Experts, students and members of the community gathered at Loyola Marymount University to discuss the conflicts between national security interests and individual civil liberties raised by the massive data surveillance programs conducted by the National Security Administration.
In the past year there has been extensive coverage of NSA programs that collect data on average U.S. citizens through millions of telephone and Internet records. The NSA says it needs the data to find and fight terrorism but civil libertarians feel these programs go too far.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) hosted a public forum at LMU to get more public discussion of this very important issue.
The panelists included Julia Angwin, senior reporter for ProPublica and author of the book “Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance;” John Eastman, the Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Communication at the Chapman University School of Law; and Gabe Rottman, legislative counsel/policy adviser of the American Civil Liberties Union.
During the panel discussion Eastman defended the programs, citing the importance of fighting terrorism. He said the programs seem effective and there have been relatively few violations of civil rights.
“Over 10 years, the fact that there were only 2,000 violations is incredibly low,” Eastman said, “we have to find a way to monitor this (the programs) while allowing the NSA to do its job.”
Rothman warned that by tracking our phone calls and emails the programs violate rights that are guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. “The government can’t investigate you without good reason,” Rothman told the audience. “We have the right to associate with anyone we want as long as we are not engaged in wrong doing. We need to re-consider what privacy means to us today.”
