Security vs. Privacy
Security verses Privacy: How much do we need to be watched? You walk out of your house, get into your car, and drive down the street towards some unknown destination. However by leaving your house, someone sees you. They keep track of every move you make. This person already knows where you live and what kind of car you drive. When you make a left turn, the person finds out your name because you yell out the window to your friend. You go downtown and drive through the ATM. Guess what? The person following you now has your pin number and knows what bank your money is in. Your next stop is the post office where you go inside to get your mail. Right behind you, watching to see your post office box number, is the same person. They stand just close enough to watch you flip through your mail and to see where every letter came from and to see which letters you put in the out box. Are you feeling a little worried yet? Do you want this person to leave you alone? Do you know this is all legal? "Leaving your house" or "getting on the internet" is not secure or private. Internet-Service Providers can keep a record of the sites you visit, every move you make on-line. Web sites use cookies to follow people around the internet
So, is this too much power for the government? The only people who are against the bill have something to hide. According to the New York Times, the government may get into our e-mail to read subject lines of sent and received mail. Now with the use of the internet, new monitoring technology exists. When talking about electronic surveillance, you normally hear about pen registers and trap and trace devices. Is that too much power? I don't think so! The new bill allows for the government to protect us from terrorist, when the terrorist could be spying on us. In a publication by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it was stated that electronic surveillance has helped the government convict over 25,600 felons over a period of 13 years. Upon an application made under section 3122(a)(1) of this title, the court shall enter an ex parte order authorizing the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device if the court finds that the attorney for the Government has certified to the court that the information likely to be obtained by such installation and use is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation. So once again the question is asked, "Is this too much power for the government? How much do we need to be watched?" I can only answer these questions with more questions for you. The government must only show that the information may have relevance to an ongoing case (Guernsey 1). The Carnivore can intercept and collect lawful electronic communications and ignore the others. The Electronic Privacy Information Center stated that if the government had the ability to monitor the internet, they could prevent many crimes from being committed (EPIC 2). Upon an application made under section 3122(a)(1) of this title, the court shall enter an ex parte order authorizing the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device within the jurisdiction of the court if the court finds that the State law enforcement or investigative officer has certified to the court that the information likely to be obtained by such installation and use is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation. If a computer yields those results, and the results of the "New York World Trades Center" and "How to Fly a Plane," do you think the government would have a stronger case against a terrorist? More recently, if the government was investigating a criminal in a case and saw the results of "Anthrax" and "The Postal Service" it might make their case stronger (Guernsey 3).
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