The Ethics of

Mass Surveillance
in the Digital Era
by Cole Barrow

In June of 2013, former NSA contractor Edward

advocates expressed their outrage over the blatant attacks

Joseph Snowden obtained classified documents that

on their right to privacy, while proponents of this system

revealed a secret government surveillance program being

have expressed their opinions as to how a program like

carried out by the National Security Agency. Through

this is a vital necessity to national security and protecting

these disclosures, we have come to learn that the NSA is

American interests abroad.

routinely collecting and storing the phone and internet

However, this claim is often found to be

records of millions of American citizens on a daily basis.

unsubstantiated. A recent review published by the

The initial story reported by Glenn Greenwald of The

New America Foundation has shown that the NSAs

Guardian showed us that a top secret court order issued

domestic surveillance program plays a minimal role in

in April of 2013 requires Verizon on an ongoing, daily

the prevention of terrorist-related attacks. An in-depth

basis to give the NSA information on all telephone calls

analysis of 225 individuals recruited by al-Qaeda or a

in its systems, both within the U.S. and between the

like-minded group or inspired by al-Qaedas ideology,

U.S. and other countries (Greenwald, 2013). The result

and charged in the United States with an act of terrorism

of this and further revelations has elicited widespread

since 9/11, demonstrates that traditional investigative

debate between proponents and critics of this system

methods, such as the use of informants, tips from local

on both ends of the political spectrum; civil liberties

communities, and targeted intelligence operations,

The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically
opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of
excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify
it. John F. Kennedy, 1961.

provided the initial impetus for investigations in the

ever-present need for government transparency in his

majority of cases, while the contribution of NSAs bulk

famous speech The President and the Press. He states,

surveillance programs to these cases was minimal. NSA

The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open

surveillance under an unidentified authority played a

society; and we are as a people inherently and historically

role in 1.3 percent of the cases we examined (Bergen,

opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret

Sterman, Schneider, & Cahall, 2014).

proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of

Another common argument I often hear from

excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts

those that sympathize with this program is: If I have

far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it

nothing to hide, why should I be worried? Well, when

(Kennedy, 1961). Throughout the following paragraphs,

we are kept in the dark about certain policies, we will

I will be discussing what we have come to know from

never have the opportunity to have an open and honest

the revelations thus far and attempt to illuminate some

discussion about the issues at hand. We therefore lose

of the risks that an unrestricted dragnet surveillance

our ability to make important decisions as an informed

apparatussuch as the one we have nowposes to us as

publicand as a result, systematic government abuse

a nation, and to our global society.

goes unanswered. A much greater political thinker than

The implementation of some of the NSAs most

myself, John F. Kennedy, expressed the importance and

valuable data collection programs can be traced back

to 2001, appearing in the immediate aftermath of

valuable asset: PRISM, which gives the agency direct

the September 11th terrorist attacks. As the result of

access to the servers of Google, Facebook, Apple and

a secretive order signed by former president Bush on

other U.S. internet giants (Greenwald & MacAskill,

October 4, 2001, the NSAs domestic spying program

2013). Soon after the PRISM story was published, these

officially comes into being. This initial data collection

tech companies denied any previous knowledge of the

programgiven the code name Stellar Wind

PRISM program; which means either someor all

gave the NSA the ability to spy on the phone calls and

of these companies were complicit in handing over user

e-mails of American citizens without first acquiring a

information to the NSA and were coerced into remaining

warrant (The Guardian, 2009). This program later paved

silent on the matter, or this was carried out without the

the way for others to be established in what is part of a

consent of these companies and without the knowledge

collect it all maxim coined by former NSA chief Keith

of their users. This practicein clear violation of the

Alexander (Nakashima & Warrick, 2013). Soon after

fourth amendmentis being allowed to take place due

Stellar Wind was introduced, other similar programs

in part to section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which

were coalesced into what would result in the dragnet

allows the government to require businesses to hand over

surveillance apparatus we have today: programs such

records of any tangible things for an investigation to

as XKeyscore, which allows analysts to search with no

protect against international terrorism (USA PATRIOT

prior authorization through vast databases containing

Act, 215). The FISA court oversees this provision, which

e-mails, online chats and the browsing histories of

I will discuss in the next paragraph.

