The United States of America has many security agencies all of which conduct surveillance. The Central Intelligence Agency goes through thousands of letters every year. The National Security Agency intercepts millions of phone calls worldwide. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the C.I.A. wiretap thousands of phones. .
This of course brings up many privacy issues. A person can ask himself, is there any privacy left in this world? There are cameras everywhere; N.S.A. can intercept your phone calls and your e-mails. Your activities on the road, or on the internet can all be tracked. You can easily say that the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and the Privacy Act are violated. The First Amendment states that.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.".
The Fourth Amendment states that.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.".
The purpose of the Privacy Act is .
"to balance the government's need to maintain information about individuals with the rights of individuals to be protected against unwarranted invasions of their privacy stemming from federal agencies' collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information about them.".
In this paper, I will look at the workings of the N.S.A. and other agencies, and show how they violate The First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and the Privacy Act. Bear in mind that the government, more precisely the executive branch, issues most of these actions.