“Every breath you take, every movement you make… Every bond you break, every step you take, I will watch you. Every day... Every word you say. Every game you play… Every night you stay, I will watch over you. If you've ever really studied the lyrics to "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, you can think of them as the government's theme song for you or for every person they police. By definition, government surveillance is the practice of the government monitoring all of your activities as a civilian, whether you are aware of it or not, with the goal of detecting criminals or terrorists and ultimately stopping their malicious activities. This practice has been around longer than you might think, longer than even before the invention of the Internet or smartphones. This is happening not only within American society, but also internationally, with other governments carrying out their own methods of domestic espionage on their countries' populations. According to the Encyclopedia of Human Rights in the United States, the importance of surveillance practices is explained by the fact that "in the criminal and anti-terrorism sense, it is an investigative process by which police , the FBI, CIA or other government agents are gathering evidence. on crimes, or suspected crimes, or terrorist crimes through continuous observation of people or places. Observation can be visual or electronic. By this quote alone, it can be said that government surveillance is legal through the approval of the national government and can certainly appear beneficial to the national security of the United States. There is no doubt that good can come from this. The government uses these claims in order to justify its actions and that they are neither harmful nor unethical. Yet, being ethical means respecting moral principles and virtue. However, if you were to look beyond the big fact of existing surveillance in order to hunt down the bad guys and analyze the smaller facts, you would be able to see that there are many reasons why it is overall contrary to ethics, these reasons ranging from privacy to violation of constitutional rights. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The first topic on the list that would prove the immorality – at least immorality by American standards – of being constantly monitored or followed is the violation of the civil rights or constitutional rights of the people. Through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), the National Security Agency (NSA), FBI and CIA have the ability to secure their surveillance requests so that it is possible to be on the lookout for any foreign spies who could pose a possible threat. threatens, and therefore it is legal. As prejudicial as it may seem for the protection of the nation, by the 1st and 4th Amendments of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution, the American people have the right to freedom of speech and the right to privacy or be protected against unreasonable searches, and these rights are violated. Government surveillance is more than just a glimpse of your face through your webcam. This means that your activities that the government likes to monitor include ways to secretly track your phone records, listen to audio recordings/calls, emails, etc. You may be on the higher side of technical expertise, but you can still be targeted. without your knowledge. It doesn't really look likea right to privacy or protection from unreasonable acts, right? And your right to free speech and expression has been diminished because the words you say during a phone call can paint you as a “potential national threat” or even blackmail you. Being “free” may be an illusion at this point. As mentioned earlier, government surveillance has been around for quite some time, even before the inventions of the first smartphone or computer. Instances where foreign espionage and attacks in modern US history (i.e. the 9/11 attacks) have increased the sense of paranoia aimed at keeping America safe – or at least that’s why they claim to do it – thus leading to acts like foreign intelligence. Surveillance Act that would authorize intelligence services to make their necessary but apparently uncomfortable observations on the public. Who can say whether we should trust them as much as the next foreign government? Which brings us to number two on the list, which is power. It's that simple in which modern technology allows our federal government to go even further than just chasing down the bad guys. The faster technology evolves, the wider the spectrum of government surveillance can become, which ultimately leads to greater, or rather indefinite, power for the government and less for the people. It doesn't help that big tech companies work hand-in-hand with the government. Referring to the PBS article “Government surveillance of citizens raises civil liberties concerns,” “Meanwhile, the Washington Post revealed that the NSA and FBI have two other spying programs that target American citizens, including one who uses data from Facebook, Google and Apple. , and one that uses information from major credit card companies. Audio, video, photographs, emails, documents and connection logs "allow analysts to track a person's movements and contacts over time," the article explains. “They can literally watch your ideas form as you type,” an anonymous career intelligence officer told the Post. “Letting tech and financial companies even have an idea of ​​what you do and what you like and don't like gives them an advantage in their marketing strategies. As a result, their dogged obedience to government intelligence agencies only gives the government double, triple, and even indefinite power in surveillance capabilities. Third, constant surveillance of citizens' activities and property can certainly do more harm than good. Knowing that you are being watched, whether you are on guard or not, can undoubtedly lead to psychological effects of paranoia, anxiety. The whole idea of ​​"If you have nothing to hide, then you shouldn't be afraid" only suggests that you are guilty if you want privacy. Although no physical harm is caused to citizens, their social lives and their own sense of internal security are diminished. In "Under Surveillance and Overwrought: American Muslims' Emotional and Behavioral Responses to Government Surveillance," authors Alexander J. O'Connor and Farhana Jahan write that "In the case of American Muslims subject to government surveillance, anxiety levels are probably particularly pronounced. Even if they believe surveillance has stopped, they may view themselves as likely targets of future surveillance. Anxiety, not..