Termination or Accountability? The Controversy Over the United States Use of Cyber-Intelligence

• In Event: Technology and Law Enforcement: Challenges and Innovations

Abstract

This research oscillates around a critical issue in the US, that is, in the name of anti-terrorism the state utilizes sophisticated surveillance machinery to protect its citizens’ while at the same time promising to protect their civil liberties. Of course this political discourse lends itself to an important debate internationally, but in this research it will be more narrowly discussed on the current debate being held in the US. At the core of the debate is on the constitutionality of state actions in a valiant effort to protect its people, and hence the nation-state, from its enemies. The most salient case, is that of Edward Snowden revealing the US government’s abuses of this surveillance machinery. Snowden claims the US government (and Allies) acted criminally by aiding and abetting its own agents to collect information on its populace in the absence of lawful means (i.e. proper warrants). Although this case is far from its legal conclusion, it has brought a range of legal and ethical questions on democratic states’ cyber-intelligence gathering. This research will discuss the demands of cyber-intelligence reforms put forth by Edward Snowden and whether these demands are in fact practical in modern, high-technology societies such as the US.

Author

• Emanuel Boussios, Hofstra University