The Fourth Amendment vs. the USA PATRIOT Act

David Parez

Fourth Amendment

• “Right of the people to be secure in their persons…”

• Originally written with illegal British searches in mind

• Protects US citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures

• Requires warrants for searches

USA PATRIOT Act

• Formally known as: Uniting and Strengthening America by…. Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001

PATRIOT Act

• Signed in to law in October, 2001 by Bush• Key sections extended in May, 2011 by Obama• Aimed to address newfound culture of terrorism• Removed many restrictions on law enforcement

agencies to investigate possible terrorists• Introduced concept of “domestic terrorism”– No longer needs to be a foreign enemy

PATRIOT Act, Title II

• Title II of the PATRIOT Act introduced new surveillance procedures– Sneak and peak warrants (delayed warning on a

search warrant)– Roving wiretaps (no court order to follow a suspect

through wiretaps)– Access to documents on citizens (organizations must

produce any documents that the government requests)

• Most controversial section of the PATRIOT Act

2011 Extensions of the PATRIOT Act

• President Obama extended key sections of the PATRIOT Act in 2011– Roving wiretaps– Searches of business records– Surveillance of suspected terror suspects

National Security Agency

• Formed November 4th, 1952• Private company funded and

led by the federal government– Employ civilian workers

• Tasked with monitoring foreign communications

• Protects domestic communication systems

Edward Snowden

• 30 years old (born June 21st, 1983)

• Discharged from US Army Spec Ops after training accident

• Technical consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton– Previously worked with CIA and

NSA– Earned salaries between

$122,000 and $200,000

Glenn Greenwald

• Political journalist working for US edition of The Guardian

• Has spoken at numerous Ivy League schools, as well as University of Wisconsin

• Board member of Freedom of the Press Foundation

• Author of How Would a Patriot Act?

The Breach

• Snowden used his various jobs to collect a large amount of information on NSA data collection– Working for Booz Allen Hamilton was a significant

resource• Edward Snowden began contacting Glenn

Greenwald in February, 2013– Washington Post and Snowden could not agree to

terms, so Snowden turned to The Guardian – Used email codename “Verax” (Latin for “truth-

teller)

The Breach

• June 5th: The Guardian revealed that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ordered Verizon to provide constant data regarding all telephone calls to, from, or within the United States

• June 6th: the existence of PRISM was leaked– Established in 2007– Electronic surveillance program– Took advantage of communications flowing through

United States

PRISM Collection Data

The Breach

• June 9th: Existence of Boundless Informant leaked– Database of computer and telephone data

• June 20th: Documents revealed that Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on NSA activities

• June 23rd: Snowden said NSA regularly hacked Chinese phone companies, universities, and other networks to gather data on text messages and calls

Boundless Informant Data Map

Aftermath of Leak

• Snowden has been fleeing from country to country for most of June

• Most foreign nations unwilling to cooperate with US government– Hong Kong, China, Russia

• Many nations aim to stay uninvolved in the case

Repercussions of Leak

• Biggest leak in history of the NSA• Government has filed charges against Snowden

under the Espionage Act– Same law used in 2010 to charge Americans with

assisting WikiLeaks in largest leak in US history• American Civil Liberties Union has sued the

government over NSA surveillance• Keith Alexander, director of the NSA, claimed

that Snowden’s leaks would cost American lives

Reaction to Leak

• Michael Moore, Glenn Beck, and Ron Paul have all voiced their support for Snowden

• WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has praised Snowden and rallied supporters

• Bloomberg points out that the programs targeted by NSA surveillance are most likely not used by terrorists– Skype, Facebook, online messaging services

Reaction to Leak

• Public reaction is very divided• 44% of Americans support Snowden, while

42% oppose what he did– 54% favor prosecution, 38% against– 49% find information in interest of public, 44%

believe information was harmful• Protests around the world, especially in Hong

Kong, show support for Snowden

What does all of this mean?

• USA PATRIOT Act has stretched in its authority since its entrance into law– Originally meant to track terrorists– Seems to be interpreted in unconstitutional manner

• 4th Amendment has lost much of its meaning and many of its protections– Americans are realizing the consequences of the

PATRIOT Act– Are Snowden’s actions still illegal if the government’s

activities were unconstitutional?

What does all of this mean?

• Tradeoff between liberty and security has tilted towards security– How much of our personal freedom are we willing

to give up in exchange for national security?• Dangerous level of American indifference– In a time where global unrest has seen protests in

so many major nations, the American public seems very indifferent about the issue

Closing

• Has the USA PATRIOT Act taken too much of our personal security away in exchange for national security?

"The greatest fear that I have regarding the outcome for America of these disclosures is that nothing will change." – Edward Snowden

Sources

• The Guardian• The Washington Post• Yahoo! News• Gallup• Bloomberg.com