Argument Synthesis Paper
Public Security vs. Individual Privacy
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September 11th was definitely one of the grimmest times in America’s recent history. There was security breach at the airports and American planes were hijacked and crashed into the world trade centre. The terrorists were suspected to be al-Qaida and approximately 3000 lives were lost on one day. For the attacks to be staged successful the terrorists had to by-pass the security systems and they succeeded. It is the duty of the government to put in place methods to prevent a recurrence of the event and protect its citizens. Safety of the citizens is far important than individual privacy. Although each individual is entitled right of liberty and privacy, the government may interfere with the privacy of individual for security reasons.
People need to feel and be safe in their homes. Surveillance by use of street cameras, phone tapping, email screening, metal detector screening and other measures have been put in place to help identify and track suspicious people that may be terrorists. However, every good thing has its down side. The technologies applied are not restrictive to terrorists only but to the whole American population. The privacy advocates claim that the citizens’ right to liberty and privacy is infringed, one cannot move about freely without being watched (Kaminer, 436).
While it is a good act to install mechanisms against terrorism the measures should be effective and achieve the intended goal. If the American citizen is to give up the right to liberty it should be for a worthy cause. The current measures have led to a safer community. People may have differing opinions on this but it is better safe than sorry. The mechanisms may not fully address the issues of concern but every attempt is a step closer to a perfectly safe society and for that we should be ready to make sacrifices.
Name
Name of Institution
Professor’s Name
Date
September 11th was definitely one of the grimmest times in America’s recent history. There was security breach at the airports and American planes were hijacked and crashed into the world trade centre. The terrorists were suspected to be al-Qaida and approximately 3000 lives were lost on one day. For the attacks to be staged successful the terrorists had to by-pass the security systems and they succeeded. It is the duty of the government to put in place methods to prevent a recurrence of the event and protect its citizens. Safety of the citizens is far important than individual privacy. Although each individual is entitled right of liberty and privacy, the government may interfere with the privacy of individual for security reasons.
People need to feel and be safe in their homes. Surveillance by use of street cameras, phone tapping, email screening, metal detector screening and other measures have been put in place to help identify and track suspicious people that may be terrorists. However, every good thing has its down side. The technologies applied are not restrictive to terrorists only but to the whole American population. The privacy advocates claim that the citizens’ right to liberty and privacy is infringed, one cannot move about freely without being watched (Kaminer, 436).
While it is a good act to install mechanisms against terrorism the measures should be effective and achieve the intended goal. If the American citizen is to give up the right to liberty it should be for a worthy cause. The current measures have led to a safer community. People may have differing opinions on this but it is better safe than sorry. The mechanisms may not fully address the issues of concern but every attempt is a step closer to a perfectly safe society and for that we should be ready to make sacrifices.
References: Kaminer, W. (2002) Trading Liberty for Illusions. Crime-Fighting Technology: Balancing Public Safety and Security. Pp. 435-437 Parenti, C. (2002). DC’s Virtual Panopticon. Crime-Fighting Technology: Balancing Public Safety and Security. Pp. 430-434 Posner, A.R. (2006) Wire Trap. Crime-Fighting Technology: Balancing Public Safety and Security. Pp. 444-447 Quittner, J. (1999). Invasion of Privacy. Crime-Fighting Technology: Balancing Public Safety and Security. Pp. 438-443