Argumentative Essay

Kenia Padilla

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Is Citizen Privacy or National Security More Important?

Introduction

An effort to reconcile national security with individual privacy is indeed a daunting task that does not guarantee a welcoming solution in the immediate future. Different discussions are taking place around this topic where individuals with opposing points of view are striving to make certain that their views are valid. Now the questionable matter is: Is citizen privacy or national security more Important? It is also the delicate existence of both principles that renders it incredibly hard to determine which one is more relevant. National security is given preference over citizen's privacy, nevertheless, given the evidence that people typically value national security more than citizen's privacy. My argument will be supported by the evidence of the legal status of National Security vs. Citizen's Privacy question, Professional Analysis, and Global affairs Impact. This paper will also give rational arguments and refute arising from my claims that will illustrate that priority is given to national security over citizen's privacy.

Discussion

Following the 9/11 strike on the United States of America, the development and implementation of the United States of America Patriot Act reflect the necessity of national security before citizen's privacy. National security and privacy laws emerged after the terrorist activities on September 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center in the United States of America. After the bombings, measures were implemented to strengthen the U.S. Patriot Act by the members ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"k2HGFjJg","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(The Data Base Book)","plainCitation":"(The Data Base Book)","dontUpdate":true,"noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"yoT7onHA/2mMXcy6I","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/VX3PEZ3C"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/VX3PEZ3C"],"itemData":{"id":458,"type":"article","title":"Privacy vs Security. International Debate Education Association","URL":"http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=1026","author":[{"family":"The Data Base Book","given":""}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (The Data Base Book, 2010). This was intentionally done to provide security officers with a formal forum for the perusal and detention of extremist perpetrators. Various views on this policy were articulated, with followers claiming that protecting the public before considering the secrecy of people was critically important.

As per a survey conducted in 2008 between IT experts, results revealed that national security received unwavering support concerning citizen's privacy. Throughout this report, fifty-three percent of 474 IT professionals reported that national security was critical in the states ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ynKRUmSl","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Jones)","plainCitation":"(Jones)","dontUpdate":true,"noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"yoT7onHA/qWG4J78j","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/ESGB8JUS"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/ESGB8JUS"],"itemData":{"id":453,"type":"article-newspaper","container-title":"InformationWeek","title":"National Security Trumps Personal Privacy, Government IT Pros Say.","URL":"Retrieved from http://www.informationweek.com/news/206901345","author":[{"family":"Jones","given":"K."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2008"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Jones, 2008). They found that national protection is particularly important for the survival of the entire population. Those opportunities would imply that intelligence agencies could track a suspect and probably stop any activity that would endanger the protection of citizens.

The United States government's strong views also suggest a preference for national security over citizen's privacy. United States rendered it mandatory for all foreign airlines to reveal confidential information regarding their passengers after the 9/11 attack ( ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"8yDF3EI3","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Homeland Security)","plainCitation":"(Homeland Security)","dontUpdate":true,"noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"yoT7onHA/lHOlfDtI","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/GGJ57BS5"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/CKNkWnK9/items/GGJ57BS5"],"itemData":{"id":456,"type":"article","title":"EU Individual Privacy Rights versus U.S. Homeland Security","URL":"http://www.brianrowe.org/infoprivacylaw/2011/04/16/eu-individual-privacy-rights-versus-u-s-homeland-security-2/","author":[{"family":"Homeland Security","given":"Information Privacy Law"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} Homeland Security, 2011). This was aimed at preventing the invasion of offenders into the territory. Nevertheless, the US stance reveals that she is not willing to make compromises on her national security. This is because, when national security is made certain, citizen's security is also guaranteed.

A counterargument indicates that opponents were particularly open-minded in suggesting that enforcing such laws will violate the constitution proclaimed civil liberties. This represented the unconstitutionality of such legislation. Citizen's privacy is considered a privilege under the Constitution of the United States of America (Mitrano, 2013). Although proponents of citizen's privacy who reference the constitutional provision that guarantees civil rights are mistaken. America's Charter does not regard citizen privacy as a civil right. Because the charter does not use the word "privacy," it is hence theoretically misleading to say that perhaps the law protects citizen's privacy. Because of this viewpoint, security is a fundamental need to which everyone has the legal obligation. Therefore, national security dominates citizen's privacy and occupies the first slot.

Conclusion

Each person deserves the right to confidentiality. Even though, it is rather complex to affirm if citizen's privacy is given precedence over national security. Based on the multiple studies, the consideration given to national security over citizen's privacy has been quite prominent. This is why many initiatives have been introduced by the United States of America to provide transparency to Intel agencies to acquire private details for security reasons alone. It would not be incorrect to say that priority is given to national security since citizen’s privacy does not come into existence without national security is ensured. Following the initial event of 9/11, it was known that, due to the growing epidemic of conflict and war, the nation is threatened with extension. So, understanding the government's position in this context is necessary as it guarantees mankind's existence before confidentiality. Unless national security is assured, there will also be citizen's privacy, although citizen’s privacy is revoked if national security is not safeguarded. Entities may only become capable of exercising the privileges unless there is a state to safeguard them from the external powers. Citizen security is a luxury, whereas national security is essential for survival. If there is no protection that guarantees safety, what is the meaning of citizen's security? In respect to monitoring, numerous research indicates that no details are exposed to the general public. National security is thus shown to be more significant than citizen's privacy as people typically value national security.

Works Cited

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Homeland Security, Information Privacy Law. EU Individual Privacy Rights versus U.S. Homeland Security. 2011, http://www.brianrowe.org/infoprivacylaw/2011/04/16/eu-individual-privacy-rights-versus-u-s-homeland-security-2/.

Jones, K. “National Security Trumps Personal Privacy, Government IT Pros Say.” InformationWeek, 2008, Retrieved from http://www.informationweek.com/news/206901345.

The Data Base Book. Privacy vs Security. International Debate Education Association. 2010, http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=1026.