millions of individuals (Nakashima & Horwitz,

Now that we are aware that these communications

2013); MYSTIC, which enabled the NSA to record all

are in the hands of intelligence officials, through

conversations across [an] unidentified foreign country

what process is the authority to target an individual

and store billions of them for 30 days (Daily Mail

established? Short answer: in secret, through a secret

Reporter & Associated Press, 2014); and the NSAs most

court. The FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)

court is a secret court which gives the authority for the

is blatantly illegal; as it is in clear violation of the fourth

NSA to target a specific individual for surveillance. The

amendment. To put things into even clearer perspective,

process itself is highly secretive and conducted with very

weve just recently learned that even members of Congress

little oversight. When it is time for the NSA to obtain

are barred from accessing these FISA court orders (Fang,

FISA court approval, the agency does not tell the court

2015). This should raise a major red flag; as it leaves room

whose calls and e-mails it intends to intercept. It instead

for little to no congressional oversight whatsoever. It is

merely provides the general guidelines which it claims are

a practical impossibility for members of the House of

used by its analysts to determine which individuals they

Representatives to do [an] effective job of oversight of the

can target, and the FISA court judge then issues a simple

intelligence community given the current structure of

order approving those guidelines (Greenwald, 2013).

the House and its rules (Eddington, 2015). What this in

When the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was

turn does, is it essentially erodes our checks and balances

originally enacted in 1973, its intention was to limit the

system that is so principal to our political process and

authority given to government agencies that we now see

allows for a disproportionate amount of power to be

being exercised today. Its primary purpose was to ensure

continually placed in a government institution engaging

that the U.S. government would be barred from ever

in unconstitutional practices.

monitoring the electronic communications of Americans

Now that weve established the legal justifications for

without first obtaining an individualized warrant from the

these practices being allowed to continue unchecked, lets

FISA court, which required evidence showing probable

look at some of the ways in which the mass surveillance

cause that the person to be surveilled was an agent of a

program is being abused by those in power. According

foreign power or terrorist organization. As of 2008, the

to NSA documents leaked by Snowden, it was revealed

act was revised to state that no individualized warrants

that the United States had been actively monitoring

would be required to carry out this kind of surveillance

Brazilian president Diana Rousseffs phone calls, as well

(Greenwald, 2013). According to constitutional law, this

as monitoring Brazilian embassies and spying on the

Personal data of citizens was intercepted indiscriminately. Corporate

informationoften of high economic and even strategic valuewas at the
center of espionage activity (Rousseff, 2013).

state oil corporation, Petrobras. Rousseff condemned the

offer some tiny policy edge (Shane, 2013). Of course, any

acts in a scathing speech given at the U.N. shortly after

unethical behavior of this scope must be almost invariably

becoming aware of the eavesdropping. Personal data

accompanied by self-vindicating rhetoric. Perhaps it

of citizens was intercepted indiscriminately. Corporate

should come as no surprise then that just as of March

informationoften of high economic and even strategic

2015, president Obama formally declared Venezuela

valuewas at the center of espionage activity (Rousseff,

to be a national security threat (Mason & Rampton,

2013). This was not an isolated incident; in another case

2015). This unwarranted spying is not only restricted to

of economic espionage, a leaked NSA PowerPoint slide

South American officials, but to our European political

showed U.S. involvement in monitoring the government

allies as well, such as was the case with our eavesdropping

and personal e-mails of the top 10 Venezuelan economic

on the phone conversations of German chancellor Angela

officials. A stated goal in this presentation was preventing

Merkel (Pengelly, 2014). At this point, the ulterior

Venezuela from achieving its regional leadership objectives

motives guiding our foreign surveillance activities are

and pursuing policies that negatively impact U.S. global

clear. This reckless abuse of power undoubtedly subverts

interests. An NSA officer in Texas, in other words, was

our status as a constitutional republic and transforms us

paid each day to peruse the private messages of obscure

into an omnipotent hegemonysubsequently operating

Venezuelan bureaucrats, hunting for tidbits that might

as exempt from international law.

