Do Americans have a right to privacy anymore? When one has passwords on their internet sites and locks on their doors, it may feel like privacy is not an issue. However, as people become more advanced in this technological age, there have been some serious privacy issues that the U.S. has to discuss. Government agencies, such as the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency, collect enormous amounts of data to identify terrorists, criminals, and other possible threats. While it may bring criminals to justice, it breaks a person’s right to privacy.

The U.S. faces a never-ending conflict between security and privacy. People should be able to feel safe anywhere they go, yet there are incidents such as terrorist attacks that occur everyday throughout the world. People want to feel safe from criminals and terrorists. To have privacy gives individuals a right to their own space and a feeling of security. No one wants to be watched or tracked on the internet. People should be able to have their own space.

Many electronics can be hacked and traced. According to Ars Technica, a news website specializing in technology stories, the NSA has fake cellphone towers that can collect data on cell phones. Recently, Microsoft has implanted tracking devices in Microsoft 10 and future productions of Microsoft 7 and 8. The Wall Street Journal has reports of the U.S. government’s “dirt box” program, which is used on airplanes that imitate that of a cellphone tower. It can create a signal to find cell phones, which can collect unlimited information and data from phones.

School also contributes to this destruction of privacy with car searches. The Fourth Amendment says that people are free from unreasonable seizures, so random drug testing should be illegal. At school, police officers are allowed to walk on school parking lots with drug dogs to see if any students have illegal substances in their cars. Even though the Supreme Court ruled that the police are allowed to have detection dogs to sniff automobiles without having an initial cause, people should still be able to have the right to decide if they are willing to be subjected to a random drug check.

Privacy is an important issue that should continue to be stressed. The government, hackers, and even schools can and will continue to invade students’ privacy. The government and schools should stop collecting information and allow people and students to be able to have the right to their own privacy. Students and citizens alike deserve to have their own space and deserve to not have their rights violated.