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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4/7/2017 1 Comment April 07th, 2017Blog 11
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/09/18/internet-surveillance-is-a-necessary-part-of-national-security I chose to read this article to get a point of view from someone who stands with the government’s decision to uphold the internet data collection practices of the National Security Agency (NSA). Although the author regularly uses a strawman argument against those who are opposed to what the NSA is doing, they do have some valid points in their article. An example of their strawmanning can be seen in one of their statements: “The thrust of these comments is that the Internet should be – somehow – immune from any government surveillance of any kind and for any reason” (Gallington 2013). This statement condenses the argument of those opposed to the actions of the NSA down to the desire to do away with the NSA, which is not necessarily true. It is much more likely that those who oppose the NSA actions believe that the stated purpose of those action are valid, but the magnitude and the implementations need to be reined in through democratic process. The author states sending communications on the internet can be imagined like sending letters through the mail. The government has the ability to open letters if they have a reason to believe it is necessary, so that same expectation should be held on internet communications. I believe this to be a fair concept. The issue that I believe many have with the current surveillance programs in place is that it is much more intrusive than how mail is intercepted. The government does not open every piece of mail and make a copy to be stored for an undetermined amount of time and instantly available for analysis, which is essentially what is being done with internet communications. The author then outlines two key questions, I will provide a condensed version of their questions and responses along with what I think are reasonable answers.
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AuthorPearce : CS-SE student Archives
May 2017
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