Within
the last couple of weeks, 29 year old Edward Snowden has become famous. He’s not an actor, or singer, or author; his
“fame” came from telling the world that everyone’s privacy is at risk because
the NSA (National Security Agency) has been spying on Americans for years. It’s the job of the NSA to keep the United
States safe from terrorism. Everyone
knew without it being spoken that spying was involved, but most people were
surprised at the extent of this spying.
It’s expected that terrorist groups or people with ties to known
terrorists were probably targets, but no one thought that the private e-mails
and telephone conversations of Joe Public would be compromised.
Anyone
can be a target of the NSA. E-mails are
flagged by certain keywords that are considered “terroristic” in nature, like
“bomb”, “gun”, “shooting”, etc.
Unfortunately, some of these words are used in conversation that has
nothing to do with terrorism, however, an e-mail to “Aunt Sally” that talks
about someone “shooting a video” near your home could lead to suspicion. Not only that, but Aunt Sally will probably be
checked out as part of your “conspiracy”.
Is
there really a threat to our security or are we all simply paranoid? According to the NSA, there have been more
than 50 terrorist threats that have been discovered and blocked (one of which
was targeting the New York Stock Exchange) since the spying program was started
after September 11, 2001. Knowing that
these threats have been discovered and blocked, do you now feel better that the
government is taking away some of your privacy?
Will you re-think some of the wording that you use in your e-mails so
they won’t be targeted? Telling a friend
you went to the movies and you thought the latest hit was really a “bomb” could
be re-phrased, but should we really have to think so hard about our choice of
words? Then consider your phone
conversations; do you ever vent about your frustration with some
politicians? One red flag and all of your
phone records will be reviewed.
When
it comes to the subject of Edward Snowden, the American public is split on
opinion. Some hail him as a hero for
uncovering this NSA program, yet others feel that he is a traitor for making
classified information public. Americans
have had the unspoken knowledge that government agencies have used spy tactics
for a very long time, all in the name of security. But now that all of this is out in the open,
terrorists will know to be more careful in their correspondences, meetings and
phone conversations.
A
new development to this story is that the U.S. Government has charged Edward
Snowden with espionage. According to the
NY Daily News (Feds file espionage
charges against NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden) and Washington
Post, federal agents in Hong Kong have been ordered to arrest Snowden. He is believed to have fled to Hong Kong
after leaving his job as a systems analyst with the NSA in Hawaii in May of
this year. When he left, he allegedly
took many classified and top secret files with him. It
will be interesting to see how all this plays out. After all, he’s being charged with spying in
order to uncover spying.
All Americans now know that every day, their privacy is in danger thanks to Edward Snowden. Previously, the article The Government Can Read Your Old E-mail…Without a Warrant showed us how “legally abandoned e-mail” can be obtained from e-mail providers by government agencies without having to get a search warrant, but now, it goes much further than that. We are also aware that our phone records and Internet activity are being tracked, which means even more privacy loss. So many people are worried that Microsoft and Facebook have come out with statements to all of their users saying how all this affects their personal information.
Vice
President John Frank of Microsoft stated that they have received 7,000 requests
from U.S. intelligence agencies and other law enforcement officials that
affected 32,000 users. These requests
came in the last six months of 2012.
Facebook
announced that in that same time period, they have received 10,000 requests
that affected the information of 19,000 users.
In
defense of his actions, Snowden told the British newspaper, The Guardian, “I
can’t in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet
freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive
surveillance machine they’re secretly building.”
The
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) is now suing the government and asking
that a Manhattan Federal Court Judge to order the Obama administration and the
NSA to end their spying on the American citizens and to trash any and all
records that have been gathered so far.
Unless this is done, no one’s privacy will be safe.
Please
download the free Privacy Guide located at the top of this page. You will find many suggestions on how to keep
your most important asset, your privacy, safe whether you are on-line or off.
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