Is it true that the united states are spying on their own citizens?Since the nine-eleven incident, the bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon Building on September 11, 2001, acts of terrorism have been one of the most frightening things for the world community.
However, with the rapid advances in technology, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Using a variety of sophisticated intelligence tools, we now know that the government can monitor every movement of terrorists to prevent acts of terrorism. However, what happens if this advanced technology is also used by the government to monitor us, secretly?
In today's digital era, everyone's gestures, in fact, can be easily monitored. This fact, first revealed by Edward Snowden, a former agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency. In 2013, Snowden leaked secret documents of the United States National Security Agency that proved that the US Government has been spying on its own citizens. How did this happen?
After the September 11 attacks, the United States government collaborated with N-S-A, initiating a terrorist surveillance program, aimed at preventing communications linked to al-Qaeda terrorist networks. In addition, the United States government also endorsed the Patriot Act, a law regulating the interception and surveillance of suspected terrorists, both at home and abroad.
But in practice, the United States government is not only spying on targets that are suspected of threatening the security of the state, but also the entire community without exception. From the data of mobile users, the NSA collects and stores METADATA, which is personal information like who is calling who, where, when, and for how long.
The danger, this program is also run secretly without the consent of the citizens who are supervised. Moreover, the NSA called on companies like Google and Microsoft, to provide their users' internet traffic information as additional data.
NSA also then asked Apple to create a program that can break the encryption code of the iPhone belongs to terrorists. However, Apple eventually refused, because according to them, this program can also be misused to violate the privacy of iPhone users around the world.
"The question is, what does the US Government do with all these data?"In fact, the program does not allow law enforcement to capture more terrorists, or prevent acts of terrorism. This program is actually used for example to monitor people who come from the Arabian mainland as well as Muslim-majority countries. Probably, it is true that too much random data is not profitable, but rather dizzying.
After all, we live in an era where smart phones and computers become an important part of everyday life. Now, our security is more threatened because anyone, can spy on anyone. Tools to tap the phone from a distance can be obtained easily. A British and German cooperation company has even created applications that can hack our phones, such as activating the camera and voice recorder without us knowing it at all.
State surveillance is necessary to prevent crime, let alone terrorism. However, the program is also prone to abuse to limit our right to argue, assemble, and express.
In France, for example, state surveillance has been used to stop protests about climate change. While in Turkey, state surveillance is used to imprison those who criticize the government.
For 32 years, the Indonesian people themselves have experienced state surveillance that greatly suppress freedom. It was only after the 1998 Reformation that we could develop into one of the most democratic countries in Southeast Asia.
Currently, we can enjoy the freedom that is very widespread in the real world and cyberspace. Indonesia guarantees these freedoms by adopting several policies, such as the Information Disclosure Act, the Press Law and the I-T-E Act.
In order for this freedom not to disappear suddenly for reasons of state security and stability, we must realize that freedom of expression, assembly, and expression is a right to be fought for.
However, this right should also be used responsibly. On the other hand, state surveillance must be balanced by a good justice and law enforcement system. The government also needs to be transparent and open to surveillance practices. For example wise determine which internet sites need to be blocked and which are not.
How do you think about this?
Source :
https://www.google.co.id/amp/s/kokbisachannel.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/apakah-kita-dimata-matai/amp/
