Security Versus Privacy

Paper Summary:

The writer proposes that there is an erroneous assumption that the transformation of free societies into police states will ensure security from external and internal threats. The paper examines how the recent revelation, that President Bush told the NSA to start monitoring all international communications of people with terrorist links, is just one of the latest battles in the effort to balance security and privacy. The paper concludes that any proposal that is made in the name of national security should be carefully evaluated in terms of its actual, net effects.

From the Paper:

"This ruling has not stopped the executive branch via the intelligence community to continue to attempt to use national security as an excuse to undermine privacy rights. For instance, on December 13, 2004, President Bush signed into law the Intelligence Authorization Act, which grants unprecedented power to the FBI to access private records without a court order (Swartz, 2004). This expansion of power has proceeded despite the fact that similar measures were struck down as part of the revised Patriot Act. The American people seem willing to accept greater and greater intrusions into their privacy."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bennett, S.C. (2006, August 7). Data security: it's a nonpartisan issue. New Jersey Law Journal.
• Donohue, L.K. (2006, Spring). Anglo-American privacy and surveillance. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 96(3), pp. 1059-1208.
• Heymann, P.B. (2002, Spring). Civil liberties and human rights in the aftermath of September 11. Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, 25(2), pp. 441-455.
• McMasters, P.K. (2006, June 1). Casting a digital drift net. New Jersey Law Journal.
• Munro, N. and Stone, P.H. (2001, September 15). A tougher balancing act. National Journal, 33(37), p. 2852.

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• Essay # 52824 : "Employee Privacy"

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