Drawing from what we know about our surveillance

governments Terrorist Screening Databasea watch list

powers being used in the past to monitor activists and

of known or suspected terrorists that is shared with local

social movements, we could infer that these powers are

law enforcement agencies, private contractors, and foreign

currently being used to monitor well-intentioned citizens

governmentsmore than 40 percent are described by

domestically. It is well-documented that intelligence

the government as having no recognized terrorist group

agencies in the United States, such as the FBI, have used

affiliation. That category280,000 peopledwarfs

their surveillance capabilities in the past to monitor

the number of watch-listed people suspected of ties to

political activists, peaceful social movements, and

al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah combined (Scahill &

important political figures. Two such instances that come

Devereaux, 2014). Imagine, if you will, a scenario in which

to mind are the FBIs monitoring of Dr. Martin Luther

political dissent is categorized by the U.S. government as

King, Jr. in the 1960s (Christensen, 2008), and the

a threat. This could then be used specifically to place

Watergate scandal in which former President Nixon was

innocent Americans on a government watch list; which

implicated in the phone-tapping of key political figures

will in turn allow agencies such as the NSA to monitor

with the aid of the FBI, CIA, and the IRS (Perlstein,

and discredit political activists, and even intimidate or

2015). One cause for concern is the wide-ranging technical

silence investigative journalists that may be working on

capabilities of this program, and the ability for the NSA

highly sensitive stories that implicate powerful figures.

to effortlessly target those it deems as a threat in their

Given what we know already, my supposition is that this

own loose interpretation. According to a recent article

will beand possibly already isused domestically for

published by The Intercept, recently obtained classified

this exact purpose.

government documents show that Nearly half of the

With

geopolitical

change

and

technological

people on the U.S. governments widely shared database

advancement accelerating at such a rapid pace, this kind

of terrorist suspects are not connected to any known

of unrestricted surveillance apparatus can be left open

terrorist group. Of the 680,000 people caught up in the

to even greater abuse in the future; potentially serving

as a mechanism for complete social and political control.

of some of these surveillance programs and what they are

Zbigniew Brzezinskia former national security advisor

actually being used for. We must find a way to balance

and counsellor to presidents Lyndon Johnson, John F.

our need for security without sacrificing our individual

Kennedy, and Jimmy Carterseems to agree that this is

liberties in return. Going up against such a powerful

a very possible outcome. In Zbigniew Brzezinskis book

adversary may leave many opponents feeling despondent

Between Two Ages: Americas Role in the Technotronic

and powerless in what they can do on a macro level,

Era, Brzezinski postulates a scenario where a dystopian

but certain measures can be taken immediately to

future may be well in our midst; one where total social

help safeguard your personal privacy, such as using

control is not only possible, but inevitable. In one

encrypted communication services, and boycotting

particular passage he seems to be alluding to the exact

tech companies that remain complicit in these abuses;

kind of dragnet surveillance apparatus that we have now.

this, in itself, is a form of protest. As a result, this could

Brzezinski states, The technotronic era involves the

potentially encourage companies to speak out and take

gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a

action against warrantless surveillance. Thankfully, some

society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by

companies and organizations have recently come forth

traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost

to challenge the NSAs illegal data collection practices

continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain

such as Wikipedia, and the ACLU (Ingram, 2015). By

up-to-date complete files containing even the most

taking personal responsibility to ensure our right to

personal information about the citizen. These files will

privacy, together we can reclaim our constitutional rights

be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities

and force meaningful change as we move forward in the

(Brzezinski, 1970).

digital era.

It goes without saying that we need some system

of surveillance in place to protect against foreign and

words & design

domestic threats; the problem is in regards to the efficacy

COLE BARROW

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