The PATRIOT Act and the USA FREEDOM Act

Original Subject / Question presented from class -

This module’s video reminds us of the many tragedies of 9/11 to place the enactment of the PATRIOT Act into perspective. Enacted within 45 days of 9/11, the Act granted the U.S. government sweeping powers to monitor the activities of its citizens, especially in cyberspace. When the horrors of 9/11 were fresh, few Americans questioned the need to place national security before personal privacy. But nearly two decades later, the world has changed and personal privacy, particularly online, has become much more important to everyone.
Must we give up our online privacy to be patriots? The U.S. government has offered no hard evidence that the PATRIOT Act and its successor the USA FREEDOM Act have been used to prevent any terrorist attack. While security agencies have claimed plots have been foiled, they rely on national security concerns to avoid disclosing any details or evidence to substantiate these claims. But isn’t the potential for another 9/11-type attack reason enough to allow the government limited access to our phone calls, messages, emails, and social media posts?

Rubric

the paper is intended for a general audience interested in the technology and the law, like articles you might read in the ABA Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, Wired or similar publications. Because the paper is for a broad audience, there are no strict citation guidelines. But you MUST attribute your sources much as journalists do. Here are several websites with some good guidance:
Please keep your thesis focused. Your paper should not bounce from topic to topic or from idea to idea. To the contrary, everything in the paper should relate to your narrow thesis. Also, you should provide analysis on the topic - not just a recitation of the class materials or other resources you find. If you find yourself stringing together a lot of id citations, you are likely just reciting the sources and you should rethink your approach. Finally, we have attached a sample paper that you can use to get a better sense of the guidance above.