Does the War on Terrorism Threaten Privacy

Does the War on Terrorism Threaten Privacy

Introduction

In today's society cameras appear in all kinds of places such as ATM's, department stores, and streetlights. The majority of the public accepts these cameras and pays little attention to them. However, who really knows what kinds of people are watching the cameras? It is this very question that leads many to believe that our society is moving nearer to a big brother society. The United States now plays a leading role in the creation of a big brother society.

Discussion

With the excuse of anti-terrorism the U.S. has passed the USA Patriot Act. This new act allows the police to search your home, interrogate people by means of racial profiling, and would allow non-citizens, with permits, to be jailed only on suspicion. The Patriot Act was created shortly after the September 11 attacks. This is the primary reason that the bill slipped through the House and Senate so quickly. However, the next patriot act, being called "Son of Patriot" or "Patriot 2", has encountered mass resistance from both parties. According to the ACLU Patriot 2 would enable a "Total Awareness Program" that would give the department of defense a surveillance system called the Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System, or CAPPS.

The Transportation Security Administration will be the first to implement CAPPS 2 if Patriot 2 is passed (Right-Left. Placing cameras on public transportation is only a minor step compared to what the government truly wants to do. Total face recognition is the next step in the privacy issue. All these steps to prevent terrorism lead us to conclude that this prevention programs can be taken as threat for privacy.

According to Barbara Dority face recognition technology will soon be installed in everything from automatic teller machines to ...