Week 4

9/2/2014

1. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/19/edward-snowden-nsa-secrets-glenn-greenw
ald-laura-poitras
2. http://www.ibtimes.com/edward-snowden-reveals-secret-decryption-programs-10-things-youneed-
know-about-bullrun-edgehill
3. www.wikileaks.org

Guiding Questions

Describe the various forms of surveillance that Snowden exposed.
What are the potential uses and abuses of surveillance?
How does this level of surveillance impact our democracy?
Should the government have this information? Why or why not?
Do you believe Snowden did the right thing? Why or not why?
Can we have a true democracy with that level of centralized surveillance?

Requirements for BLOG POSTS

You must write 250 words each post (due Thursday @ Midnight), Responses to two other students 50 words each (due Friday @ midnight)
Students must post during the week the blog is assigned or it will not be graded.

24 Comments

Deante Climon link

9/9/2014 03:31:30 pm

Its scary to know that what you do is always being recorded by something or someone. from the moment you turn on your cell phone, to the minute you use your computer, you are being monitored at every angle. things such as, what sites you go to, what purchases you make. who you call, and who you text. these surveillance that Mr. Snowden is talking about sounds like the elite will have the people in society controlled through advertisement and through the media which ends up in the peoples hands, which will put all of society in slavery. Things that are suppose to make are lives easier, such as cell phones have become a useful devise for law makers and elite reenforcement groups. other potential websites known as Facebook has also become useful to Different forms of agencies who attend to gather information on every single human being who uses. people often do not think about their comments until they have been posted when it comes to social media sites, so when it goes for looking for a job, Facebook allows companies to gather any information about that individual for future references. this is invasion of someones privacy. the right to freedom of speech no longer exist and it has made a negative impact to our democracy. the word democracy no longer exist if peoples rights are being used against them. I can under stand information that will have a negative impact on our society, how ever the government should not be aloud to invade citizens privacy. what Snowden is doing is a good thing, however we still have to see his true colors. I really do not know him well enough to judge if he is doing the right thing. For all I know he could be selling information to the Russians or even playing basketball with Ken jun un. wIth the level of centralized surveillance we can not have a true democracy because this type of surveillance is not being true to the people.

Sarah Salazar

9/26/2014 03:12:17 am

I completely agree with your point that a true democracy cannot exist when these tactics of surveillance are being used against the people, and that the technology that should be making our lives easier, is actually working against us. Like Edward Snowden stated in the film, “most people are content with living comfortably.” They work, buy and lead happy lives without really caring or knowing who the companies they’re working for do.

Kim Shaw

10/2/2014 06:40:56 am

I agree a true democracy can’t exit because there are so many exceptions to the rules. Such as you can have your privacy, but because of the potential terrorist we are going put camera everywhere, record everyone’s conversation, access everyone’s e mails etc. Also yes you can have freedom of the press just as long as you say the right things or the things we want said.

Sharon Clark

9/30/2014 07:41:21 am

to this comment i agree to the fullest always being recorded, it has gone beyond measures, spy in people homes, cars, jobs,personal lives i just cant win for losing as long as we have a conniving government. it is to late to try and change things to normal because there is always a bolder due to the hierarchy of government. as long as there is a mass majority there will be a trend of some sort.

Courtney Broussard

9/11/2014 12:26:50 pm

N.A.S. whistleblower Ed Snowden, is a very brave individual to come forward with top secret information. I couldn't image having a high level position with an intelligence agency. It shocks me to know of how much surveillance is being watched by the government. Also in over the years how much information has been kept, swept under the rug, or story has completely changed; that is hidden from the nation. Snowden stated various forms of surveillance that the government involves themselves in. The N.A.S. is focused on getting mas production of surveillance, wherever they can find place possible to store devices. Which is the best way to control the world. The surveillance will detect the communication of everyone. These events will be stored, filtered through, and analyzed by the agencies. The potential uses of the surveillance will also be stored later and used as a weapon metaphorically against the people. Picking through each event of everything time you did something wrong. Having this level of high security will make our country become more towards a dictatorship than a democracy country. Social media is a huge contribution to society surveillance to better help the government to stay one step a head of the people. I strongly agree with Ed Snowden on coming forward with this informational insight. Getting this information out to the people is important, so that the people wont live in ignorance about what the government is doing. Also for the people to make a stand, to make stand on policies that are for the greater good of the people. The government should benefit the people, instead of harming society an controlling the people.

