Essays on Electronic Surveillance

Perhaps one of the most commonly known rights guaranteed by the first ten amendments to the Constitution is the Fourth Amendment’s “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches” (U.S. Const. amend IV). Interestingly, while the meaning of the term “unreasonable” might seem intuitive, the Framers of the Constitution did not provide a specific or detailed definition of it. However, after the Supreme Court; relying on the fact that Article III of the Constitution vested the Court with the judicial power to “all cases” that arise under the “Constitution, ...

The incidence of electronic surveillance and cell phone searches by the law enforcement agencies have increased in recent times. Cell phone searches can offer police officers, valuable information pertaining to public safety, accomplice in crime, evidences and also information required to locate a person. However, not all cell phone searches are in compliance with law. Cell phone searches can be done without a legal warrant when a lawful arrest of the person is made. Cell searches can be done to a person who is not arrested, but such searches are to be ‘truly incidental’ and not done with the ...

- What does the USA PATRIOT Act permit with regard to the surveillance of suspected terrorists? Based on past experiences and ongoing public debate, what public criticism might arise if I speak out in favor of increasing the use of surveillance?

The USA PATRIOT Act, which stands for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism,” holds the explicit objective of expanding surveillance activities, as part of an immediate response to the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks (EPIC). Being a counterterrorist response by Congress, the USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law by ...

Claim

My position as per the application of FISA and the Fourth Amendment is that the FISA violates the fourth amendment requirement. This is in line with the fact that the Fourth Amendment Act operates on the basis of the exclusionary rule and revolves around the search and seizure whereas the FISA is seen to violate the exclusionary rule.

Background

The Fourth Amendment Act was put in place following the dissenting argument at the time of arrest by the police officers. This is pegged on the basis that the exclusionary rule which is applied where admissibility of the unlawfully acquired evidence ...

Internet Privacy:

In this essay I will discuss about two main administrative bodies of United States, namely, the

The National Security Agency (NSA) has Head Quarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. It is responsible to collect, process, decode and translate intelligence information gathered from electronic foreign sources for intelligence purpose and to support internal military operations. The concept of NSA came in picture in war against Germany during World War I where it was used to gather information, which helped the army to prepare adequately before the war. NSA is also aligned to prevent foreign entities to ...

English

Introduction This paper will discuss the ethical challenges between human rights and national security. The issue addressed specifically in this paper is: “Should the United States government compromise human rights to achieve the objectives of international security”. After the September 11, 2001 bombing in the U.S., strict security measures had been taken by the government to ensure the security and safety of the people. The U.S. government implemented the National Security Agency (NSA) Warrantless Wiretapping Program, by allowing the warrantless wiretapping of the citizens despite the violation of the right to privacy. The primary objective of the ...

Criminal Law

Blond (2009, p.164) stated that the best evidence rule expresses a preference for the use of original documents, instead of using reproductions. This has been known as the original document rule. The best of evidence rule only applies if it is being offered to produce the contents of evidence presented in court. The proponent of the writing seeks to prove its contents and that the writing is closely related to a material issue. In order to comply with the best evidence rule, the proponent of the evidence should produce the original document. If the producing the original is not possible, it ...

The Patriot Act was passed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to strengthen domestic security and increase the ability of the government to identify and stop terrorists. It has proved to be one of the most controversial laws in U.S. history (Doyle, 2001). It is comprised of ten titles which give federal law enforcement greater authority. Advocates claim that the Patriot Act is constitutional and instrumental in the war on terror. They cite a number of successful investigations and arrests of terrorists, and believe that law strikes an effective balance between civil rights and the ability of the government to protect ...

I. Introduction Ever since National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden leaked a cache of documents detailing the NSA’s comprehensive electronic reconnaissance program in June 2013, mass electronic surveillance and the ability of the government to intercept and access communication around the world have been of the hottest public policy topics in the nation. The focus of the debate centers on the tension between privacy and security. On the one hand, privacy advocates argue that while the Founding Fathers had not explicitly stated that Americans had a “right to be left alone,” various rights at common law and provisions ...

Shortly after the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001, Congress passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. As a result of real concerns over the security of the nation as well as more than a little mass hysteria over America’s vulnerability in the new age of global terror, the 342-page long USA PATRIOT Act, as it is popularly known, sailed through Congress a mere 45 days after the attacks with little debate or analysis but with broad bipartisan support. Indeed, in the Senate, the ...

Introduction

Of course, terrorism has now become an issue of global concern. The mushrooming of the terrorist groups has posed a very great challenge to the global community. The inhuman attacks by the Al Qaeda, Taliban, Tamil Tigers, Al Shabaab and Boko Haram have resulted into the loss of innocent lives. As a military super power, the ‘United States of America (USA) has been the main target for terrorism’ (Balousek, 2000). As a country, USA has suffered in the hands of the Islamist extremists who have successfully bombed it on several occasions. The most significant turning point in the history of this ...

Criminal Law

Question 1: The exclusionary rule remains to be relevant in our present legal environment. According to Slogobin (2013, p. 345), the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Mapp v. Ohio stated that the exclusionary rule is derived from constitutional origin and stays completely undisturbed which means that the Fourth Amendment mandates the suppression of illegally seized evidence in spite of its effect on the police and an efficient means to prevent police misconduct. As an effect, any evidence that is illegally obtained and violates the Fourth Amendment for unreasonable searches and seizure is inadmissible in ...

Introduction:

Fleming and Sturdy (2011) describe the managerial regime in a call centre. Please read their case description closely.

Electronic panopticons:

In an article by Fleming and Sturdy Call centres are presented as (electronic) panopticons among other creative names like “assembly lines in the head,” “human answering machines” and “bright, satanic offices” terms all borrowed from other writers. . “According to Fernie and Metcalf who used the term “panopticons’, call centre employment is micro-managed and highly monitored whereby coercive performance systems blend with electronic surveillance to form an ‘electronic panopticon’ . In this situation employees are under constant electronic surveillance. Every word spoken, every gesture ...

Ever since the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the passage of the Patriot Act, the U.S. government has had virtually unlimited powers of surveillance over its own citizens. This is simply a fact, and it has been done without the consent or awareness of the general public or even most members of Congress. From time to time, the people do learn some details about these programs, such as when the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed that this top secret agency was basically collecting a storing the phone, email and Internet records of millions of citizens. At the same time, ...

How serious is the threat from abuses in the use of new technologies?

The recent days have realized new technology gradually becoming part of our daily lives. Many sectors have not been left out as the nations of the world consciously or unconsciously strive to be modernized. The sad part of this is that alongside this cutting edge conveniences and technology comes a number of downsides. Today, many nations have embraced the new surveillance technology such as the recently developed HD closed –circuit television (CCTV) that has gone overboard, interfering with the many attempts to monitor infringement of individual’s privacy. Such is the case that high definition cameras with the ability to ...

Abstract

The term surveillance originates from the French language and it means “watching over” Surveillance is the act of monitoring activities and behavior as well as people’s surreptitious changing of information. Surveillance mostly refers to a private observation of individuals or groups of people by government organizations. Also, disease surveillance is process of monitoring the disease progress in a given community. The term surveillance can as well be applied to distance observations by electronic equipment means. A good example of electronic equipments used for surveillance is a CCTV camera. Another surveillance method is through electronically transmitted information interceptions through phones calls and ...