Are you sure?
This bookmark will be removed from all folders and any saved notes will be permanently removed.
Eye on the World: privacy, surveillance, and national security
When Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, earlier this month revealed the existence of two programs to collect intelligence on phone records and online activity, NSA officials cautioned that the programs only targeted individuals overseas. President Obama added that the government must obtain a warrant in order to target Americans’ communications.
Yet many newspapers have reported, based on leaked documents, that the NSA has frequently monitored Americans, and maintains wide discretion over whom to surveil. Critics in Congress and civil-liberties groups have called for increased scrutiny of the surveillance programs, as well as stronger restrictions on who may be targeted. But some believe Edward Snowden’s actions were disingenuous.
On another note, NSA director Keith Alexander defended the surveillance programs, telling the House Select Committee on Intelligence that the surveillance had helped prevent potential terrorist events more than 50 times since 9/11.
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