Sarah Salazar

9/26/2014 03:23:10 am

I also applaud Ed Snowden for bringing this information to light. However, if I were him, I don't think I would have the guts to do it. As he mentioned, he was living an amazing lifestyle, making tons of money, and living in Hawaii. He gave all that up for us! He put himself in jeopardy so that the people can be informed of what the NSA is doing, and how they use the information they collect.

sharon clark

9/30/2014 07:37:01 am

I'm not gone lie with out the outside resources exposing important information where would mass majority of us be today. everyday there is something new to learn or adhere to.without being noisy how will we become wiser about society.

Deante Climon

10/2/2014 11:32:06 am

I believe Ed snowden is a brave man. i beleive he is a very talented person as well. its hard to realize what situation you are in with alot of pressure on your hands. he might have had alot of death threats, and probably is not able to see his family anymore. sometimes they might use family agaisnt him or even to get close to him. he has been in Russia and also China, and I dont understand how the U.S had so much survallance haha they still cant find Ed snowden.

Thao Le

10/3/2014 03:40:06 pm

Personally I think Snowden is a hero, not everyone is that brave in standing up for what they think is right. He sacrificed his career and his life in other to bring information to the world, to let people knows what the American government is doing, and I'm glad he got nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize

Sarah Salazar

9/25/2014 09:36:04 am

In this video, Snowden talks about how the NSA gathers information from everyone and anyone. They keep this information for years, and every year, the amount of information they can store multiplies. Then he makes a point that if at any point the government wants to make an innocent person seem guilty of anything, all they have to do is go back to that person’s file and scrutinize and manipulate what that person has said, done, or commented at any point in their lives. This reminds me of the film we watched on Saturday, “The End of America,” which talked about the ten steps to closing and open society. Step number four was “surveil ordinary citizens.” By surveiling, the government instills fear in it’s citizens to speak out and demand justice because they know that if they become an enemy of the government, he/she may be depicted as a terrorist, and in some cases be disappeared just as in the book 1984. In this book the citizens were put against each other and surveiled at all times. People watched what they said at all times. Even if their intention was not to rebel against the government, just by putting together the wrong words they could be taken away. I don’t believe that there could be a democracy with this level of surveillance because in a democracy people are entitled to their opinions and to protesting and speaking out, but if everyone is afraid to speak out, how will we receive our rights?

Kim Shaw

10/2/2014 06:28:31 am

I completely agreed in regards to the closed society statement. Surveillance makes some people nervous and paranoid. Those people then become very careful of what they say, the emails the send, who they talk to, where they go, what they do and eventually because they are so concerned about all theses they shut down and close their mouths. The end result is a closed society driven by fear and they have no done one thing wrong, but who knows they could have.

Sorasak prasertsri

10/2/2014 03:29:22 pm

I do agree that the government has over uses the power, that people once given to them.The democracy that we used to have is no longer exist because of the government use surveillance and monitoring our email and our social communication. On another hand we as the people should be able to monitoring the government role and behavior
If it is applicable.

Thao Le

10/3/2014 03:44:48 pm

I completely agreed with your statement. By spying on its own citizen, the American government makes me think that our government think everyone is capable of committing terrorist crimes, whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? And from the video, journalists had been sent to prison for "not snitching" on their sources, pretty soon everyone will be too afraid to speak up

Dulce Fajardo

10/4/2014 12:28:06 am

I agree with you. It is scary to know that the government stores all this information about everyone. The worst part is that they can manipulate the information and use it against you if they would wish to do so. It would be a huge step if people would know more about this but the bad part is that some people might be aware but will just ignore all of this thinking that nothing will happen to them since they think they have rights which in the end it is not true if the government keeps controlling everyone's communication as it pleases.

Sharon clark

9/30/2014 07:34:12 am

Some of the various forms of surveillance that Snowden exposed were indiscriminately turning over documents to journalists, snowden also stated that "I carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest. There are all sorts of documents that would have made a big impact that I didn't turn over" and that "I have to screen everything before releasing it to journalists … If I have time to go through this information, I would like to make it available to journalists in each country. He also stole document that was infiltrated from the highest levels of security that had nothing to do with exposing government oversight of domestic activities and according to The New York Times snowden leaked NSA documents developed gradually, dating back at least to his time working as a technician in the Geneva station of the CIA.The potential uses of proper surveillance is supposed to secure and protect a person or location. Now u have and abuse of surveillance as well which brings privacy issues. The government can and does utilize methods to observe all the behavior and actions of people without the need for a spy to be physically present. Clearly, these advances in technology have a profound impact with regards to the ethics of placing individual under surveillance. In modern society so many of our actions are observable, recorded, searchable, and traceable, close surveillance is much more intrusive than it has been in the past. It’s never been a fair deal to me what so ever I because I call myself being a private person…lol. This level of surveillance impact our democracy by having very substantial political repercussions over 2013 and into 2014, but have also raised profound legal questions as a result too. So many of these are issues and questions of great importance for democracies. For example, the fact that every email we have sent, every photo they we forwarded by email, is available to the intelligence service of a foreign country, this has a chilling effect on freedom of expression I would say.no I do not feel the government need this information because to me they are legal stranger intervening on my privacy. Yes I do feel he did the right thing because he is exposing information that has been lock up and the key thrown a way, his efforts was needed so long ago that it’s more than and help to have the knowledge, to have a greater look on surveillance enough for the citizens of America to know. It would be easy to form a group but maybe a challenge to expand it and keep for a long time.

