Big Brother
Electronic surveillance has become a controversial practice in the United States and elsewhere. The fear is that civil liberties can become jeopardized by unregulated interception of telephone conversations, e-mail, and telefacsimiles. Detractors argue that government use of these technologies can conceivably move well beyond their legitimate application against threats from crime, espionage, and terrorism. Without strict protocols to rein in these technologies, a worst-case scenario envisions state intrusions into the everyday activities of innocent civilians. Should this happen, critics foresee a time when privacy, liberty, and personal security become values of the past.
Discuss, from YOUR perspective, the following questions in a written essay:
· How serious is the threat from abuses in the use of new technologies?
· How should new technologies be regulated? Can they be regulated?
· Is it sometimes necessary to sacrifice a few freedoms to protect national security and to ensure the long- term viability of civil liberty?
· Should the same protocols be used for domestic electronic surveillance and foreign surveillance? Why?
· What is the likelihood that new surveillance technologies will be used as tools of repression by authoritarian regimes in the near future?