't be like this if it expects us participate in it. We are going to resent this democracy so yes they should get rid of this level of surveillance. But it starts with us saying something just like Snowden said.
Cynthia Kay
5/4/2014 01:35:00 pm
There will probably be a lynch mob outside the classroom waiting for me after stating this but, I need to know, what is the issue that we are under surveillance anyway? Is the government so terribly concerned about my correspondence with friends, family, and school essays? I think a few hours looking at my emails, etc. they would be bored to tears just as they would be in reading most of the general public correspondence. I think Snowden yelled fire in a crowded gymnasium and have the public in a panic is what I think. I am fairly well certain that they have a certain type of individual they are interested in and that's fine with me. People are concerned about their privacy but then turn into a lynch mob over comments made public by Clippers owner Sterling making a bigoted comment during a private conversation. Another area of privacy people worry about are cameras photographing them in public however, people have no expectation of privacy in public and cameras caught the Boston terrorists amongst other things. So my answer to surveillance is, so what?
Duc Doan
5/2/2014 01:20:44 pm
Snowden exposed to the media that the government is watching everything everyone was doing. This comes in the form of phone messages, conversations, emails, Internet searches, and anything you do. Snowden explains that the U.S is putting everyone under constant surveillance. The use of the surveillance is to catch criminals and people that threaten the safety of the people. But in reality this abuses the privacy of the people. How can we expect to live in a free country but be under surveillance 24/7? That is wrong and America is a contradiction of itself. This level of surveillance impacts our democracy greatly. Democracy is supposed to be power of the people but in this case the government hold the power and is making the people their puppies. Constant watch and movements is a violation of human rights. NO the government should not have these kind of information because it is none of their business. I understand their aspect of trying to catch a criminal but not everyone is a criminal and what they choose to do with life, should not be anyone’s business. Yes I believe that Snowden did the right did because America the bully should be exposed somehow and someway. Someone had to speak up and he had the courage too. We cannot have a true democracy with this kind of surveillance because that’s not what the democracy really mean. It is a violation of the democracy but in today there is a lot of violations of the democracy. But the surveillance does kind of protect the safety for the country, so it is a 50/50 situation.
Farkhanda
5/2/2014 02:10:09 pm
Duc, I completely agree how this nation isn't what it calls itself to be. Its definitely contradicting its beliefs on the freedoms it proclaims to have. It is a violation of human rights because its intruding in ones personal life. America has the power and authority that we give it, so if we stand up on the values and principles that this country represents, we could stop this abomination. Like Snowden mentioned, its scary when a president decides what they can do with their powers and people might blindly agree with them. Snowden was smart enough to raise his voice unlike the rest of them.
Karishma Khatri
5/5/2014 02:48:10 pm
Duc, you have many good points. I like the questions that you pose. How could we trust the government if they haven’t been fully transparent? The power is supposed to be from the people. I would like to see from the NSA, how many terrorists they have actually caught. Also if this surveillance is both foreign and domestic. People may lose trust in the government with that level of wrongdoing. In the end the one question still remains, has the NSA surveillance actually worked?
Eduardo Ruiz
5/2/2014 02:49:01 pm
The various types of surveillance that Snowden exposes are phone calls, phone messages, Internet searches and the list goes on and on. The claim to the use of all this tracking is to stop any and all form of terrorism, but they do not only track specific individuals they track everyone. Even if you have never done anything, any hint of government defiance might make you black listed. This abuse of power leads me to believe that the predictions made by George Orwell in the novel 1984 are all too real. Where this nation will force you to love what they are doing or kill you if you try to deny them. The government, or any one, should never have this sort of information because people shouldn’t have to feel like someone is right behind them watching everything they do with out any sense of privacy. I believe that Snowden did the right thing in reveling to us what is happening because no matter how much I enjoy living in this country I do not want it to turn into Orwell’s prediction. There is no way of having a true democracy if we cannot have any trust in our elected official because even though we may elect someone new in the future that we think might be better, they may fall under the pressure of having to “protect” their citizens. Even now you would think with all this information that we know about surveillance taping that the government stop what it is doing, but it doesn’t and unless it stops soon it probably never will.
Karishma Khatri
5/5/2014 02:10:36 pm
You have many good points. I really do agree with you. While watching the documentary, I was thinking back to George Orwell’s novel, 1984. I remember reading the book and watching the movie in high school. All of us watching where in disbelief that a government would have this 24/7 surveillance. Unfortunately, little did we know that some of the aspects from the novel are true in the government today. I do agree that it has gone a little too far, with common citizens being under surveillance.