Sorasak Prasertsri

10/2/2014 03:42:27 pm

It's seem like the government try to provide a peaceful and security in our society. However as we analyze deeper, we could see their are many issues that difficult to people to approve, such as mornitoring through our email and sociel communication. Once we thought we have a freedom,now we have to think twice on what to say or not to say in our own private group ...such a shame!!.

Dulce Fajardo

10/4/2014 12:33:44 am

This just makes me wonder, if Snowden had more information to expose then what would it be? It seems like besides all of the surveillance issues he presented, the government is doing far worse things than what we already know. The people in the U.S. then have no freedom and this democracy is not a true democracy. It feels so wrong like you said that they would have every picture you have sent for example. You think you are private, you want to be a private person but you really can't.

Sorasak Prasertsri

10/1/2014 10:08:14 am

One of the form that Snowden exposed that the NSA uses for surveillance is wire tapping email account. The storage space that the NSA has for all the information on all people is getting larger every year. This can potentially be an abuse of surveillance. Although innocent of any crime, all information can be used to sway an opinion about a person. This ultimately effects our democracy by invading our right to privacy. It is unconstitutional and under minds the U.S. citizens. A true democracy is for the people by the people. The NSA was illegally wiretapping without the consent of the public. I believe the government should not have access to this information due to the fact that invasion of privacy, even on a small scale (ex. snooping around someone's room) is a negative act. With all the information by illegally wiretapping that the NSA has collected I believe that they can make an innocent person seem guilty. I believe Snowden did the right thing. The American public have the right to know what our government is using our tax dollars for. How can we as the people of this democracy have a choice when we are not given one. In this day and age, true democracy can't exist. Many decisions are being made unconstitutionally and without the U.S. peoples consent. The land of the free isn't as free as it once was. You once were free to speak your mind but now you may be a terrorist for speaking you opinion to someone in an email.

Deante Climon

10/2/2014 11:26:45 am

wow your are correct about the storage space. everything we emailed is being watched. I dont under stand how they continue to watch everyone in america. I believe they are also study off our society as well as advertise to our demands in society. they are probably watching our every moves to study what we watch and like, as to what we dislike. sometimes i get the feeling that they are using us as lab rats with different products and also making the U.S a consuming nation for thier benefit. They are watching us not only looking for threats but studing our society as well.

Kim Shaw

10/2/2014 06:20:06 am

This is kind of mind blowing to me simply because I have always thought that I wasn’t important enough or a big of a threat to be under surveillance. Now that I’ve watched that video I guess that is not true because everyone, everywhere is being watch and their information stored just in case it is needed one day. That’s terrible!!! There is not limit as to what is stored and the capacity of storage. I’m not big on social media, I don’t have a face book page, I do my best to keep pictures of my off face book and that is a good thing for me. However this doesn’t mean that I am not being watched. This could actually mean the opposite, because I’m not big on social media, I don’t have a face book page and I do my best to keep pictures of my off face book that might mean to someone now or later on I have or had something to hide. The whole surveillance thing shouldn’t really be a shock or surprise to anyone because we saw a few years ago in the movie “Enemy of the State” how your entire family can be under surveillance and you have no idea. I don’t think this is good for anyone, I don’t care how you try to sell it there is a catch. The government can use it against you or for you. If there is the possibility of digging up old information and using it against me later how does that help or assist anyone unless they are trying to cause harm to someone. If the government has this information what are they using it for, who is it benefitting, is it being used for the good the bad? Surveillance is always sold as a good thing for protection and safety. My question is, “Is it ever used for that reason?”
As far as Edward Snowden and if he did the right thing, I’m not sure. He has a lot of information and he risked a lot to release but who really benefits from the information he released? Now that we know of the surveillance you have people that are overly paranoid for doing absolutely nothing and you have the people that typically get over stepping up their get over game.

