What is the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution? What is the relationship between the NSA and the 4th Amendment? How is the Constitutional language interpreted to apply to mass surveillance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 4th Amendment of the Constitution protects you from the government searching or taking your stuff without permission. Data and digital information is less clearly protected and Fourth Amendment surveillance rules are still evolving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read more about the NSA and the 4th Amendment, including how the intelligence agency interprets Fourth Amendment surveillance protections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Fourth Amendment protects \u201cthe right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects.\u201d Computers didn\u2019t exist at the time of the writing, but the 4th Amendment definition is, simply put, that if law enforcement wants to search you, your home, or your stuff, they need to prove there\u2019s a good reason to do so.<\/strong> Additionally, the reason must be specific\u2014law enforcement thinks you\u2019ve committed a specific crime. The warrant will specify the scope of the search and how long anyone has permission to search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NSA had to carefully interpret the 4th Amendment definition to justify mass surveillance.<\/strong> According to the NSA, modern technology couldn\u2019t count as \u201cpapers\u201d or \u201ceffects,\u201d and data couldn\u2019t be considered personal property. For example, since you made a phone call, you\u2019d already \u201cshared\u201d data with your phone company, so you no longer had any right to privacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The founders who wrote the Constitution saw the potential for abuses of power. The founders tried to mitigate abuses by dividing power into three government branches with equal powers. However, all three branches failed when it came to privacy and mass surveillance:<\/p>\n\n\n\nNSA Fourth Amendment Interpretation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
NSA Fourth Amendment Interpretation: Failure of Checks and Balances<\/h3>\n\n\n\n