Freedom vs. Security in the US - Article Example

With the increasing advent of technology in an individual’s life, it is considered that the crime rate is also increasing to a great extent. Additionally, it has also been viewed that the government of different countries are adopting new policies and implementing new policies to safeguard civilians from increasing crime around the globe. However, it has been ascertained that though the federal body is implementing new policies to safeguard the people from foreign enemies the new policies are violating the basic freedom of the people. For instance, recently it has been witnessed that Snowden a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a technical contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA) has leaked pentagonal papers that helped the United nations (U.S.) intelligence organizations to track the outgoing calls, monitor e-mail, and usage of internet of almost all Americans directly violating the freedom of an individual to provide security. Furthermore, it has been revealed that Snowden also leaked the pentagonal papers relating to the Vietnam War (Starr and Yan, “Man behind NSA leaks says he did it to safeguard privacy, liberty”).

The major player that can be witnessed in the case is Edward Snowden and the United Nations government which developed a program that tracked phone calls and monitors e-mail of the civilians violating the freedom of civilians with the prime motive of providing them security.

Freedom and security are considered to be two vital aspects of every individual’s life. The government also must safeguard its people by implementing police and laws that would not result in taking away freedom and would also provide security to civilians. However, in this case, it has been observed that the U.S government was collecting and tracing phone calls and e-mails of civilians without asking prior permission from the public which was leaked by a contractor of the NSA to make the public know of the happenings (Evensen, “Snowden raises the age-old freedom vs. security debate”; Salant, “Snowden Whistleblower, Not Traitor: Poll”).

The major conflict that was perceived after the leakage of vital documents Snowden to the general public was the skirmish between the civilians and the government of U.S about the other policies that were violating human freedom to provide security (Salant, “Snowden Whistleblower, Not Traitor: Poll”).

Today’s world is considered to be full of technology. Some are considered to be a blessing for mankind while some are considered to be a great threat. Therefore, it has become essential for the governmental bodies of every country to implement policies that would safeguard their people from negative aspects. Thus, it can be concluded that if the government is implementing new policies that need surveillance to provide security it should be passed only after asking prior permission from the public as it is a question of their freedom which is considered to be a vital aspect in every individual’s life.