NYT Opinion: Privacy and the Threat to Self - Assignment Example

due: Critical Response to Lynchs "Privacy and the Threat to Self" Privacy is of great importance to every individual. When ones privacy is intruded one cannot be able to be an autonomous person. Having privacy allows one to be able to control what they consider to be private without facing interference from the others or the government (Lynch 2). With the majority of Americans claiming that an intrusion of the government in their private matters denies them their political freedom and even dehumanizes them since the step makes them to be vulnerable to manipulation; the issue has resulted to debates on who is right (Lynch 4).

When American Citizens became aware of their governments spying programs such as phone tracking by the National Security Agency as a means of combating terrorism, some were against it while some were in support of the action (Harris 2). The NSAs program which is responsible for tracking phone records of millions of US citizens is supported by majority of Americans who believe that what the government is doing as pertaining to security is very important even though it intrudes their privacy (Pew Research para.5). The government also monitors people’s emails and online activities which also threatens our privacy (Zegart 7; Lynch 3).

With most people believing that the actions of the government are not warranted since it threatens peoples privacy and denies them their freedom. I believe that as long as the steps taken allow the government to combat possible terrorist threats or insecurity then they need to be supported especially after the 9/11 attack. This, therefore, calls for compromise from the public.Works CitedHarris,S. The Watchers: The Rise of Americans surveillance state. Penguin Group.2010. Print.Michael P. Lynch.

"Privacy and the Threat to the Self." http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/.The New York Times, 22 June 2013. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. .Pew Research. Majiority Views NSA Phone Tracking as Acceptable Anti-terror Attack.3013.Print. Retrived from www.people-press.org/2013/06/10/majority-views-nsa-phone-tracking-as-acceptable-anti-terror-tactic/Zegart,A.B. Spying Blind: The CIA, the FBI and Origins of 9/11. Princeton UniversityPress.2009.Print.