Bree Hart
5/2/2014 03:19:16 pm
The various forms of surveillance are through wire tapping, internet, conversations with anyone, and personal email. The uses for surveillance are so that the government can monitor activity of everyone, they do this because they want to watch out for terrorist attacks and stay one step ahead of terrorist. Abuses of surveillance are invasion of privacy and tracking people. I believe the government should and should not have this information. They should because they are protecting us from terrorist, they shouldn't because it invades privacy. For example, I mean you are getting this person's records, private photos, messages and internet history. They can track anything and you don't even realize when it's happening. Some people aren't causing any harm to the word, but then there are some who are. It seems unfair to track the 10 year old girl who just watches YouTube videos, when she is doing nothing wrong. Snowden even says, even if you are doing nothing wrong you can basically fall under suspension by someone and they can turn everything you ever said into a lay and make you seem like a wrong doer. I believe Snowden did the right thing, but when he says "I could be rendered by the CIA, or have someone come after me…. and it's a fear I'll have for the rest of my life" it saddens me because he just wants people to know this is happening and citizens do have the right know. I think it is possible to have a true democracy, but then again we can't because of situations like this. Citizens should be able to elect officials and know that they have our best interest, and that we can live comfortably day to day. Unfortunately, our government feels they have our best interest and they don't care if we get angry about surveillance. We never gave consent to surveillance, but I guess it's a price to pay for "freedom." It just scares me that while I'm typing this on my laptop, the government could be watching me through my camera or that the text i'm sending my friends are getting read. I mean I'm doing nothing wrong, but even like Snowden said, you could be doing nothing wrong and they could make it seem like you are.
Michael Plaza
5/5/2014 04:35:03 pm
Bree, I agree with you that perhaps the government is utilizing this surveillance for the good of the people, and indeed privacy must be sacrificed for safety. We live in times where rapid communication is something that can be used for good and for bad, although monitoring everyone is something that I find to be unethical. I suppose I am just a skeptic in not trusting what anybody has to say for face value, even the government. You make a good point by saying that nobody gave consent to being surveyed under such precise conditions as the communications that we all utilize in modern times, this is in part why I had stated that it is disgusting.
Farkhanda
5/2/2014 03:30:15 pm
Edward Snowden was a former employer for the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Both of these agencies have been invading the privacy of thousands of Americans by spying on peoples phone calls and what ever they do on their technological devices. I think the political system of America isn't functioning the way it should be. With power comes responsibility and the federal government has too much power in their hands that is going unchecked. I think Snowden is the prime example of a true patriot and responsible citizen. Indeed the job of the government is to protect and provide security to its people but its also the job of the people to decide how they want to be protected. No one should have the authority or power in this country to invade ones freedom. Snowden claims that he doesn't want to change society but give a chance for society to see if it should change itself. The government is trying to keep society as it is so none can question its authority. This is a violation of our constitutional rights and its shameful for this country to boast about its values when it seems its doing the opposite. If the government wants to protect its people it should do it democratically and constitutionally. This just shows how Americans need to be more aware of their government because the are abusing their powers. The government should be trusted, but this just demonstrates why we shouldn't. The lesson to be learned is that if we really wish to see our government how we imagine it to be, than we should raise our voices like Snowden himself.
Brenda Rangel
5/2/2014 03:34:14 pm
Edward Snowden being a former NSA contractor decided to expose the various forms under which our government maintains surveillance of its citizens. They resort to the tracking of cell phone activity and storing emails received or sent; leading to the internet being under watch 24/7. The argument used in the defense of the government’s heavy surveillance is to trap criminals and used as evidenced. While this can be helpful in convicting criminal individuals, this is stepping into the privacy of all citizens. We no longer have the ability to hold private conversation, whether one has done something wrong or not we are completely under the control of the government. The idea of “democracy” is undermined, we are preventing the rights of individuals to privacy, and most importantly we are negating the idea that we have not consented to the heavy surveillance of the government. This also leaves the nation in exposure to the rest of the world, in an era of technology we have hackers; Snowden demonstrated the ability to leak information under government control where does that leave us as citizens? We are creating a false sense of security by exposing large sets of information of individuals; we can be targeted and taken down extremely easy. While to the rest of the world we are a nation of free individuals, how free are we? What is the nature of our freedom? This also raises the question, were does our consent lies? Although, personally I have nothing to hide but I do not feel comfortable with the government holding my information for anyone to gain access to the information.
