Persuasive Essay On Domestic Surveillance

Domestic Surveillance?

“Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.”

This nugget of wisdom was expressed by Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who is now exiled in Moscow. Two years ago, he dropped a bombshell on the American public and global citizens everywhere. He revealed that the American government’s mass electronic surveillance program was occurring without anyone aware of it and without public debate over its value. Since then, there have been much needed changes, but there is still more than needs to occur. In short, much of what occurs in the process of mass surveillance brings the community more harm than good and is clearly unconstitutional.

Based upon information provided by Edward Snowden in 2013, an article from The Guardian suggested that the NSA monitored three billion

In 2013, Obama claimed that at least 50 threats were prevented with NSA’s information, thus saving many lives. However, according to a study conducted by New America, the NSA’s proclaimed role in keeping the United States safe from terrorism shows Obama’s claims are and misleading: it was suggested that the NSA has played a role that contributes to domestic attacks in at most, 1.8% of the cases among all terrorist attacks in the United States. This research further proves that the United States is able to remain safe from domestic attacks without the existence of NSA. Moreover, according to the Intercept, the estimated 1.8 percent that NSA contributed to anti-terrorism attacks were overly optimistic, and states that the organization wasn’t able to present any valuable information to prevent any domestic attacks, after and even before Snowden’s