Citizen privacy has been a very controversial topic in the United States for many years. Its debate has only been further exacerbated in recent years as we move towards an ever-more digital lifestyle. Furthermore, as the internet became more advanced and prevalent over the past decade, people became more conscious of the misuse of data from the technology giants and governmental agencies. The people in favor of the technology giants’ data collection argue that they can use the private data to better predict and perfect their backend algorithm to improve their user experience. At the same time, when we give the government the right to collect personal data, it will allow law enforcement personnel to react more quickly to dangerous situations and potentially prevent a tragedy.

Unfortunately, as good as it sounds, human nature is nothing short of skepticism. Every decision we make may potentially be a double-edged sword, and nothing in our world is black and white. In an article published by Harvard, a renowned cybersecurity expert, Bruce Schneier, has said. “Google knows quite a lot about all of us. No one ever lies to a search engine. I used to say that Google knows more about me than my wife does, but that doesn’t go far enough. Google knows me even better, because Google has perfect memory in a way that people don’t.” (Mineo When it comes to internet privacy, be very afraid, analyst suggests). Therefore, I would argue that it is extremely dangerous to entrust full faith in any tech giants with your data. After all, you really won’t want to let a search engine be more familiar with yourself than your closest loved ones.

In the case of governmental collection of personal data, it is also very debatable. An excellent example of such a time that we’ve granted the government the absolute power to collect data on its citizens was after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001. After the attack, the United States Senate passed the house resolution H.R 3162, also known as the Patriot Act of 2001, in an overwhelming majority of ninety-eight to one (GovTrack H.R. 3162 (107th): Uniting and strengthening America by providing appropriate … — Senate vote #313 — Oct 25, 2001). After the bill’s passage, it was renewed and extended time and time again across four different administrations on the grounds of continuous anti-terrorism efforts. Yet, it wasn’t until 2013 when Edward Snowden, an ex-federal contractor, shed light on the National Security Agency or NSA’s mass phone surveillance program under section 215 of the Patriot Act. This finding directly led Congress to issue an amendment to the bill in 2015. And ultimately stopped its extension entirely in 2019 with the passing of a similar but modified legislation called the Freedom Act (Dale Mineshima-Lowe (Updated July 2019 by Deborah Fisher) USA PATRIOT Act of 2001). This entire ordeal just goes to show us the true wisdom of this old saying, “when you give an inch, they’ll take a mile.” Therefore, to prevent governmental abuse, we should not give them the power to pass such legislation and make our voices heard.

Works Cited

Mineo, Liz. “When It Comes to Internet Privacy, Be Very Afraid, Analyst Suggests.” Harvard Gazette, Harvard Gazette, 21 March. 2019, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/08/when-it-comes-to-internet-privacy-be-very-afraid-analyst-suggests/.

GovTrack. “H.R. 3162 (107th): Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate … — Senate Vote #313 — Oct 25, 2001.” GovTrack.us, 25 Oct. 2001, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/107-2001/s313.

Dale Mineshima-Lowe (Updated July 2019 by Deborah Fisher). “USA PATRIOT Act of 2001.” USA Patriot Act of 2001, 2009, https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1096/usa-patriot-act-of-2001.