Government Spying Essay

Austin Bryan Period-1 http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/news/2006/intell-060101-voa01.htm In some instances, governments believe that it is okay to spy on their citizens in order to preserve their freedom. I personally find this concept to be absurd. Living in a country that’s history is founded upon freedom of its citizens, and escaping oppression of tyrant governments, leaves me very skeptical on this concept. I believe that if the government is spying on its citizens it is actually taking away their freedom rather than preserving it. Living in an era of increasing technology has made it much easier for a government to spy on its citizens. Because of this, it has become a problem in many places around the world. Think about back in elementary school when you had pen pals from other countries. How would you feel if the government was able to intrude on your personal life just because you made contact abroad? For us in America, a government spying on its citizens sounds pretty crazy right? In 2006 president Bush did just that by enabling a â€Å"Government Phone Tap†. President Bush thought in order to preserve citizen’s freedoms that is was justified to tap into people’s phones and emails. The only people that were supposed to be the recipients of phone tapings where those who were making calls abroad, particularly to suspected al-Qaida connections. Not only is this a complete violation of peoples constitutional rights and privacy, but Bush also neglected the need for a warrant in this instance. To this day many immigrants from other countries come to America seeking asylum from oppressive governments. America is supposed to be a safe haven where people’s rights and privacy are protected under the constitution. Acts of government espionage upon its own citizens like this are completely unacceptable. I believe that the only way from a government to protect its citizen’s freedom is to respect everyone’s freedom regardless of circumstances.