4/21/2017 0 Comments April 21st, 2017Blog 13
http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-surveillance-prism-phone-nsa-big-deal-2013-6 I have covered a few articles about the NSA’s programs which conduct the collection and surveillance of internet communications and I will continue to do so today. The article linked above was published when the leaks by Edward Snowden were relatively new, in 2013. It has a few weak reasons why the operations are acceptable, such as: the government has been doing it for a decade so why should we care about it now. But, I want to focus on the questions the author raised about the consequences these operations could have if left as is. The two questions posed by the author are “Where does it stop?” and who has “access to top-secret information?” I think these are two good topics to think about when it comes to the collection of all of the data sent through the internet, both mundane and sensitive. Because the intelligence community is highly secretive and protective of their data, which is an important source of intelligence, it is difficult to ensure that this resource is currently being used appropriately and will be continually used appropriately. By allowing the NSA and other government agencies unchecked power through the collection of vast amounts of data there exists an ever increasing potential of large scale abuse. The knowledge that governmental power must be checked is well known and is the very reason the U.S. government has three governmental branches, in order to balance the power exerted by any one part of the government. So, as the author of the linked article said, the question becomes how far can the NSA go in their quest for tactical intelligence and who should be allowed access to what information. Because of the potential of abuse of the data collected by the NSA to disastrously impact the lives of so many people, it is imperative that exacting guidelines, regulations, and oversights are legislated to prevent the misuse of the data collected by the NSA and other government agencies.
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