ARGUMENTS FOR MY POSITION

Argument #1: The monitoring of personal usage and web usage can be an invasion of privacy.

Once in a while, companies and organizations change their privacy policies. Apple's iMessage and the WhatsApp app use end-to-end encryption to prevent messages from being read by anyone or any company/organization/government while they are sent and received between two different people. However, there have been thoughts to put an end to this encryption style, therefore weakening the walls of cyber security, which can lead to these organizations being able to actually see more information than they need to, including your messages (Griffin, 2011). This can prove to be very dangerous; it is an invasion of privacy, and can especially be dangerous if a hacker gets a hold of all of this personal information. Imagine all the things that could happen if the wrong person got a hold of personal information.

Argument #2: The government cannot be trusted and therefore should not have access to our activities online.

The U.S. government has recently admitted to having the ability to monitor everything a person does online (Revesz, 2016). A survey conducted by the United States government found that nearly half of the internet population is slowly decreasing their online presence and limiting what they say and do. These activities include simple everyday activities such as online shopping or posting on social media sites (Bolton, 2016).

SOURCES

Bolton, D. "Hackers and government surveillance are making people abandon the internet, survey finds." Independent UK, 16 May 2014, http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/hacking-cybersecurity-cyberattack-surveillance-nsa-cia-gchq-internet-use-effect-a7031926.html

Griffin, A. “UK government surveillance plans could put citizens, economy and entire internet at risk, argue leading computing experts.” Independent UK, 8 July 2015, http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/uk-governments-surveillance-plans-could-put-citizens-and-entire-internet-at-risk-argue-leading-10373940.html

Revesz, R. “US government admits it could use home devices to spy on people.” Independent UK, 10 February 2016, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-government-admits-it-can-use-home-devices-to-spy-on-people-a6865131.html