The Civil Liberties and Unlawful Government Surveillance Personal Statement

The Civil Liberties and Unlawful Government Surveillance - Personal Statement Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that although new technologies have emerged, it has enabled the government to unlawfully spy on people thereby infringing on their individual liberties. Unlawful government surveillance should be fought because it interferes with the right to the constructive dissident opinion as well as increase anxiety in personal spaces. The principles of the First Amendment place values such as the freedom to expression, inquiry, and association at its core. It is essential to review the right to privacy in the context of advances in sciences and technology because these developments make private lives more visible. The right to privacy forms a fundamental part of the welfare of every individual. This is crucial at two levels. To begin with, it is notable that most of the developments that society enjoys today arose out of the capacity for an individual to have unmonitored behavior and thinking. For instance, most scientific innovations arose out of inten sive thinking, solitude, and privacy. At the second level, the entitlement to privacy highly benefits the individual since it eliminates anxiety and limits the government authority over the established individual liberties. The American nation is at the center of this debate because of terrorism linked surveillance. Government surveillance, however, never started at 9/11 terrorist attacks. As early as the 1960’s, the government adopted surveillance technologies that would greatly constrain the private space. The Fourth Amendment description of Bill of Rights forbids unreasonable searches unless a search is propped by a reasonable cause and is supported by a judicial action. The FISA Act of 1978, however, allows for the collection of information, without a court order, about the activities of individuals, which may be deemed harmful to the state. On the other hand, the UN recognized the detriment of such laws and counteracted by forming Article 17 of ICCPR, which prohibits unl awful searches of persons.