Privacy is a term used in circumstances to refer to the right one has to carry out his or her personal matters and receiving little or no intrusion in the process. This provision is not expressly incorporated in the constitutions of some countries America included; the right to privacy finds its backing from the bill of rights and the fourth amendment thereof.
This does provide government peeping into personal issues like contraception. The privacy of people has been disdained severally by governments all in the name of attempting to achieve security goals. Even though security is pertinent, the government has in several occasions gone to the extremes of totally compromising the privacy of the citizens which it is charged with the responsibility of protecting.
Recently President Barak Obama was involved in a row that also culminates in a way to be a privacy concern. A black scholar named Henry Louis Jr. of Harvard University, came back to his house and tried to access it only to realize that the door had developed some problems and could not open. In an attempt to access his house, Henry broke into his own house only to be arrested for that! Think about it, it was his property but the right that one has to ownership of property was being infringed. Obama went ahead to accuse the cop of being an “idiot.”
A couple of years ago James Turner of New Haven Conn found himself in trouble with the police as relates to speed with which he was driving. After being flagged down y the traffic police, they indicated to him the speed with which he was driving at. He later realized that the rental car he was using had been tracked by the Global positioning System. The police (government) had colluded with the car hire company to infringe into his right to privacy in a way.
The security goals that the United States of America endeavors to achieve have played a major role in bringing privacy issues to a compromise. After the September 11th 2001 bombing of the Pentagon and the World Trade centre, the number of inspections outrageously grew. People walking home in the evening would be ransacked to ensure they did not have any missiles on them woe unto those who were of Arabic descent; harassment soared.
In homes, the government has found itself accused of infringing privacy in trying to intervene in cases of battery. In the case of State vs. Hassey, the state was accused of having crossed the line and got into marital issues it should not have. The ruling by the North Carolina judge was that a slap on the cheek should be so slight that it should not warrant police intervention. According to Keenan (35) in the case, if a slap is not light, then assault shall have been committed and therefore warranting police intervention.
The government of United States has repeatedly operated on premise that security does trump on freedom. Most international payments are processed by the Belgian based company SWIFT. This however has led to a lot of inspections lately. At one point George Washington was of the opinion that it was vital to give up privacy for the sake of security. He further added that worry should not be an issue if one doesn’t have anything to hide. Lately the government has been following through emails and text messages of persons and the people they are sent to in a bid to alleviate insecurity.
Lately, fears are growing that the privacy of people in America and the world at large would be infringed further. There are suggestions that soon injectible tracking chips are going to be placed on humans and even (you wont believe this) animals so that their positions at various times can be monitored. This it is said that is meant to alleviate issues to do with insecurity. The chip to be used possesses a transponder which can easily be detected by Global Positioning Satellite Systems while being unendingly powered by the muscular action of the persons wearing them.
In conclusion, the security of a country is very important and should not be compromised at all under any circumstances. It is vital that people live in a place that is very secure. This could be the reason that leads the government to believe that privacy could be too costly (Keenan 33). This is true especially when national security is the issue at hand.
However, diligence in the operations of the government is important just as reasonableness is. Situations warranting infringement of privacy should well be justifiable. It is not just enough to get into the way of people all the time on the premise that security is at stake even if it cannot be clearly justified.
Work Cited
Keenan, Kevin. Invasion of privacy: a reference handbook. California: ABC-CLIO Inc., 2005. Print.