Let's discuss the effectiveness of government spying programs. All this data collecting and analysis must have stopped countless terrorist attacks, right? Not necessarily.
As for the Patriot Act, between 2003 and 2006 the FBI issued over 192 thousand NSLs (National Security Letters: information inquiries). Out of those 192,000 requests there was a single terror-related conviction; one. From 2003 to 2005, the FBI made 53 criminal referrals out of over 143,000 NSLs. Zero out of the 53 were for terrorism. The Patriot Act appears to violate citizen's right more than it aids in preventing terrorism.
The NSA seems to be more efficient at thwarting terrorists. General Keith Alexander testified before the U.S. Senate stating the NSA's programs have "contributed to understanding and disrupting 54 terror-related events." There weren't any specific details on the size of the attacks thwarted.
Government programs do prevent terrorist attacks on our citizens and our allies, but the question that comes to light is: "Is the ability to stop a portion of terrorist attacks worth the total loss of personal privacy?" You may shrug off the loss of privacy because it doesn't appear to affect your life. Yet, there are monumental impacts a loss of privacy could cause.
A government that knows everything about it citizen's is a horrifying situation. The United States, being a democratic nation, is no longer under the control of it's citizens as intended. It is instead under complete control of the government. George Orwell's 1984 resonates with this topic with its quote: "Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them."
When the news of PRISM broke I read a story from a middle-eastern man who lived in a totalitarian nation with similar government intrusion. He said that while things in the country were bearable there was no cause for concern about the privacy intrusion, but when things became unbearable something unique happened. Those who spoke of rebellion were blacklisted by the government. The government instructed the rebel's employers to fire the rebels or they would end their business. When the rebels tried to find other work they found their records were blacklisted so nobody would be able to hire them. Now with no source of income, the rebels went to family members for help. The family members turned down the rebels because if they aided them the family would be put in jail by the government. If you became sick, you could go to the hospital where the doctors would turn you down because once again the government has prevented you from receiving help. The rebels were left to rebel against their government or die.
It is scary to think that a government that allows zero privacy could turn into such a monster, but it is possible. This is why we as American citizens should fight for our privacy. It is crucially important to a democracy; without privacy a government can become too powerful.
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism
- http://inktank.fi/13-quotes-from-george-orwells-1984-that-resonate-more-than-ever/
- http://www.zerohedge.com/news/%E2%80%9Cwe-are-far-turnkey-totalitarian-state-big-brother-goes-live-september-2013
- https://www.aclu.org/national-security/surveillance-under-patriot-act
- http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/nsa-54-cases
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