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  • Essay / American Citizens' Attitudes Towards Surveillance and the Patriot Act

    After the invention of surveillance in the 1940s in Germany, it eventually led to more advanced surveillance opportunities in the United States. United. In 1968, the government began installing surveillance cameras along major streets. throughout New York to help control crime problems. By having this footage, the government could track down these criminals with video quality, have evidence of the crimes, and keep these individuals off the streets to help reduce crime. The government's success began to spread to business owners, who convinced area business owners to start purchasing surveillance cameras to prevent crimes from occurring in their businesses. Today, technology is advancing all over the world and with that said, the government has expanded its surveillance from closed-circuit television images to observing citizens online on social media sites. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Citizens are wondering how far the government is going when it comes to closed-circuit TV surveillance. CCTV surveillance, including cameras placed in busy locations across the country, eventually led to the company's social media being monitored as well. Do they use it to effectively catch criminals in the act? Or are they also targeting potentially innocent civilians? The Fourth Amendment was created to protect the freedom and rights of citizens, but the government is somehow trying to create loopholes in it. These laws protect us from known surveillance, but there are others that we cannot question until they are disclosed. Surveillance is allegedly used for criminal purposes, but citizens believe it deprives us of our right to privacy. Doubt about the effectiveness and violation of human rights have caused the relationship between citizens and government to evolve over the years. Today's world is starting to track individuals of specific religions and ethnicities because of the ambiguity of it all. Citizens are at the point where they do not challenge the level of security offered to them on a daily basis, but rather accept it so that they can continue to live safely. The government has been able to track citizens' online accounts and information 24/7 since most people began communicating in the online world. After the September 11, 2001 attack, the level of security changed dramatically to help prevent future terrorist attacks in the United States. New laws have been passed across the country, including security checkpoints at airports, schools, and more. Electronic systems to detect weapons or dangerous individuals check fingerprints, cell phones and body scanners to ensure that no one can introduce harmful acts into busy areas. The Patriot Act was created after 9/11 to help monitor Americans in their daily actions and online activities. This helped prevent any future attacks and determine whether citizens were communicating with other countries. Since most Americans today communicate through email, social media, and messaging, it is much easier for the government to track citizens' searches. According to the American Bar Association, under the ECPA (Electronics Communications Private Act), written in 1986, it must.