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The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and Government Secrets

November 28th, 2012

Up until 1967, the government was free to wiretap whenever they wanted to until the Supreme Court addressed the issue. Congress passed the Wiretap Act in 1968. Now the government can not wiretap unless they have a plausible reason to do so. This creates what is called the “secret court.” I think that this is one of the best Acts the United States has passed. Everybody’s personal information does not need to be told to the whole world, including the government. Just because they head America does not mean they have to know everything. In fact, most of the time we Americans never know the actual truth because there are always lies within the government. I think that if we were to open everything up so that it is “ethical, legal, and proper” it could affect someone/countries case. We have secret services to protect us from other foreign countries. Our national security depends on programs like these. This is a way for information to get across to people. If we didn’t have these services we would have never survived Iraq or captured Osama Bin Laden. The government has a right to keep information private from the people of the same country. They contain vital information about other countries that could affect us if it were to go public. We do have to be concerned that other countries could be wiretapping us. With our technology in the world nowadays it can be very easy for someone to do so. It is a risky deal but if everything runs smoothly it can have great success.