The rapid growth of technology’s capabilities is cause to reflect on what privacy means in the 21st century. But the U.S. government is not concerned with such reflection. In the post-9/11 world, the government has made it a top priority not to redefine but destroy the idea of privacy.
By June 7, it was clear that idea of privacy had been under attack for years. A day earlier, former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald published internal NSA documents leaked to him by whistleblower Edward Snowden, revealing the U.S. government has had direct access to the data of major American companies. Within 24 hours, President Barack Obama assured the public that the covert programs used to spy on American citizens and peoples abroad were both legal and necessary. By December, a federal judge in California had ruled the NSA spying unconstitutional.
To be clear, the kind of NSA spying differs from the typical Cold War-era espionage that comes to mind. Rather than identifying targets, tapping their phones and intercepting their mail upon suspicion of crimes, the NSA collects all of the electronic communications of every individual communicating within, from and to the U.S. Such actions actively negate laws dating back to 1215 with the signing of the Magna Carta — the presumption of innocence. In the eyes of the U.S. government, everyone is born guilty.
We must assume that everything we do on a cell phone or computer will always exist on an NSA server and can be used against us.
Given the nature of the evidence supplied by Snowden, it’s easy to persuade a reasonable person that the government is invading his or her privacy. However, a much more difficult task is convincing people to care or fight to stop such injustices from occurring. How does one overcome the oppression of the most powerful force in human history, namely, the United States?
There is no magic formula. Sadly, far too many people are unaware of the government’s efforts to destroy the private sphere. We must talk about these issues.
Don’t let friends and family tell you that your boring political rants are bumming them out or that they would like to talk about it if only they more informed. Inform them! Bum them out! The time for comfort and apathy is over.
[Andrew Pentland is a UF history senior. A version of this column ran on page 7 on 4/4/2014 under the headline "Government seeks to destroy privacy"]
