Safety vs. Privacy?

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There are two major issues that are of concern to the American citizen.  They are protecting the United States and upholding the constitutional right of privacy.  The goal of the National Security Agency is to stop those that are planning on doing us harm and every step taken to protect us is imperative.  The surveillance programs that are currently in place are being systematically observed to make sure they are not being abused.  The program is overseen by Congress as well as a court put together for classified programs.  The program involves looking at phone numbers and duration of calls.  It does not include listening to telephone conversations.  Once the telephone numbers are sifted through, if there is an identified potential lead, further investigation has to be approved by federal judges as though it is an investigation. 

President Barack Obama discussed the issue of NSA Surveillance programs and stated, “You can’t have 100% security and 100% privacy without tradeoffs” (Obama Takes Questions on NSA Surveillance).  However what is important is that these surveillance programs help us prevent terrorist attacks.  They are constantly being evaluated and safeguarded.  It is most definitely worth having them in place.  President Obama defended his Administration's vast data-collection efforts saying, “the programs help prevent terrorist attacks and represent only small encroachments of people's privacy” (Obama Takes Questions on NSA Surveillance).  President Obama shared that when his term as President is over, he will be back to a regular citizen status and would feel that his privacy is still being upheld even knowing what he knows about the current surveillance systems.

There have been recent questions about whether or not the use of these surveillance tactics is necessary. FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce testified before a house committee on surveillance leaks, and detailed terrorist plots prevented by the NSA.  The vast amount of potential plots on United States soil is incredible.  The necessary use of data surveillance cannot be undermined.  The few leaks that have taken place are nothing compared to what could have happened had those plots not been foiled.  American lives have been saved over and over again, and many of us don’t even know it.  Our country is doing everything possible to protect us, and the small price of a little privacy is 100% worth it.

http://live.wsj.com/video/obama-takes-questions-on-nsa-surveillance-program/BD300672-8E68-432B-B61A-097598B6713B.html?mod=WSJ_article_outbrain&obref=obnetwork#!BD300672-8E68-432B-B61A-097598B6713B

http://live.wsj.com/video/fbi-nsa-prevented-nyc-bomb-plots/BF2027CF-4430-4855-8860-463EA14D989C.html?mod=WSJ_article_outbrain&obref=obnetwork#!BF2027CF-4430-4855-8860-463EA14D989C

Obama Takes Questions on NSA Surveillance Program. live.wsj.com. The Wall Street
     Journal, 7 June 2013. Web. 19 June 2013. <http://live.wsj.com/video/
     obama-takes-questions-on-nsa-surveillance-program/
     BD300672-8E68-432B-B61A-097598B6713B.html?mod=WSJ_article_outbrain&obref=obnetwor
     k#!BD300672-8E68-432B-B61A-097598B6713B>.

FBI NSA Prevented NYC Bomb Plots. live.wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal, 18 June 2013. Web. 19 June 2013. <http://live.wsj.com/video/fbi-nsa-prevented-nyc-bomb-plots/BF2027CF-4430-4855-8860-463EA14D989C.html?mod=WSJ_article_outbrain&obref=obnetwork#!BF2027CF-4430-4855-8860-463EA14D989C>.