Sunday, May 4, 2014

Giving up Freedom for Safety?

Jiayu Zeng
Section 02
Reading Reflection 6
In response to: “ The USA Patriot Act: A Sketch”

The US Patriot Act was passed in weeks after the September 11 attacks, and the acts empower the government to access information from individuals more easily. I think the motivation to legislate this act was good since it can help prevent the terroristic activities in the future; however, living under this act, everyone’s phone will be tapped, emails will be read, and bank accounts will be monitored, which means there is no more privacy. Besides, there is never an explanation about how the government deals with the information after checking, whether or not the information will be deleted. Also, the act no only affects the US citizens, but also the non-immigrants, who come to USA for studying, working temporarily and visiting, because their privacy will be invaded too. It has been a decade after the Patriot Act was made, and I believe with today’s technology, there will be a better way to track and trace the terrorism, instead of violating each individual’s privacy in this country. The acts need to be renewed and the power for the government to access personal information should be attenuated.

Question: How effective is this act in response to the terroristic activities in the last 12 years? Has it ever helped prevent any terrorism attacks?


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