Over the summer, my grandmother purchased a wireless security camera for her yard, controlled by an application on her smartphone. As I helped her set up the camera, I started to wonder if she was the only person viewing the video recordings or if the company that developed the camera and app had access to the footage the camera was recording and if that footage was to be dispersed to any external group of people or agencies. This curiosity about this topic led me to think about other closely related security issues. This created concerns that, in an effort to prevent crime and terrorism, public surveillance could potentially overly invade the privacy of millions of people. When I was assigned the task of thoroughly investigating a question of interest and writing an exploratory essay on that topic, I immediately knew that the question I would explore would involve surveillance, its benefits, and the possible inherent dangers. By exploring the question, “Has surveillance been taken too far or is it a necessary aspect of society that citizens must deal with to maintain a sense of safety and security?”, it is my intent to gain a better understanding of this compelling and I believe it is essential. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay This problem has serious implications for people around the world and is a problem that, if left unchallenged, could get worse. The ongoing problem related to security surveillance affects almost every human being on the face of the earth. Security surveillance now appears almost everywhere. Whether it's text messages, emails, web history, or even personal phone calls, there's always someone watching or listening and there's really no way to avoid it. When exploring the controversial topic of surveillance and its overall consequences on society, one potential perspective regarding this topic seems to be that, although surveillance does indeed violate people's private lives, it is an effective means of preventing certain crimes and terrorist activities and citizens affected by this invasion of privacy must deal with the implications associated with surveillance and its essential goal of preventing the occurrence of events that could potentially endanger the lives of US citizens. Government observation of the activities of millions of people is so inconspicuous as to be almost imperceptible. While this in-depth surveillance may seem very invasive, it is very effective in preventing certain acts of crime and terrorism from occurring. The National Security Administration has tools that allow them to prevent almost all terrorist events based on the millions of phone records their data contains. computers screen and narrow down plots to harm others. While these methods undoubtedly save lives, citizens must give up their right to privacy and any information they disclose that could be intercepted or sold to a government agency. Dan Parsons also warns that "As technology further develops and the government's ability to collect and store metadata increases, communications privacy will likely continue to erode...". Americans are their own worst enemy when it comes to staying private in this highly advanced world because technology provides people with the platform to essentially create their own surveillance registrystaff based on the use of technology and social media. The privacy of millions of people has, without a doubt, been diminished due to ever-advancing technology that is made more available every day. Airports are another area where privacy is abandoned every day through the use of body scanners. One downside to these detectors is that they show in-depth image representations of what's under the clothes of every single person who passes through TSA security lines at airports across the country. The use of millimeter wave body scanners heavily invades the privacy of millions of people every year, but these scanners can detect anything that could pose a threat to airplane passengers. Although most people would consider the use of surveillance an invasion of privacy, not all people realize that there is really nothing one can do to avoid being surveilled by a higher authority. Contrary to popular belief, everything that happens in a public place cannot be considered private because there is, by law, no real regulation on video surveillance. Due to the events that occurred on September 11, 2001, the PATRIOT Act was adopted created by the United States government to prevent and thwart any plans to carry out terrorist activities. This piece of legislation has allowed government agencies such as the NSA and FBI to fight the battle against terrorism through the use of electronic surveillance. The NSA and other government agencies are legally allowed to encrypt millions of phone records and other data without a search warrant and without the person involved knowing their information is being stored. When considering the morality and propriety of government surveillance, many connections are inspired by George Orwell's world-famous novel, 1984, and his critique of government espionage and its immorality, which proves significantly relevant to the way government operates today. United States government. Along with surveillance through technology, US courts have justified that it is widely recognized that if someone is in a public area such as a sidewalk, one's lawn, or even the public area of ​​a public restroom, there is an expectation that there may be video surveillance could be carried out. However, Jeremy Brown concludes that “…the law enforcement community and privacy activists must work together to develop and pass regulation now. They must act while video surveillance infrastructure is still being built and can still be designed to incorporate privacy concerns. Although the use of surveillance and its overall effect on society is often questioned, the vast majority of people believe that surveillance is perfectly legal and is, in fact, an effective means of crime prevention and terrorism screening. Essentially, when a person enters a public area which is a place where it is implied that someone is watching them, it is legal for there to be video surveillance. If people are in an area where someone could reasonably observe a person, then it can be inferred that there is no privacy in that information. There are many laws and regulations that validate the use of surveillance through many different techniques in order to prevent terrorism and crime. After 9/11, many laws such as the PATRIOT Act and the former USA Freedom Act were put in place to override any previous legislation that prevented government surveillance in order to prevent the recurrence of another horrible event, and those laws have proven that.