Anti-Terrorism Strategies Vs. Privacy and Civil Liberties

Anti-Terrorism Strategies vs. Privacy and Civil Liberties

The United States of America is the freest country in the world, yet privacy and civil liberties are increasingly being violated by government. To prevent future attacks like 9/11 from occurring, the federal government has dramatically tightened security and enforced investigation measures by passing an anti-terrorism legislation, the Patriot Act, on October 26th, 2001. These policies put American civil liberties and privacy at jeopardy and are utterly useless at eradicating terrorism. The government should not have the right to intrude on people’s lives by using legislations such as the Patriot Act.

The Patriot Act introduced legislative changes that enforced the government’s surveillance and expanded its investigation rights, enabling it to access private information about anyone without their knowledge or consent. The U.S. government has manipulated thousands of people by using the Patriot Act this way. Thousands of telephone conversations have been eavesdropped upon, computers and Internet use have been monitored, and suspects have been detained without a valid cause. For instance, today most important messages are sent by electronic mail. The federal government has tried to limit our right to keep our electronic mail private. It has even suggested a Clipper Chip system by which it would detain