For revealing the activities of the United States’ National Security Agency, Edward Snowden has been charged with stealing government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information, and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person. His reveal of the NSA’s activities against personal privacy has caused great changes in how people react to the government and respond to privacy policies. Many are with him, many are against him, the American people want answers– his trial has begun.
Given that the Snowden Case is primarily a case about privacy violation, it requires us to examine the line between professional ethics and moral ethics. Does moral ethics have a place in a professional setting dealing with sensitive government information? This also requires an answer to the question, was he morally ethical to begin with? Some people do not believe that he has done something beneficial but that he has put the country in danger. To quote Snowden from CNN Politics “Even if you’re not doing anything wrong you’re being watched and recorded.” He says this under the assumption that people have the right to know if they are being surveilled but do people have that right? The case of the United States vs Edward Snowden brings up many questions that are vital to conversations about individual rights to privacy in the Information age:
Do people have the right to know what information is privately collected by the government?
What are the effects of what he did and are they beneficial to the American people?
Has the information he provided changed our culture or the way we see our government?
Do people have the right to know how the technology, cellphones, laptops, and so on, is being used to spy on them when they paid for it with their hard-earned money?
He claims what he did was right; that he helped his country. But has he made us more paranoid than ever? While Snowden has managed to create greater discussion around our right to privacy and has brought attention to a serious issue, his actions have led to much conflict and debate.
This debate will soon come to a close. The date is set and the jury who will decide his fate have been selected. His time is now and no one knows how this trial will end. He could walk away a free man or in handcuffs.
More details to come.
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