Limited Freedoms and privacy In The US. (due to the rise in internet and terrorism)

Essay by TmessymakerUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, March 2003

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The United States is a country that represents freedom for its people. Since the dawn of the Internet and the rise in terrorist nations, the United States has begun limiting our freedoms. The freedoms we are given in the United States is a direct link to our privacies. Since September 11th, 2001, our privacies and freedoms have been limited. Government has allowed for the access of personal information to become readily available. From using the telephone to seeking medical treatment to applying for a job or sending e-mail over the Internet, Americans' right to information privacy is in danger. Our personal and business information is being passed through a never ending number of computer networks in formats that allow data to be linked, transferred, shared and sold, usually without our knowledge or consent. These technological advances that are supposed to benefit us as Americans', have left the backdoor open to unwanted snooping of personal records and information.

Our privacies are being abused from browsing the Internet to flying across the country. I think that there is a lack in privacy when racial profiling in airports involves frisking eighty-year old ladies in search of terrorists and bombs. Businesses, government, and the Internet all are areas in which our privacies are not being protected. The costs of protecting our privacies do not outweigh the benefits.

The U.S. Constitution gives a great deal of protection to privacy in the home but not in the workplace. Businesses have become very deceptive when it comes to dealing with clients and employees. A 1998 survey of 1,085 corporations conducted by the American Management Association shows that more than 40 percent engaged in some kind of intrusive employee monitoring. Such monitoring includes checking of e-mail, voice mail and telephone conversations, recording of computer keystrokes, and video...