Introduction
Privacy has many definitions. Privacy is defined as the state of being free from being disturbed or observed by other people and also as the state of being free from public attention. (Oxford Dictionary.com) The internet has brought about some new and unusual forms of invading the privacy of everyone. People no longer have a way to start life over and leave the past behind. People no longer have the right to go home and be free from the neighbors, co workers and school peers. People are posting their whole life on the internet and inviting strangers into their world. People have a right to drive or walk down the street without being searched if they have done nothing wrong. Privacy is a right to know and regulate who knows what about each person in a personal way. Privacy is a right to have our information kept private. No one should be able to get into bank accounts, computers, medical records, personal lives, and family lives. Rights of privacy prevent unlawful disclosure of personal information.
Brief back ground: The Constitution does not have a clear definition of privacy and so there is a weak spot in privacy rights. The Fourth Amendment states that The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.(Ivers, G. 2013) The Patriot Act gives the government the right to spy on everyone and tap their phones and computers.
Main points-3 (Thesis and main points of argument/thesis)
The right to privacy is a very hard subject to argue about in this day and age due to the new and unusual forms of criminal, terrorists, and government watch dogs. We have the internet and phone issues to think about being searched due to 9/11. We have civil liberties and rights being violated for various reasons, some of which may be necessary. This essay will be discussing privacy rights and the new challenges and difficulties the Bill of Rights and Constitution are facing with terror, internet crime, International Knowledge Hackers, and other rights that may need a complete overhaul due to new technologies.
II. Federal implications related to topic:
A. NSA invades our rights to privacy. The Supreme Court has just ruled that it is
B. The Patriot Act was started to catch terrorists but gave the NSA power to invade our privacy by monitoring and recording all communications on all mediums.
C. The right to privacy refers to the concept that one’s personal information is protected from public scrutiny.
III. Civil rights implications related to the topic:
A. Women have a right to privacy and a right to choose an abortion.
B. Everyone has a right to fly, but some find being searched an invasion of their civil rights due to feeling picked out by discrimination and profiling. There is no good solution to the protection of airplanes as far as the public as a whole is concerned. People want to fly in a secure flight, but a good percentage of people are angry when they are searched or have to give property to TSA that is not allowed on the flight, such as liquids, perfumes and other small objects they did not realize were not allowed. People get even angrier when an elderly or disabled family member must be searched due to the fact that they cannot walk through the regular forms of screening like walk through metal detectors and the body scanner.
C. Police have been accused of profiling people and searching them and their vehicles. The police are considered bad to many people and have actually been shot by people that do not want to be pulled over and have their car searched. In Arkansas alone the police have had to start allowing an officer to stand behind a vehicle that has been pulled over because of an incident when they pulled over a church bus and a man and his son opened fire on them.
IV. Civil Liberties implications related to the topic:
A. People have a right to privacy in their home.
B. People have a right to privacy on their phone.
C. People have a right to privacy in their medical and financial matters.
V. Conclusion:
The conclusion of this essay is that although we do have a right to privacy, there are some instances that what used to be considered unlawful search and seizures are now just an ounce of prevention equaling a pound of the cure.
A. Summarize main findings. The main findings are that we do have a right to privacy, but we will have to make exceptions and will probably see a lot of legal challenges in the future.
B. Restate thesis. The new age of technology mixed with the rise of terror and cyber criminals have brought new challenges into the world and the United States. The Constitution could not have foreseen the future and what problems may arise.
C. Strong concluding sentence. While most Americans would agree that we want privacy, most would also agree that we want our loved ones protected from true enemies like terrorists and criminals so we may need to make adjustments to our outlook on privacy.
References:
Gerstein , J. POLITICO. Appeals court rules that NSA’s phone metadata program is illegal. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/nsa-phone-data-collection-illegal-court-ruling-117725.html#ixzz3ZT8ntKoL
Ivers, G. (2013). Constitutional law: An introduction. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
The USA Patriot Act: Preserving Life and Liberty
http://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm
Moore,A.D. Privacy: It’s Meaning and Value, American Philosophical Quarterly(July 2003)Vol.40, No. 3, pp. 215-227
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/privacy
