A safer internet experience

  One of the biggest threats to our privacy today, is internet security. This threat does not come from remote internet hackers, but instead our own government. Government surveillance is a threat to our American civil liberties. Is internet surveillance really a necessary part of national security? This has proven to be a big concern due to public perceptions of internet privacy, government surveillance and government intrusion, along with the willingness from federal agencies to gather online transactions.

It has been made public by personalities such as Mark Zuckerberg, that the NSA has been using automated systems to spread malware over the internet, sometimes using “fake” Facebook servers. He argues that the internet works because people and companies work together to create a secure setting that makes our common space better and safer for the world. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo demanded that extensive changes be made in surveillance techniques by December. Some other companies consider that it is time for the government to report the practices and laws regulating surveillance of people and the right to invade their personal information. However, one of the most alarming things is that the NSA is recruiting university students to train them into becoming the future cyber spies. The National Security Agency (NSA) has selected a number of universities in order to offer special training that will ensure the future of cyber operations program to flourish. The NSA has also created National Centers of Academic Excellence offering a total of 13 schools where students can train to enter the U.S. cyber security and intelligence workforce.

Activist groups, companies, and websites advocating against cyber surveillance, have inspired internet users to take action against government tailing, and have suggested on a protest called “The Day We Fight Back.”  5,700 plus websites have posted banners on their sites encouraging users to use social media to protest against the surveillance movement by the NSA and to email their representatives in congress in order to push for a reform that would act against internet surveillance.

While some undersigned companies understand that governments need to take action to protect their citizens’ safety and security, they also strongly believe that current laws and practices need to be reformed. The need for a better way to monitor criminals and other threats, one that does not threat our civil liberties needs to rise. Consistent global norms of freedom of expression and privacy with the goals of ensuring that government law enforcement and intelligence efforts don’t interfere with public privacy is the goal. A more focused, narrow discipline tailored to find real criminals and transparency in its practices should be the aim of the government. Furthermore we should call upon our government to endorse these principles based on civil liberties, and initiate a reform that would put these values to action.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nsa-picks-5-universities-to-train-us-cyber-professionals/

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/internet-protest-fight-back-surveillance/