Government Data Mining and Privacy After 9/11

• In Event: Roundtable: Understanding the Social Impacts of Surveillance Technology

Abstract

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States has placed an increased focus upon government and private agencies to engage in surveillance practices in order to combat terrorism. Certain surveillance practices have been questioned by legal scholars as well as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), regarding whether such practices are considered constitutional. A large majority of surveillance practices currently utilized by both state and federal entities are deemed constitutional due to The USA Patriot Act, which was passed 45 days after 9/11. The USA Patriot Act enables law enforcement officials to legally use wiretaps on communications and access sensitive data on all citizens so long as such usage is justified as aiding an ongoing terrorist investigation. The expansion and capabilities both state and federal agencies exert are seldom known by the vast majority of American citizens and through the examination of prior Fourth Amendment rulings as well as social research conducted on privacy expectations of American citizens, this paper will determine whether current surveillance capabilities of federal and state agencies are intrusive on current American’s values of privacy.

Author

• Stephanie Kaplan, University of Nevada, Las Vegas