Children and adults alike are always craving privacy from one person or another, but can never seem to find the exact feeling of privacy that they desire. In the United States of America, the problem of surveillance dates back to the times of World War I, yet during these times it was a benefit for the people of the United States. As time progresses, the government continues to form new organizations to keep a “helpful” eye on the people that are housed within our nation. Many American people have begun to realize the problem with the government’s “helpful” eye, and this has lead them to see the abuse of surveillance by the United States government as it infringes on the First Amendment of the United States of America. The government and big …show more content…
The NSA (National Security Agency) officially received its name in October 1952, although traces of work similar to what they can do can be traced back to World War I. Their power went unchecked until the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which created the Foreign Intelligence Court to oversee warrant requests by government agencies, and stuck to the laws proposed by the Court. However, after the attacks on September 9th, 2001 President Bush secretly signed off on an increase of the NSA’s power that allowed them to observe any American citizen with or without a warrant (Alford). In the Color Replaced by the Gray the Y2k circuit had a noble beginning as well but lead to an un-paralleled surveillance of the American people within the novella. Secretary of Defense Rutledge explained the circuits timeline from noble beginnings to omnipotent …show more content…
Two of the basic human rights that the Bill of Rights guarantee an American citizen have to do with privacy within their homes and in life in general. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech; this basic human right is thrown into question as the government observes emails, text messages, and other forms of electronic conversation for specific key words to alert them of “sketchy” behavior. The Fourth Amendment promises the United States citizen protection from unwarranted search and seizure of their “persons, houses, papers, and effects” (U.S. Constitution Amend. IV) which includes electronic files and emails. The abuse of surveillance is again represented in the novella Color Replaced by the Gray. Bolts tells Tanner about the constitutional infringement in a small moment of excitement, “The Y2K Circuit has access to everything- Email servers, private networks, company records, password protected media…” (Petry 42). In the novella, the government has access to many “private” media accounts that are supposedly protected from unwarranted search and seizure by the Fourth Amendment. However, the government bypassed the Constitution and use the Y2K Circuit to keep a watchful eye on the citizens of America. Thus, the United States government and big organizations strip the basic human rights that the United