Karishma Khatri
5/2/2014 03:50:07 pm
Snowden exposed many things about the NSA and its surveillance tactics. He stated that every search a person makes is being stored. Basically, civilians’ virtual lives are being tracked and stored. It doesn’t matter if you have done something wrong. The data stored could be brought back up and analyzed at any time. Other forms are texts, emails, and phone calls, which could be wire tapped at any time. One potential use that is argued is to monitor individuals connected to terrorism. It is argued that surveillance is a big tool to counter terrorism. I believe that this is getting a little extreme when they are surveilling common, law abiding citizens. There could be many abuses to surveillance. Individual’s personal information can be monitored. And that sensitive information could be stored and used against the individual. There are stories of business owners getting pictures of their employees at Occupy protests. Why would this happen if it didn’t have some malicious intent implied? I think surveillance on civilians truly hurts the government and our democracy. Citizens will lose faith in our democracy of the government holds all of our sensitive information, which could potentially be used against us. I don’t think the government should have this information. The citizens have a right to privacy. Is the government surveilling its own officials? I really doubt it. The government should have no right to our information. The common constitutional right is the right to privacy. I believe that Snowden did do the right thing by coming out. If he hadn’t, we still would be blindly going on with our daily lives. The public has a right to know when they are being monitored without their knowledge or consent. We cannot have a true democracy until there is more transparency from the government and its practices. There needs to be open dialogue from both sides for there to be any change.
Travis Himebaugh
5/4/2014 11:05:15 am
While I do agree that uninformed surveillance by the government is wrong and reprehensible, I do feel that someone has to play devil's advocate here. From their perspective, your privacy just isn't as important as your potential safety. I can understand, if not sympathize, with that cause- I would rather be embarrassed than dead any day.
Travis Himebaugh
5/2/2014 04:21:10 pm
Snowden exposed global surveillance projects put into practice by the NSA. Apparently none of the surveillance wasn't for any information that was actually illegal, though it may yet prove unconstitutional. While this may not interfere with our democratic ideals as such, it was done without the leave of the people, making it a breach of trust between the government and ourselves, not to mention a blatant show of disregard for our so-called rights to liberty (and arguably, life and the pursuit of happiness- personally I wouldn't be content being monitored all the time, nor would I be living as full a life).
Travis Himebaugh
5/2/2014 04:28:33 pm
(Sorry! edited this out and meant to put it back in- curse lack of edit buttons- plug in after second sentence)
Michael Plaza
5/2/2014 04:31:27 pm
Snowden has exposed that nearly anything and everything that is electronically communicated can be accessed by the government. For he has stated here in the video that that is just the easiest way for them to do it, is through mass surveillance. This means that the NSA is pooling data about people and using whatever they may find is useful to them for their particular needs. Although me texting my mother about what may be for dinner tomorrow night may not be tied to terrorism or anything of the sort, it is still getting accumulated in some database for the government's disposal. Potential abuse for surveillance I think, most importantly, is the censorship of thought. This is something that goes a bit beyond the perception of rationality, although the book 1984 illustrates this in a very intense form, although it is not likely to take such a form, such a thing is most likely to be much more subtle. Snowden brings up an "architecture of oppression" (of which according to him is currently in the works, hopefully in its infancy and not adolescence) which entails people becoming trained to accept the abuse as such of the NSA data pooling of individuals. Although this may not seem all that bad at first glance, he brings up a good point by bringing up one generation to the next, who knows what the American public may be able to accept as "normal" 30 years from now in terms of surveillance. The government should not have this type of information, it is disgusting, it goes against rationality to observe anybody under such a scope of precision. I am sure that if one was to truly observe any one human's life from start to finish that many faults are to be found. I think that Snowden did do the right thing, he is a true American patriot for revealing these facts to the public. I don't think that a true democracy of pooled individualism and beliefs cannot take place with such surveillance. Snowden brings up in the final moments of his interview the idea of a tyranny in the making by the means of such mass surveillance, one cannot exclude this notion.
Bree Hart
5/5/2014 04:26:54 pm
I disagree with your sentence saying the government having this information is disgusting. They do mass surveillance to watch over citizens and terrorist. I even think aspects of surveillance are disgusting, like watching everyone. They should try to focus on certain people. I mean watching a 10 year olds search history and watch that kid does is pointless. I also believe Snowden did the right thing, but whistleblowers are usually unidentifiable, and now that Snowden made him self known he's in danger. 5/2/2014 04:54:17 pm
1. Describe the various forms of surveillance that Snowden exposed.
Tikerea Tate
5/4/2014 04:44:36 pm
Hello Tony,
Joann Truong
5/2/2014 05:00:19 pm
The video talks about media surveillance and how nothing is private. I think that that is talking away my rights. I feel like I should have the rights of privacy. I don’t understand how information that should be mines are no longer mines and it’s not the government. That is just so wrong and unfair. I understand that it’s for our safety but I think it’s ridiculous that everyone is on the threat list. I feel like only certain people should be on the list.
