Privacy 2.0

Discussion:
From what I understand, after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the government instituted a set of actions in which they called "The Program." which started out as a way to monitor phone calls, and other various forms of communication for potential terrorist action. The original plan for the program involved a set of parameters that would protect U.S. Citizens. It sounds like eventually somewhere along the way, or perhaps even for the entirety of "the program" the parameters that would protect citizens were bypassed. Some people in various government agencies found out about what was going on, and questioned it's legality.

 Position:
In watching the "United States of Secrets" documentaries... I feel as though the majority of what I heard was a constant back and forth of  "This is Legal." "This isn't Legal." "Wait, is this legal?" Although I watched these documentaries, and have a small amount of background knowledge about this subject, the amount of knowledge I have is just that. Small. Nevertheless, here's my opinion, based on what I know...

In class, the question was asked, Can we have both safety/protection and privacy at the same time? I would argue that we can't. I sort of have the viewpoint of the fact that I don't have anything to hide, so I don't really care if my phone calls are monitored, and my e-mails are read. I do, however, think that it can go too far. I also think that a problem arises when our phone calls and e-mail information is stored, and not taken care of, making it subject to theft, or hacking by outside parties. I've often thought, well, if the government would have just let us know that they were reading through and listening to our information, rather than keeping it a secret, maybe people wouldn't have a big of a problem with it. But then I wonder... if people knew they were being listened to they probably wouldn't use those forms of communication to plan terrorist attacks. I do think that this infringes on our first and fourth amendment rights, but I also think that maybe we place too much emphasis on the law. I can't help but think about the saying from Pirates of the Carribean, "The code is more of a guideline." Either way, if you consider this it's a sticky subject... As far as the President using his wartime authority to authorize "the program" I think that sounds sort of sketchy... I think that more people should have approved and talked about it.

I guess, bottom line, my opinion is that while I don't necessarily think that it was wrong or right that the government was watching us, I do think that there should have been more honesty about it. This is where people like Edward Snowden come in. I'm not sure that I've formed a complete opinion of Snowden and what he did, and the way in which he did it, but it sure has helped spark conversation and somewhat of an understanding of what's going on in our government right now.