Liberty versus Security in the 21st CenturyChris Bellers

History of the dilemma

The conflicting goals of security and privacy have been in play since the establishment of the United States Private individuals do not want the

government to intrude on their privacy The Government wants advance

knowledge of pending criminal activity, and evidence of past activity.

Where the balance is struck is a Constitutional issue.

The Fourth Amendment

AMENDMENT IV: 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.

Meaning of the 4th AmendmentIt enshrines the right of private citizens

to be free from Government intrusion

Government and law enforcement must ask a court to grant a warrant for specific purposes.

The listing of ‘persons, houses, papers, and effects’ was sufficient for over 50 years because it required no interpretation.

Technology means interpretationThe telephone enabled information to be

transmitted without sending papers or other physical material.

Law enforcement realized that they could not serve a search warrant on a telephone, because it held no information on its own

The Wiretap

The first wiretaps were clumsy devices that literally tapped phone wires to let a third party listen in.

The 1980’s – The world changesBeginning in the 1980’s the world of

surveillance began to change Long distance phone carriers began using

digital compression to fit more phone conversations across their networks.

Faxing instead of sending mail.

Computerized records began replacing paper forms and filing cabinets.

The 1990’s – it gets worse

Internet growth in the 1990s catches law enforcement unprepared to investigate and monitor electronics communications

1992: The Federal Government passes the Digital Telephony ActCorrects the problems from the last decade,

forces phone companies to build ‘digital wiretaps’ into their switching equipment

The new millennium

By 2000, the government had learned to drink from the fire hose of the Internet and wanted to extract intelligence from it.National Security Administration (NSA)

builds Carnivore, a system to monitor the Internet backbone and collect suspicious data for analysis

NSA builds Echelon, a worldwide array of antennae designed to sniff out wireless data and collect for analysis

The Echelon System

Privacy advocates get nervousWhile both Echelon and Carnivore are

designed to gather intelligence on foreign activity, their design means many Americans get caught in the dragnet.This appears to be in violation of the 4th

Amendment protection against unreasonable (without a court order) searches.

9/11: The pendulum swings

After 9/11, the government embarked on a large-scale campaign to collect as much information as possible on as many people as possible, for comprehensive analysis.

Foreigners and Americans.

PATRIOT Act

The Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 gave the federal government vastly expanded powers to monitor information in the interests of national security.

Secret Wiretaps Administrative subpoenas Removal of ‘probable cause’ test Gag orders on subjects of subpoenas

TIA TIPS

Total Information Awareness Designed to combine data from hundreds of

government law-enforcement, commercial databases and data warehouses and mine them for trends and meanings.

Congress balks at the concept for privacy reasons

Name gets changed to “Terrorist Information Protection System” but design remains the same.

Congress terminates the project.

2007: pendulum swinging backSurveillance and intelligence cases using

new expanded warrant-less powers are making their way to the court systems and getting tossed on 4th Amendment grounds.

Some government abuses of expanded powers being discovered by Congress.

Congress is less inclined to grant new powers.

What I believe

I believe in the U.S. Constitution

I believe in the intent of the Founding Fathers to be left alone by the government.

I believe in the words of Ben Franklin when he said

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”.

Just because it’s possible…

The Information Age has given the government tools of control that would have given even Josef Stalin pause for thought, but that doesn’t mean we need to use them against our own people. There are some things we just don’t do in America.

What the PATRIOT Act does.Amendment ICongress 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.

Amendment IIA well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be

infringed. Amendment IIINo soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner

to be prescribed by law. Amendment IVThe 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.

Amendment VNo person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand

jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VIIn all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and

district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VIIIn suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved,

and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIIIExcessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Amendment IXThe enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Amendment XThe powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states

respectively, or to the people.

What the PATRIOT Act does.Amendment ICongress 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.

Amendment IIA well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be

infringed. Amendment IIINo soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner

to be prescribed by law. Amendment IVThe 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.

Amendment VNo person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand

jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VIIn all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and

district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VIIIn suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved,

and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIIIExcessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Amendment IXThe enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Amendment XThe powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states

respectively, or to the people.

al-Quaeda is not worse than Hitler.The U.S. won many more difficult

struggles than the War on Terror without needing to shred the Bill of Rights.

The ideals that this country were founded on are not worth sacrificing under any circumstances.