Government Surveillance As A Means Of National Security

The fear of terrorism and other crucial crimes has increased the widespread of sophisticated surveillance systems. Surveillance technology has been installed nearly everywhere, which has allowed the government to monitor the public through street cameras, emails, phone calls, and even text messages. Technological supervision has had a positive effect on public safety by collecting information to prevent any future illegal acts; however, it has also resulted negatively by invading the privacy of citizens.

In 2017, an app by the name of “Citizen” was launched to alert anyone with a device of an emergency. Andrew Frame created the app as a safety network to protect by simply displaying a “red dot on a map on the phone screen indicating that an incident is in progress; if you tap on it, Citizen also gives you the option of sharing the information on social media” (2). Since social media plays a major part in society, by designing this app to connect with such media, it has prevented any further public injuries that could occur during an incident. Alerts from a crime in progress to an infiltration of a gang notifies citizens to either stay away from the site, or get to safety. Hitchens explains then goes on to explain that, “The company has seventy full-time employees, who work around the clock harvesting information from police, E.M.S., and fire-department scanners (4). By revealing this to others, she creates the app to be a reliable source for any residents who may have downloaded this app. Authorities can get the data by addressing subjects, invading gatherings, or using insight to screen communications. Despite the fact that this attempt can follow the telephone calls, messages, and messages of a large number of individuals who show no danger to the nation, the argument is that the government administration is important to recognize any relationship to worldwide terrorism oppression. Although Citizen can alert individuals of emergencies/ crimes from a wide radius, it cannot operate without inputting a location it is practically impossible. This is the downside of the app that leads groups into believing that they are being spied on or observed without consent. There is no way to “hide” from the law or the web when information is always being collected from locations, fingerprints, and its easy installation.

Government surveillance through cell phones and any technology is not new news for recent generations. Since September 11th, cameras and public tracking has overtime spread rapidly for citizen protection. In the Radiolab podcast titled, “Eye in the Sky,” commentator Ross McNutt discussed the way technology advancements are not just furthering in the military now, commenting,” A lot of these technologies may start in the military, but then they trickle down to us” (00: 05:10- 00:06:12). Such big advancements can cause an uproar or riot from others because of tracking and being watched by the government. McNutt mentions that it can feel as if these cameras violate their rights, but if this technology actually works as described and can solve cases, then the privacy in public areas can’t compare to being able to quickly stop or catch criminals (00:18:54-00:20:28). As opposed to tapping into phone lines or observing internet transmissions, it just takes pictures of us in public in a manner that’s available to those in power. They might perceive that their entitlement to protection has been attacked and contaminated, but the issue with the protection is that individuals don’t feel they have enough of it.

National security is expanding, making the administration less stressed over the individuals. National security is becoming insane, which has prompted the diminishing in individuals’ protection and has made dread according to residents. Americans believe they should have the option to live their day by day lives unafraid of an overwhelmed government, but what they neglect to see is that it has brought justice to those that have intended to dispatch an assault. In the end, to some government surveillance seems like a threat to their rights, but it only ensures the security and safety of the nation. One study found that “heightened precautionary measures are appreciated by Americans, but there are also those who feel physically violated and publicly humiliated in what they consider an invasion of privacy” (Smith- Mason, p. 1). All levels of government face the difficult challenge of balancing privacy rights with public safety.

The primary concern of protection and observation is that there is a need to establish laws and guidelines of overseeing security in surveillance. Nobody has an option to uncover someone’s data without being given consent. Observation has been utilized by governments for knowledge gathering, aversion of wrongdoing, the security of a procedure, individual, gathering or object, or the examination of wrongdoing.