Security vs. liberty: how to measure privacy costs in domestic surveillance programs
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Authors
Morgan, Samuel A.
Subjects
Liberty
Privacy
Domestic Surveillance
National Security Agency
Total Information Assurance
Church Committee
Telephone Metadata
FISC.
Privacy
Domestic Surveillance
National Security Agency
Total Information Assurance
Church Committee
Telephone Metadata
FISC.
Advisors
Dahl, Erik J.
Date of Issue
2014-03
Date
Mar-14
Publisher
Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
The June 2013 disclosure that the National Security Agency collects information on U.S. citizens revived the debate over the proper balance between national security and civil liberties. Central to the conversation is the concept of privacy. If the government is going to collect intelligence on individuals in order to defeat terrorism, then it must penetrate the veil of privacy. The outcome of the security versus privacy debate relies on three main factors: 1) the nature of the threat; 2) the effectiveness of intelligence methods taken by the government to counter that threat; and 3) the effect those intelligence efforts have on Americans' privacy. Although imprecise and controversial, methods for measuring the threat and the effectiveness of intelligence efforts against that threat exist in various forms. It does not appear, however, that the impact of surveillance on privacy is measured in any useful way. This thesis addresses the problem of measuring privacy costs by examining the following questions: What elements of government surveillance programs and privacy expectations must be taken into account? What level of domestic surveillance is acceptable to the American public? And finally, how can we measure the cost of privacy to better inform the security versus liberty debate?
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs
Organization
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NPS Report Number
Sponsors
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Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.