Government Surveillance vs. Personal Privacy Essay Sample

Whether someone is scrolling through Instagram, Tik Tok, watching YouTube videos, or simply looking up something on Google search, the government can track what they are doing. Every second of the day the United States government is exploring their citizen’s files to find suspicious information. This is a gargantuan problem because “the government can glean information about us that we might indeed wish to conceal” (Solove 378). The government should not have access to people’s digital information because it is an invasion of privacy, the government has already gotten to watch people through public cameras, and most importantly there are a lot of things people wish to keep some things to themselves.
Privacy is “the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby express themselves selectively” (Wikipedia). This is the most significant reason why the government should not be able to look at public files. As a citizen, one should be able to keep things to themselves without the invasion of someone else. In 1974 a privacy act was passed that stated “The purpose of the Privacy Act is to balance the governments need to maintain information about individuals with the rights of individuals to be protected against unwarranted invasion of their privacy resulting from the collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information” (Bluestein). There needs to be some type of balance to preserve some type of privacy as a citizen. With that being said, looking into someone’s digital information does not create any balance, it pushes the line too far. 
It is important to also recognize the fact that America is a democratic society. With that being said privacy is a major thing most people who live in the United States value. This also plays a big factor other from other countries consider when moving to the United States. Other countries such as China have a communist society where their citizens’ privacy is not valued. Therefore, the people in those countries want to move to the United States to ensure their privacy. It is paramount that the government gives its citizens privacy because it is an essential reason why people want to live in the United States 
“If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear” (Rosen 36). The problem with this statement is someone may have nothing to hide but that doesn’t mean they want something to know everything about them. For example, one wouldn’t want someone to see them dancing in their room at night or see scandalous photos they have sent to someone. It is not the fact of being exposed but it’s the fact of invasion of privacy. 
Another thing that comes along with the government invading the privacy of its citizens is exclusion. “Exclusion occurs when people are prevented from knowing how information about them is being used” (Solove). When the government is going through certain information the person whose files, they are spectating, are not sure what the government will use those files for. It is important that if they were to look through someone’s information that the person should know what’s going on and what will happen with that information. Say that one wanted to hide the fact that they were pregnant. They probably would not care if the information was held within doctors, cousins, or friends. If the information was to spread to their parents though they probably would be very upset. Therefore it is not a fact of if the government has it but, it is the fact of who is the information going to.
Public cameras seem to be a momentous thing in the modern day. When someone is in public their every move is being tracked. If someone is acting out of the ordinary in public it is seen. If someone pulls a gun out in public they can be seen. If everyone’s every move is tracked when they are outside of their homes there is no need to invade their privacy when they are at home. It is clear to search someone’s home or anything of theirs the authorities need a search warrant, “a warrant issued by the competent authority authorizing a police officer to search a specified place for evidence even without the occupant’s consent”. Therefore, the government does not need to go through someone’s information without their being a warrant presented to that person.
One of the major reasons are people think that the government should be able to look into citizens’ digital files is to detect threats to the United States. “The security interest in preventing terrorism is much more important” (Gallington). Gallington thinks that terrorism is much more important than the privacy of citizens. Along with that Gallington also states in his article “just like the terrorist threat today it, ‘cost us’ a bit of our privacy”. Terrorism is one of the main things the government tries to detect the most. In today’s world, the United States is to be attacked any day, do I understand why the government wants to try and protect the land at any cost. However, sometimes the messages or “threats” may not be what it seems. Looking at the example that Solove provided when he says “suppose you bought a book about cancer”, then “suppose you buy a wig”. Like Solove said, buying one on its looks like the person is just interested in cancer and they just wanted a wig, but if one was put the two together then it looks like the person has cancer. Therefore,  sometimes things are not what they seem to be. For that reason, just because the government found a potential threat, it may not be true. The possible threat can be a joke, or it can be for research purposes.
This also goes with things with someone being innocent until proven guilty. One might look guilty from the surface but without looking deep into the information nobody can be certain that one is guilty. For example, one may look up something about making bombs. Which from the surface it seems like they are planning to blow up someone, or something. However, though that person could have been doing a research project on bombs and their intentions were truly educational. To conclude this the government might think that using digital files and looking through google searches is the best way to detect terrorism or possible threats but it is not an accurate place to detect those things.
In conclusion, there is no need for the government to have access to citizens’ private information. It is a huge invasion into one’s private life. There are many things people wish to keep to themselves whether it is their favorite dog or that they are pregnant. Furthermore, it is hard for citizens to keep information to themselves when the government goes looking through their files. There is no reason at all that someone should be scared or afraid to send a text or look up something because they may get in trouble for it. The government must consider their citizens’ privacy and feelings about their files before they go through them. The United States is a free country, and therefore citizens’ digital information should not be looked through.