Edward Snowden and mass surveillance
Mass surveillance [1][2] is the observation of an indiscriminate population through collecting and storing data obtained from but not limited to citizens’ phone calls and internet use. This method has been deemed by governments and organizations that employ it as necessary in dealing with national issues such as fighting terrorism and protecting national security; however, it has often been criticized for its violation of privacy rights and is even illegal under some constitutional systems. In June 2013, Edward Snowden [3], a former senior data analyst at the United State National Security Agency, stunned the world by making a daunting decision to disclose classified documents related to the U.S. surveillance practices that he found disturbing and invasive of the public to renowned journalists. One such practice is the Prism program [4] that utilizes both legal and illegal real-time collection of data of millions of Americans from technology companies such a Google, Microsoft and Facebook. This report explores the subject of mass surveillance employed by the United States by discussing several issues: the intended benefits and ethical issues involved in the use of mass surveillance by the NSA and the expected…show more content… One of the major ethical issues that has been mentioned is mass surveillance characterized by the initial assumption of everyone as a suspect. Mass surveillance, hence, poses ethical dangers as individuals can be falsely grouped based on living habits. Assumptions made based on these collected data may then be used against any individual. This does not only impact the rights to privacy, but also affect the society as a whole on the ability to freely express ideas and opinions, especially when it comes to sensitive topics such as dominant political