Legal Round – Global Parliament – VIVUM 15

This house believes that mass surveillance carried out by governments is ethically and legally correct

Welcome to the legal round in VIVUM 15 Parliamentary Debate. Legal issues of International importance are at the forefronts of debate and at VIVUM 15, we encourage looking into these fascinating issues as these have the potential to shape millions of lives.

A term that reminds us of Orwellian dystopias and recent scandals, Mass surveillance involves the intricate collection of unfiltered information owned by either the entire population of a country or population of certain regions. It has often been cited as necessary to fight terrorism, to prevent social unrest, to protect national security, to fight child pornography and protect children. Conversely, mass surveillance has equally as often been criticized for violating privacy rights, limiting civil and political rights and freedoms, and being illegal under some legal or constitutional systems. There is a fear that the use of mass surveillance will ultimately lead to a totalitarian state where political dissent is undermined by certain programs that monitor electronic activity.

Difference Between Mass and Target Surveillance

We take this opportunity to highlight the difference between mass surveillance and target surveillance, as this topic focuses on the former. We must understand that target surveillance is legal under international law if the officers have legitimate means, such as surveillance of a civilian who is suspected to be participating in the drug trade. In most countries target surveillance requires a warrant or a formal court order. Mass surveillance is more controversial and involves the indiscriminate collection of data, which is targeted at a community as a whole rather than a specific target. This agenda deals with mass surveillance not target surveillance. Target surveillance does not violate privacy but may be less effective than mass surveillance.

NSA PRISM and other examples

PRISM is a tool used by the US National Security Agency (NSA) to collect private electronic data belonging to users of major Internet services like Gmail, Facebook, Outlook, and others. The basic idea is that it allows the NSA to request data on specific people from major technology companies like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, and others.

Another prominent program is the ECHELON program, established to intercept signals sent and received by satellites. Although ECHELON has been cited by the NSA as essential to their fight against terrorism offering proof to its successes, they have used it for questionable means, such as: collecting data on Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon, intercepting phone calls before the death of Princess Diana right until she died in a car crash and attempting to boost business deals with Japan by

eavesdropped on the conversations between Japanese bureaucrats and executives of car manufacturers. A far more controversial technology, SEXINT is a term which refers to the practice of monitoring and/or indexing the pornographic preferences of internet users in an effort to later use the information for blackmail. This is a clear violation under international and domestic law. Common controversy over mass surveillance

Government authorities in “surveillance” states still emphasize that if citizens have nothing to hide they should not be worried. They also do maintain that after increased terrorism and crime, surveillance may be the answer to not only stopping the asymmetric threats against civilians but also preventing felonies such as murder. However, organizations remain concerned about the effect on freedom and privacy.