Individual privacy vs. national security

Individual privacy vs. national security

Introduction

The term national security is typically and most notably associated with the employment of military power. However, national security is a collective term involving national defense and foreign relations of a state. Specifically, it refers to the requirement for a state to maintain its sovereignty and survival by employing economic, political, and military power and through the application of diplomacy.

National security is carried out over territory, and its study traditionally embraces national power from a geographic perspective. This viewpoint assumes that the country is the principal actor in the international arena.

However, the underlying destabilizing dynamic in the contemporary global security calculus is the proliferation of ungoverned space and the emergence of terrorist and other threat groups that now coexist with no official attachment to a country other than using its territory for operations and planning. The extent of the market of personal and national security policies promoted by the governments is eroding at an alarming privacy and the privacy of individuals. These policies and the emerging market for personal data are shaping the information society as a society of identification, classification and social control.

Discussion

After the September 11 attacks, the thought that public freedom had to be decreased in support of national security appeared with improved force. Many have observed the irony that security measures planned to defend a liberal democratic system that can end up erode the civil liberties at the heart of that liberal democratic system. The world had never before witnessed a terrorist event as tragic as the attacks of 9/11. Millions of people lost their lives and millions of others were left in everlasting misery and misfortune.

The world has been terrified in the literal sense. The echoes of terror and fear are still audible, even after years have passed after the incident. Societies regained consciousness on their vulnerability as victims of future terrorist attacks. Countries became increasingly concerned for their rescue and safety. Governments expanded their budgets on the security and defense of the homeland apart from taking domestic measures for internal conflicts resolution. The vulnerability of each state became questionable after the super power had been attacked this brutally.

The attacks of 9/11 taught invaluable lessons to the states of the world regarding their security and safety against terrorism. The governments of all developed countries felt threats from the under developed and developing countries, which are considered as breeding grounds for terrorist activities. These countries availed the services of analysts and concerned officials of homeland security to devise technologies and processes for counter-acting terrorist attempts in the future. The use of new processes and procedures for anti-terrorism were devised and tested. It was believed that a system wide approach was necessary to combat terrorism in the face.

National security is tasked to defend the homeland from any interior and external threats of terrorism either by deterrence, avoidance, or pre-emption. It has been tasked to insure the safety and sovereignty of the homeland community, territory, and ...