Coti Farias
Holly Pappas
English 101
May 1, 2014
Rough Draft – Argument Essay
Government monitoring of internet activity and surveillance cameras are very necessary. The many terrorist attacks that have happened in America have made it necessary to monitor people’s activities in order to ensure people’s privacy. Monitoring internet activity and using surveillance cameras should be put in use because they will prevent any future terrorist’s attacks and find perpetrators on the internet that might be doing suspicious activity. Therefore, to ensure people’s privacy and protection the government needs to be constantly vigilant. However, the government must be careful not to overstep their authority and stomp on people’s rights by collecting unneeded data including credit card numbers, travel itineraries, texts and downloads.
Ordinary citizens need to know who is using the Internet in dangerous ways. For example, who is learning how to make a bomb, who is learning how to use chemical weapons, or who might be planning for an attack on them? People who are using information like this from websites should be considered dangerous and be red flagged by the government. Today, states take in many immigrants who religious beliefs vary greatly. Some radical Muslims, for example, have carried out horrific acts against the United States. It only makes sense to monitor Internet activity because of all that has happened since 911 to the US. Someone viewing how to make a bomb on YouTube needs to be red flagged before he or she gets a chance to commit a terrorist act against the US. Out of necessity the National Security Agency (NSA) has been storing and capturing web pages and later analyzing them (Von Drehle).
Having surveillance cameras in stores, at streetlights and in the city street corners has become routine. It is a great way to prevent any threats or attacks before they happen and later on to catch the perpetrators with indisputable evidence from the surveillance cameras. Now, most stores in America have video cameras for lesser crimes. For instance, theses cameras can catch thieves at stores, burglaries at banks and provide great footage from crime scenes to be used as evidence during court proceedings. Also, police departments have license-plate cameras along with fast-pass lanes to tack cars’ speed and location. In addition, satellites are great for surveillance. For example, by using Google Maps, government agencies can capture the street view and live images of people, cars and more. All this technology is necessary for our protection. A case in point is the Boston Marathon bombing in Boston in April, 2013, which was a senseless act of terrorism that killed and maimed many innocent civilians. In a CNN article, Josh Levs and Monte Plott quotes, “In addition to scrutinizing images of surveillance cameras in the area, the FBI likely was issuing subpoenas for records from cell towers in the area to isolate and trace calls from around Copley Square at the time of the blasts, according to a former federal law enforcement official who now works in the intelligence community” (CNN). That was a truly tragic event for Americans. If it weren’t for the surveillance cameras at the site of the bombings, the government officials would have caught the two brothers who set off the bombs.
However, has the US government’s desire to keep its citizens safe actually infringed upon their personal rights which are guaranteed by the Us Bill of Rights? Has the US government overstepped its authority? Some think is has. They argue that monitoring the Internet is obviously important, but ensuring people’s privacy is just as important; some even sit it is more important. They claim that the NSA should not be listening to people’s phone calls and viewing our emails. Moreover, they also should not be collecting information about bank balances, credit card numbers, text messages, downloads, medical records and even people’s travel itineraries. Alarmingly, this is not all that the government has been doing. According to the Washington Post, “Every day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications. The NSA sorts a fraction of those into 70 separate databases.” This means that the NSA stores billions of information about people from the ways we communicate with each others.
By them monitoring the internet, one could argue that the government is invading its citizens’ privacy, which the Bill of Rights ensures. In an online debate about this, results show that 53 percent disagree with this. They say that it isn’t right; they have enough to do instead of watching what we do, there violating the fourth amendment and it’s unfair to the general public. Some people even say that the government is wasting money. One poster from the debate says, “No it would mean a loss of privacy. Everyone should be free to put everything they want on the Internet, and if you think some things are inappropriate such as porn or anything else then doesn’t go searching for it. If the government controls it then they will see all your private issues. I hope then one day you’ll understand what I mean.” I understand how this upsets real people in the world, and they feel that it is unneeded for us but there are important reasons as a whole state it is needed. Even though it is invading are privacy, it is making the world safer for us to live in each day because they can stop something terrible from happening if caught through the internet.
In conclusion, it is very important to have the government monitor the internet so the United States doesn’t get attacked again in any manner. By them monitoring it will make the world a safer place to live in. If anything like 911 even happens again, wouldn’t you like to know that it could have been stopped if they monitored the internet activity because someone was plotting an attack on America? Monitoring in general is important for America, to know that people aren’t trying to hurt us, and even for children safety online.
Work Cited:
Drehle, Dave V. “The Surveillance Society | TIME.com.” US The Surveillance Society Comments. TIMES, 01 Aug. 2013. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Levs, Josh. “Boy, 8, One of 3 Killed in Bombings at Boston Marathon; Scores Wounded.” CNN.
Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Preist, Dana, and William M. Arkin. “A Hidden World, Growing beyond Control.”
Washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, 19 July 2010. Web . 28 Apr. 2014.
“Should the Government Monitor the Internet?” Http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-the-
government-monitor-the-internet. Debate.org, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.