If you’re not under investigation, should the government be able to:
- a) monitor your phone calls?
b) read your emails and view the photos I send?
c) see what you search for on the Web?
Government surveillance explained
Stakeouts have always been an essential tool for law enforcement and national security. The difference now is that they’ve moved beyond binoculars, bugs and bad guys: surveillance has gone digital. All that data we generate through our daily activities online allows governments to keep an eye on lots of people at once, in hopes of catching the ones who are up to no good. It’s like grabbing a giant haystack just in case there might be a needle inside.
Stored info is vulnerable info
In order to tailor personal experiences for you, virtually every technology company you interact with collects and stores some amount of your personal information. Under certain circumstances, those companies can be forced to turn over your information to governments.
So what should companies do? They can be proactive about protecting users’ information by limiting data collection to what’s needed, making data anonymous where possible, and deleting data when it’s no longer necessary. This is what we practice at Mozilla.
The solution: Safeguards
When surveillance is too broad or lacks key safeguards – like getting a warrant from a judge – it can be abused, either accidentally or on purpose. And our personal privacy is what’s at stake. In order to protect our personal liberties and maintain our trust in the Internet, Mozilla’s policy team proposes that government surveillance must follow three fundamental principles:
Minimal impact
Efforts should be made to collect only the information that’s needed, without compromising Internet infrastructure, technology companies’ data systems, or users’ trust.
Accountability
Governments should be held accountable. This means being transparent and specific about information collection, and answering to independent oversight and to the public.
User security
Strong encryption and security keep us safe from many kinds of criminals. Governments shouldn’t weaken the security of all in the name of spying on a few.
Strongly suggest you follow link to Full Informative Article:
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/teach/sma ... veillance/