Thao Le

10/2/2014 03:32:43 pm

Edward Snowden had released documents about several surveillance programs run by the NSA (National Security Agency). The first program was PRISM, which allow NSA to have access to Americans' yahoo and google accounts. The NSA was also going through people's email content, tracking their cellphones' location, and looking at their web browsing history. Documents that were released also showed that the NSA spied on the American citizen Second Life's and World of Warcraft's characters. The NSA also spied on several other countries' world leaders, such as China, Brazil, Germany, etc... Personally I don't think the American government should have access to this kind of information, they should only have access to what its citizen chose to release. Everyone deserves to have their own privacy. I think Snowden did the right thing, and many people had called him a hero, because he chose to did what he thinks is right, even if he had to run away from his own country, and becomes a criminal. The American citizens deserve to know the truth. What's fascinating about this leak is that not everything Snowden obtained has gotten published, what got released was only 1% of the classified documents. The United States credibility has gotten damaged after this leak, since it was revealed that the NSA was spying on our other friendly countries. I don't think we have a true democracy with this level of centralized surveillance. Our government claimed that they're fighting terrorist, but it was never revealed how and what are the true uses of the information NSA has obtained.

Dulce Fajardo

10/2/2014 03:55:59 pm

Snowden exposes how surveillance is happening domestically, and how the NSA gathers everyones' information by default because that's the easiest and most efficient way of going about it. The government and analysts can use the information gathered whenever they please even if you have no involvement in any illegal act. By gathering and controlling what you say and do they will keep controlling everyone as they please. The people should decide whether or not these actions by the NSA are right. The government has the right to protect the U.S. and its people from danger and terrorism but instead of protecting the people they are wasting time and resources making everyone seem like they are suspects of something illegal even if they are just trying to live their lives "freely." Snowden did what he thought was right. His conscience would of not let him continue working for the NSA. Yet, I agree when he said that his biggest fear was that nothing will change after this being exposed in the U.S. Truthfully is it very likely very litte will change because the government always manages of getting its way in people's minds. It is not a true democracy if the government does not trust in anyone, probably not even its own president. This still continues to be a daily battle of the powerful versus the powerless. The people have a say but the media will shut them down, just like they tried to ignore Snowden but he eventually got support to be able to publish his "secrets."

Juan C. Flores-Rodriguez

10/3/2014 05:07:47 am

I believe that the centralize surveillance of ordinary citizen is unjust and goes against the founding principles of the United States constitution. By the statements of Edward Snowden, it is apparent that this is something that is occurring in 21st century America. Admittedly, Snowden understands that he is just one person, going up against a titan, and that by whistle blowing, there will be repercussions to him. Regardless, I believe that what he did is very courageous. He didn't do it for personal gain, he did it because "the public needs to decide" whether this level of authority that has been granted to the Federal Government, post 9/11, is justified or does it go against this countries founding principles.

What Snowden brings to the table, are not opinions or speculations, but facts that show how everyone's personal information is constantly being monitored and stored, Although centralized intelligence has been set up to identify "terrorist" plotting acts against the U.S., it can easily be abused to harass ordinary citizens, that are intentionally or unintentionally classified as high risk individuals. I believe that this goes against the 4th amendment of the US constitution. This is why I don't believe the US government should be allowed to collect, analyze, and store it's citizen's electronic information.

Furthermore, I don't believe that we can have a true democracy when the federal government has the right to collect irrelevant information to later attack you with in the future. It can be used to blackmail, intimidate, and subdue the people it's supposed to protect. The consequences of allowing this to happen is loss of freedom and a loss of democracy.

Our worst fear should not be the actions we take to find a solution, but our inaction in light of the facts.

Judy Sierra

10/3/2014 07:05:59 am

On the video of Edward Snowden being a former NSA contractor, he decided to expose the various forms under which our government maintains surveillance of its citizens. The government has the privilege access to any type of surveillance in the United States. Snowden also mention that all media, anything from phone messages, texting, any conversations with friends, things online and especially the internet are all under surveillance. Even if you’re not doing anything wrong you are still being watched and recorded. Many citizens have had their information obtained and sorted then saved to a massive storage database somewhere according to Snowden. So if for any reason you fall under suspicious, terrorist, the government can go back in time and every decision you made or any conversations you had with friends can come back to you and attack you. The government should not have access to this information; the storing of this information is massive periods of time and should not be allowed. The surveillance of the government completely expels the freedom of speech and privacy from the individual. There is no privacy beyond the people who live in this world. I believed Snowden stood for something he believed we should all have access to, but at the same time if I were in his shoes I would be scare to what the government might do to him, the government can come and get him. Citizens are always being watched and preserved in order to maintain more control of national and global society. The government doesn’t own us and shouldn’t have the right to our information.

Week 4

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