Evan Tilley Theresa Simonsen English 1010 7-30-13 Prism In this digital era where most everyone willingly

posts their lives on the internet the government, NSA more specifically takes advantage of this. Using a mass surveillance system called Prism. The government can collect information on, non- U.S. persons outside the U.S. are targeted (Obama). Under the Patriot act the government can collect info on suspicious persons with the help of such companies as: Google, Facebook and Microsoft. Edward Snowden an independent NSA contractor came out to the world and let us the people know what the government was up to. Some consider him to be the hero of the people, while others regard him as a whistle blowing traitor.

What is Prism you might be asking? It is a NSA/FBI funded organization that collects mass amounts of data by tapping into internet companies. This organization originally began in 2007 and would tap into phone calls and emails of people calling out of the U.S. or; any suspicious emails. Prism is phase two of the program, the NSA is building a Prism facility right here in Utah. There are many restrictions on how the government can obtain and use the data. James Clapper the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement saying, All information acquired is subject to strict court-imposed restrictions on review and handling. The court only allows data to be queried when there is a reasonable suspicion (Obama). This being said the courts have never denied them access to information in any case. This allows the surveillance of Americans by leaving out some information about the individual proving that the individual is not a foreigner outside of the U.S. It also allows the NSA to watch Americans that have no connection to the governments intelligence interests.

This leads me to how the Obama administration has handled fallout from the leak. Peter Foster a writer for The Telegraph writes, Barack Obama has a standard response to those who would question his use of these questionable clandestine programs: we welcome a debate. (Foster). Obama described these measures, To be a good balance between our national security and our freedoms that make us who we are as a country (Foster). In other words he is saying this is a necessary evil. Foster doubts Obamas sincerity and credibility, when he explained to the American people that programs like Prism have been improved to make sure that U.S. citizens

arent targeted by it.

Edward Snowden the man behind leaking the information to the American people on June 23, has since then been trapped in a Moscow airport. Edward is a high school dropout who was very computer savvy and got a job as a U.S. defense contractor. By revealing this information the way he did he may never be able to live in the U.S. as a free man again. Giving up his home in Hawaii and a great paying job Edward exclaims, Im willing to sacrifice all of that, because I cant in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world (Yan). Edward believes the government is trying to make an example out of him by taking the measures that they did. The NSA is using Prism and other intelligence collecting activities simply to, prevent terrorist attacks and the numerous safeguards that protect privacy and civil liberties (Obama). NSA uses a search program with search settings that give them a 50/50 chance of finding a nonU.S. citizen. With this they report finding valuable information potentially linked to terrorist

activities. The FBI has also been tapping into internet companies like Google and Facebook to gather data. In order to avoid being sued the companies require a court order before they release any data to be reviewed; only giving the bare minimum information required. These websites want to protect the privacy of their users. The Washington Post reports, with a few clicks and an affirmation that the subject is believed to be engaged in terrorism an analyst obtains full access to Facebooks search or surveillance capabilities (Obama). Most internet companies only give out info when legally obliged to do so. With all these tools at the NSAs disposal they should be able to defend the U.S. from terrorist attacks. I chose this topic because its pretty big right now in the news and it affects us if we believe the NSA is doing this or not. Narrowing down my topic to how they gather information from Facebook and Google was the most important thing to me because its actually relevant to us. Almost everyone has some form of a social networking website that they use. The most interesting issue to me was how simple it is for an NSA annalist to gain access to these sites. All they have to do is provide reasonable doubt that a person might be connected to terrorist activates and the companies are required to give them access. I understand the need for national security and why the government chose to keep Prism classified, to not make it aware to any suspicious individuals, making them more cautious when sending information. Whether the government is spying on us or just trying to protect us, a means to an end, at least they are trying to do something. In my opinion I think the NSA should have been more straight forward with the American people, they should have came out and provided information about Prism and other data collecting activities, then explained everything in detail. I think if they had handled this properly and not kept it a secret everyone would have been more accepting of the issue. So, be careful what you put on the internet you never know who is watching.

Evan Tilley

Bibliography

Elder, Miriam, and Paul Lewis. "Edward Snowden Accuses US of Illegal, Aggressive Campaign." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 12 July 2013. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/12/edward-snowden-accuses-us-illegalcampaign>. Edward Snowden was an independent contractor for the NSA who brought the information to light about the government spying on US citizens. It also tells about what the US government has done to him since then. This is a world news website it is credible information from the US government. Edward Snowden is an important individual in my research. Foster, Peter. "NSA Surveillance Scandal: Barack Obama's Credibility under Scrutiny like Never before." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 7 June 2013. Web. 18 July 2013. <NSA surveillance scandal: Barack Obama's credibility under scrutiny like never before>. This source is a world news website it is a little biased against Obama but they are asking some good questions about Obamas credibility. Like his ethics in mass surveying of phone records of all Americans. Is the government doing this for the security of the nation or do they have some ulterior motive. They give Obamas reply to all these accusations and it is very valuable for my topic. "Obama Administration Defends 2nd Mass Surveillance Project." Fox News. FOX News Network, 7 June 2013. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/07/intelligence-officials-reportedly-miningdata-from-us-internet-companies/>. This website explains what the full potential of the mass surveillance is. It can tap into internet companies and social network websites to acquire information. They can also listen in on phone calls and look at your personal emails. This is the Fox news website a more conservative based point of view on things and is also a good news page. This page explains the everything the FBI and NSA can do with the mass surveillance program to catch potential terrorists Toomey, Patrick C. "American Civil Liberties Union." American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU, 7 Mar. 2013. Web. 18 July 2013. <http://www.aclu.org/blog/nationalsecurity/nsas-spying-americans-not-inadvertent-it-claims>. This source is also a blog that is backed by the American Civil Liberties Union so it is a credible site. This website explains how the government gathers information and the conditions such as: making a phone call to a foreign country or the subject must be related to foreign

intelligence. My topic is about the NSA mass surveying citizens so all this information is relevant to my topic. Washingtonsblog. "DEBUNKING The Bush and Obama Administrations' Justification for Mass Surveillance." Washingtons Blog. N.p., 21 June 2013. Web. 18 July 2013. <http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/06/bush-and-obama-administrations-911justification-for-nsa-spying-has-been-debunked.html>.

I think this is a good source because this website tries to debunk Obamas justifications for using the NSA to spy on American citizens. It gives some good facts about how they misused information that could have prevented 9/11 by obtaining it the same way the government is allegedly doing it now. This may only be a blog but has lots of credible information. Yan, Barbara Starr and Holly, CNNs Matt Smith, and Holly Yan. "Man behind NSA Leaks Says He Did It to Safeguard Privacy, Liberty." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/10/politics/edward-snowdenprofile>. This website describes how and why Edward leaked the information. He wanted to let the public know what the government is doing. It also tells about how he had to flee the US and would never be able to live here as a free man again. This is CNN news website though they might exaggerate information a little this is a credible source. Some consider Edward a hero of the people and others call him a traitor.