CHANGING LAWS FISA The US government's powers of surveillance are detailed by laws including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act FISA FISA originally required the government to get a warrant before monitoring a US citizen's communications The FISA Amendments Act passed on July 10 2008 greatly expanded the power of the NSA The NSA could now access information directly without a warrant In fact it did not even have to ask the companies for access or let anyone know when it had accessed records Immediately after the 2008 amendments were enacted the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU filed a lawsuit alleging the law was unconstitutional The ACLU filed the case on behalf of a large group of human rights legal labor and media organizations In February 2013 the Supreme Court dismissed the ACLU's lawsuit The ACLU brought another lawsuit against the NSA after Edward Snowden revealed the extent of the NSA's spying on US citizens A federal district court dismissed this lawsuit In both cases the courts stated the ACLU's clients did not have the standing to bring a lawsuit because they could not show the NSA was monitoring their communications As of 2016 the FISA Amendments Act stands but the future may bring more challenges I can get your e mails passwords phone records credit cards From the telephone records the government could see what calls were made but could not hear the conversations Still taken together it meant the NSA could access nearly all of a person's communications An official NSA statement denied any misuse of power and many countries have similar surveillance programs PRIVACY VERSUS SECURITY Some people feel the loss of privacy is worthwhile especially when it comes to national security Senator Dianne Feinstein wrote in a 2013 Wall Street Journal op ed
Senator Dianne Feinstein spoke out about the benefits of NSA surveillance with regard to national security Working in combination the call records database and other NSA programs have aided efforts by US intelligence agencies to disrupt terrorism in the US approximately a dozen times in recent years according to the NSA This summer the agency disclosed that 54 terrorist events have been interrupted including plots stopped and Criminals and terrorists arrests made for support to would like nothing more than terrorism for us to miss out 12 James Comey FBI director Despite those apparent criticizing technology that encrypts data successes many people were
shaken by the idea that any agency could collect so much information on them Most people do not participate in terrorism spying or other crimes Innocent people wondered how USA FREEDOM ACT much privacy they should have In June 2015 the USA Freedom to give up in order to ensure Act was passed It extended a small number of criminals some sections of the Patriot Act which allowed greater were caught government surveillance in an attempt to prevent terrorism Big data or large sets of However the act stops the NSA recorded information is now from collecting massive amounts everywhere Data comes from of phone data Phone companies e mails texts phone calls will retain the data which the NSA can obtain only with Internet search queries social permission from a federal court networking and other online Some critics say the new act activity such as watching does not do enough to control videos or clicking on ads Data surveillance programs may include location tracking through global positioning satellites in phones and computers Data even comes from sensors in roads bridges homes and clothing In nearly every aspect of life from shopping to health care to social interactions big data has provided both benefits and challenges On a daily basis people give up privacy in exchange for convenience often with little awareness of what they are doing A 2015 survey found that Americans place a high value on privacy In fact 74 percent of respondents felt it was very important to
be in control of who can get information about you Strong majorities also wanted to control what information is collected and to avoid having someone watch or listen to them without permission Modern society is looking for ways to make the best use of big data while protecting individual privacy rights How society decides to balance data and privacy will affect the future of everyone who uses computers cell phones and similar devices PUBLIC PERCEPTION Opinions vary when it comes to the proper balance between privacy and security Forty percent of adults surveyed by the Pew Research Center in 2014 said they disapproved of the government collection of Internet and telephone data as part of antiterrorism efforts 15 Another 32 percent said they approved while 26 percent said they were not sure 16 Adults age 50 and older were more likely to approve of the programs while those under age 50 were more likely to be uncertain In general those who had heard a lot about government monitoring were less likely to approve
