Argumentative Research Paper on American Freedoms

Argumentative Research Paper on American Freedoms
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The terrorist attack on 9/11 prompted the US Congress to establish a legal document that entailed surveillance provisions-the Patriot Act. The law allows government agencies such as the NSA to spy on American citizens’ activities. The government agencies closely monitor citizens’ internet searches and activities such as travel patterns, library use, telephone communication, medical records, bookstore purchases and other financial records. The Guardian revealed NSA’s PRISM program that allows access to internet-based information and the Foreign Intelligence Court order that required Verizon a telecommunications company to provide phone records (American Civil Liberties Union n.p.). Edward Snowden exposed the NSA for obtaining metadata that included email addresses and phone numbers using them to mine for leads in counterterrorism investigations (Kelly 7). Other leaked information revealed NSA’s access to not only domestic, but also international telecommunication information (Staff n.p.). Enforcement of these surveillance measures impinges on Americans’ freedoms.
Monitoring citizens is very invasive and using metadata and PRISM to track citizens’ patterns reveals extremely private information and is in violation of American freedoms. The government uses metadata and PRISM programs to obtain personal information such as one’s sexual orientation based on the choice of friends. The programs may also reveal other information such as places of work and events that one attends including political ones, and one’s popular holiday locations and restaurants. Furthermore, the government collects domestic information of millions of Americans that are innocent instead of collecting information about foreigners who pose the real terrorism threats to the country’s security (Wolf n.p.).
Surveillance on internet searches and activity impedes on previously held citizen’s rights to protection as well as on the judiciary’s powers. The measures as provided for in the Patriot Act do not require investigating agencies to present evidence that categorizes a subject as an agent of foreign power. It increases vulnerability for Americans because they are unprotected from abuse by the investigating authorities. The government also limits its citizen’s legal right to challenge illegitimate searches because the persons forced to provide information are prohibited from disclosing information about the search to the affected parties. The judiciary is also limited in its power to exercise oversight because it is prohibited from rejecting an application for required searches (American Civil Liberties Union n.p).
Surveillance of internet searches and other activities are also in violation of several legal provisions. It violates th...