Dolly Perez
5/2/2014 05:02:30 pm
Tikerea Tate
5/2/2014 06:03:03 pm
Many types of surveillance was exposed in the film. Some things that was exposed he exposed in the video was things like the media,the government, phone calls, the internet and basically everything in life. This information is crazy to me because everything we do is being watched. The thought of people watching me is scary. Some potential uses and abuses is that the surveillance can go way too far and starts to violate the 4th amendment. We are suppose to get the right to privacy but obviously we do not because of the surveillance. This level of surveillance affects our democracy because in our democracy is set up where the people are suppose to control what goes on in our government. However, we all know that people do not really control what goes on because we are influenced by the government. We are influenced because the government use their money so we can only see what they want us to do, as if we do not have a choice. I believe that Snowden did the right thing by becoming a whistleblower. It showed that he wanted change and he exposed the fact that we do know about the surveillance. I also believe that what he did is dangerous but taking the risk was probably worth it. If more people became whistleblowers then maybe we will gain our privacy back. I do not believe that we can have a true democracy with the level of surveillance we have around us.
Lars Velken
5/5/2014 02:06:25 pm
You’re right that the media plays such an important role in facilitating the government’s agenda, whether that represents abuses or positive actions taken by them. One of the interesting things in my mind is that the media has such a strong impact on the public’s perception that their role is taken either entirely at face value, or is entirely critiqued and questioned. It seams that very few have a healthy understanding of the media and its impact. On that thought, when I see that FOX is bringing back the show 24, the show the perpetuated the blind fear a terrorism following 9/11 2001, the media acts again like an appendage for the government, projecting a fearful mentality for the public to foster.
Lars Velken
5/5/2014 01:59:27 pm
The various forms of surveillance by the U.S. government, exposed by Edward Snowden, are encompassed by the more broadly defining term “digital interception. This characterizes what he detailed, including email, cellular, and other Internet correspondence. The government uses PRISM to sweep massive amounts of data that may or may not include threatening key terms, and it analyzes and categorizes them into different catalogued sections, which it holds for an undetermined amount of time. This creates a digital encyclopedia of individual’s lives. The U.S. government can benefit from this surveillance because it can detect actual threats to the nation where ever they may be, and this can be domestic or international. The use of this kind of technology can present threats itself to the people of the world because it can be easier to incriminate people by spying on their private moments, and it represents the ability to catalogue private data that is unrelated to national security. The use of this technology is an evolved form of wire-tapping, and demonstrates further how the government chosen to represent and protect its people would rather protect itself by metaphorically enslaving its people. Secretly intercepting people’s private information is a direct contradiction to the democratic process because it can inhibit free speech and dissent.
Nico Passalacqua
5/5/2014 02:31:56 pm
NSA and the Intelligence Agency in general are focused on getting any and all intelligence wherever it can, by any means. Ground of self-certification, that they serve the national interest. Began with gathering intelligence overseas and now it is starting to happen domestically. The NSA targets the communications of everyone and ingests them by default. Collects information in the system and it filters, analyzes, measures, and stores them for periods of time simply because that is the easiest, most efficient way to achieve means to an end.
Julia Miranda
5/5/2014 04:07:27 pm
The various forms of surveillance that Snowden exposed is enough that he could of harmed the US by all the information given to him by the NSA due to the privileges in his position but instead of selling it or using it against them, he shows the public. He didn’t like how it filtered everything we send online or by our smart phones and personally I don’t like that either. Most people say that if you don’t have anything to hide than what’s to worry about. I feel like it is an invasion of privacy and it does impact our democracy. If it’s a nation for the people, why is the NSA feel the need to watch and monitor us. I do think that Snowden did the right thing by exposing how much information he was given and how much the public doesn’t know about it. Ignorance isn’t always bliss if it’s about the government keeping tabs on everyone in the US and in foreign countries. I agree with him that the only way this can change is through policy and that telling the public was the best option he could of done and it was very brave of him to be a whistleblower especially after being trusted with all of that information. I do not think we can have a true democracy with that level of centralized surveillance because that goes against our amendments of invading privacy. I don’t live a questionable life, but that is really scary and creepy to know that someone is monitoring you and makes you wonder what you did to be treated like an untrustworthy citizen. Leave a Reply. |
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