Chapter 4 Case Study

1.) Do the increased surveillance power and capability of the U.S. government present an ethical dilemma? Explain you answer.

Yes I do think that the surveillance power and capability of the U.S. government presents some ethical dilemmas. The government has the power to create the laws that protect privacy, but it seems that it also has the ability to create laws or agreements that are able to go around the privacy laws and obtain the private information it needs. On the surface it appears that the government is simply doing what is necessary to fight terrorism but it is doing it in a way that does not get the consent of the people it is attempting to protect. The dilemma that presents itself is how much power does the government have and what right does it have to use that power and in what circumstances? Also, do agencies such as the telecommunications firms Verizon and AT&T have an obligation to release private information when it is demanded by the government or should this information be safeguarded unless the correct judicial procedures are followed? The laws are in place to protect privacy rights and it still remains unclear about when it is alright to step around the law to get that information under certain circumstances.

2.) Apply ethical analysis to the issue of the U.S. government's use of telecommunications data to fight terrorism.

Identify and describe clearly the facts: Three of the four major telecommunications companies cooperated with the NSA fight against terrorism by turning over billions of phone records on phone calls made by billions of Americans. The records contain only phone numbers, and calling information (date, time, length of call).

Define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher-order values involved: Conflict is that privacy groups feel that the program was a "massive intrusion on personal privacy" and was not legal while the White House feels it has the executive powers to take such actions to counter terrorism. The participating phone companies also feel that they must cooperate with law enforcement and government on matters of national security.

Identify the stakeholders: The stakeholders are private citizens, the telecommunications companies involved, the government and the NSA.

Identify the options you can reasonably take: Options include stricter privacy laws that force governmental agencies to provide a warrant or other validation before requesting private information. Or clearly spelling out the situations when the government has the right to obtain private information and what type of information it can obtain.

Identify the potential consequences: Government agencies will not be able to get the information they need to battle terrorism. Citizens will have their privacy violated because governmental agencies have access to too much private information.

5.) My opinion on the agreement reached by the White House and Senate Judiciary Committee with regards to NSA wiretapping is that the agreement gave too much power to the White House. Even though it is important for the president to have executive powers to fight terrorism I do think that the constitutional right to privacy should be protected and should still come first unless there are valid reasons for violating the right of an individual. I do not think that it is right to open all of the private information of all U.S. citizens to government scrutiny. Also, I think that the proper judicial process (i.e. getting a warrant) needs to be followed to obtain private information. The agreement is not an effective solution because it gives to much power to the White House to make decisions regarding privacy when it concerns surveillance programs. There needs to be more checks and balances in the process to make sure the power is not abused or over-used.