Friday, December 5, 2014
Patriot Act
We talked about it in class - you were asked to remember 3 key components of it and how they may affect your own personal life today. (Remember privacy laws become international as soon as you access sites such as yahoo, google, facebook, etc.) since they are based in the U.S.
Remember to use 2 external references for top marks.
Comment on this article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/10/29/surprise-controversial-patriot-act-power-now-overwhelmingly-used-in-drug-investigations/
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This is my weekly post…
ReplyDeleteAfter viewing the 10 key points of the Patriot Act, signed just 48 hours after the attacks on September 11th 2001, I have found the three points that pose a direct issue to citizens the most. The first one, and perhaps the most important is roaming surveillance. This affects all of us because in today’s environment we are in front of screens and cameras everywhere we go. The NSA has direct access to any webcams in our households and many people don’t have a clue. At one time, all we had to worry about was hackers with our webcams, now we are more likely to be watched by our government than any hacker. The government also has the power to track your IP address, the internet service providers are letting this slide as well. Your texts, emails, phone calls, anything you say on social media, and much more are all traced, and kept by the government. The next thing is border security, we have looked at this before in class and my personal views have not changed on the matter. We shouldn’t just be subject to these random searches when we have done nothing wrong. Minimal security is needed in my opinion. This part of the Patriot Act is something we feel every single time we travel. The final thing I believe has a significant impact on us today is the direct access to bank info. This was something I was very surprised about, I understand that no citizen should be sending money to terrorist organizations. However having direct access to bank history and keeping that info is something that none of us should agree with. I hope that the government is not abusing this, because it is uncalled for and probably a waste of time.
The article linked by the Washington post brings up some more issues regarding the Patriot Act. It links the sneak-and-peak provision with the war on drugs as opposed to terrorism. The article shows that 0.9% of the sneak-and-peak requests were actually to do with terrorism. The war on drugs is obviously a hot topic right now and I think this is just one more thing we need to deal with in our society. When Barrack Obama extended the Patriot Act (1) we weren’t really expecting it. The common democratic party goer would say the Act was just a way to get into the lives of Americans by the Republicans. However the Obama administration went ahead and extended it. Sticking with the war on drugs, Ben Wallace Wells wrote in the New York Magazine, “it easier to wiretap American citizens suspected of cooperating with terrorism, to snoop through business records without notification, and to execute search warrants without immediately informing their targets (a so-called sneak-and-peek).” (2) So this is clearly now spreading and what are we doing about it, nothing. What can we do about it, well nothing. It’s no surprise the people in power will abuse the system and use their powers for things that they shouldn’t be doing. The same thing goes with anything you pass, if you trust someone to use power for good, then the next person who has it might not use it for good. So while the sneak-and-peak provisions may have been used for terrorists 10 years ago, we now know they have changed a lot.
Sources:
1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/27/patriot-act-extension-signed-obama-autopen_n_867851.html
2) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/post/patriot-act-used-to-fight-more-drug-dealers-than-terrorists/2011/09/07/gIQAcmEBAK_blog.html
This is my weekly post
ReplyDeleteThe patriot act was in my opinion a negative move against our freedom. The three components that stuck with me as affecting my life were, the definition of terrorist, the border security and the roaming surveillance changes that were passed just 48 hours after the 911 catastrophe. Many of these changes I find frightening in their very nature. The surveillance portion. The actual section of that part of the act is called "enhanced surveillance procedures" (1). These "enhanced" procedures include things such as tracking suspects of terrorism in ways such as by their personal emails, phone activity, or any communications they may have (1). This is a frightening infringement of the freedom we are supposed to have in countries like ours. Although we have freedom to do what we wish it is no longer just our business. This act was passed in the United States so it shouldn't affect us. However these laws imposed by this act apply to American websites which most of us use every day. Much of the television and websites we browse so frequently are based in the states. In addition everything on most of our phones, computers, and other electronics send all of their information up to the cloud. US based cloud services do not prohibit the transfer of personal information to organisations providing that: 1) they are not used for anything other then what was consented (but who reads the terms and services they consent to).
2) The transferring organisation is accountable for the protection of the information that was transferred.
3) the reviewing organisation provides the same level of informations security (look how good that was they have all your stuff).
4) Disclosure is made to individuals. this should include notice that their personal information will be transferred outside of Canada for storage and that their personal information will be subject to the laws of the foreign jurisdiction, however these laws can be different and less protective then Canadian ones (2). This essentially says that by clicking "yes" or "agree" on whatever pops up on your screen, sells your personal information to different organisations in different countries as long as they "notify you". This notification could be in those terms of service you ignore so constantly.
I personally think that these surveillance laws in the patriot act are detrimental to our society and restrict our freedom. This is a major issues. Read what you are agreeing to or do not agree.
http://www.offshorelaw.com/index.php/faq/77-inner/100-the-usa-patriot-act-how-it-impacts-you
http://www.mondaq.com/canada/x/191964/IT+internet/Cloud+Computing+And+The+USA+Patriot+Act+Canadian+Implications
This is my weekly post
ReplyDelete(I apologize for this one, exhaustion has set in)
After discussing the Patriot Act in class as well as watching the movie "Enemy of the State" for the past few days, it's really got me thinking about privacy (or lack thereof).
There is a potential that we are being watched 24/7 without knowing it and although the Act was put in place to protect the country and its people, I think it's done more harm than good.
I think that the sections of the Act that affects the most people would be to Roaming Surveillance, Increased Border Security and the Definition of a Terrorist.
Roaming surveillance basically means that personal information, such as your whereabout and connections, can be constantly monitored without your knowledge. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a Court of Law... you just may not have said it directly to the authorities or known of their presence in your conversation but it's totally legal!
The second section that I think close to everyone has seen, heard about or experienced is the Increased Bonder Security. The border cops have the right to tear your car to shreds if they suspect anything and leave you to clean after. There is an increasing stereotype towards "Middle-Eastern" looking people due to their ethnicity, race, skin colour, etc.. Police have a large amount more rights than your average Joe and these rights and freedoms are regularly taken advantage of.
Lastly I think that it is important to be able to differentiate between harmless and terrorist activities. This is why the section of the Patriot Act dedicated to defining a "terrorist" as well as categorizing them is important. I do think; however, that the definition and examples are too broad for someone so serious. Simply just saying that computer hacking is terrorist activity punishable by fines and jail times is insane. Some people hack harmlessly just for fun without any malicious or harmful intentions.
I apologize again for this post but I would like to conclude by stating that I personally think that the Patriot Act needs to be revised but also that the people need to start speaking up. Everyone sees this as a norm in our society when really, some stranger monitoring your web cam to see if you're involved in terrorist activities is a pretty scary thought though it happens regularly. I think for myself and my personal privacy and right of freedom, I strongly feel that revisions need to be made.