NSA and DHS Surveillance Programs Essay - 1976 Words

Ever since the invention of the telephone and telegraph, the concept of wiretapping has been a concern. As early as the 1860’s, statutes were in place in some states prohibiting listening in on telegraph communication. As the turn of the century neared, along came the telephone, and with it, came wiretapping. From the onset, it has been illegal in the United States for an unauthorized person to listen in on a private phone conversation. It is even illegal to record your own phone conversation if the person on the other end does not know it is being recorded (Harris, 2001). According to Harris, historically, the law has not been as strict for the government. He states, â€Å"in 1928, the United States Supreme Court approved the practice of†¦show more content†¦In these early years of video surveillance, analog technology, using taped video cassette recordings, allowed recorded data to be stored and kept as evidence (Wilkerson, 2005). The seventies became an age where video surveillance was used for everything from law enforcement and traffic control to divorce proceedings. England put up cameras in the Underground train stations as well as to monitor highway traffic flow. By the 1980’s, US businesses and banks adopted the practice, as the value of surveillance quickly took off. In the 1990’s, advancements grew with the creation of digital multiplexing, permitting multiple cameras to do recordings at the same time, as well as features like time-lapse and motion-only recording. These advancements revolutionized the surveillance industry (Wilkerson, 2005). As the computer revolution continued, digital video surveillance became faster, clearer and more efficient. Months of surveillance could be compressed on hard drives, and images could be manipulated to improve clarity. From 1997 on, police departments throughout the US installed video surveillance cameras in public buildings, housing projects and began using mobile surveillance vans at political rallies and other large gatherings under the auspices of the Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU). Even the invention of the â€Å"nanny cam† helped push the industry to develop smaller higherShow MoreRelatedThe National Security Agency Invasion1090 Words   |  4 Pages National Security Agency (NSA) is also known as the â€Å"President’s Surveillance Program†. It was first implemented after the Twin Towers attack on September 11, 2001 by President George W. Bush. Soon after, more surveillance programs sprouted in order to assist the National Security Agency. Some surveillance programs include the FBI, IRS, Terrorist Scanning Center (TSC), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), etc. All of these surveillance programs’s main purpose is toRead MoreWeb Traffic And The Individual s Footprint Online959 Words   |  4 Pagesman-hours of its employees on social media sites. Under this policy the DHS couldn’t have even read Malik’s private messages, let alone visited Facebook for a cursory glance at her profile. Further, the DHS adopted this policy in deference to privacy advocates who were concerned that the government was overreaching in its attempts to combat terrorism with data collection. This then indicates that having complied with public outcry the DHS tied its own hands making them incapable of protecting U.S. citizensRead MoreCapabilities And Limitations Of The Ic Hls System Of Theu.s.1735 Words   |  7 Pagesglobal economy, there are those who want nothing more than to see us crumble like the Roman Empire. 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After 9/11 some of those liberties were taken away by the expansion of executive power, the National Security Administration or NSA’s domestic surveillance program, and the use of â€Å"national security letters† to force information from citizens. Research conducted by Benjamin A. Kleinerman concludes that there are three criteria that must be met in order for a president to expand his executive power. First