Patriot Act

1 Pages 265 Words

The USA Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) was signed into law by President Bush on October 26, 2001 due to the events of September 11. The law primarily increased the surveillance and investigative powers of law agencies, such as the FBI and CIA, in the United States. Many of the provisions of the Act include monitoring online activities, nationwide computer and phone taps, spying on trespassers with no permission from courts, physical warrants can be delayed, obtaining records without warrants, adding DNA records for any crime of violence, immigration and nationality monitoring, money laundering and banking activities, and so forth.
Without a doubt, the law definitely compromised some of our civil liberties. The word privacy to the government now has very little value to them. I think I can see where they are taking their position from, ensuring that the United States is safe as it can be. Ultimately, I think the Patriot Act means exactly what it says, being a patriot for your country. You would have to sacrifice certain things nowadays to ensure that we feel safe the next time we take an airplane ride. This is just a means to make us feel safe and secure. To those who oppose it and claim that our rights are at loss, I agree yes, but we live in a completely different time where every disaster and tragedy always ends up with the question “Is terrorism related?” Otherwise, the best solution would be to live elsewhere, which I don’t think many would want....