NSA warrantless surveillance (2001–2007)
Okay kiddo, let's talk about a big government agency called the NSA (National Security Agency). Their job is to keep the country safe by listening in on people who might be planning to do bad things like hurt other people.
In the year 2001, some really bad people attacked the United States in a way that hurt a lot of innocent people. So, the United States government wanted to make sure that nothing like that would ever happen again. They wanted to find out if there were any other bad people who might be planning another attack.
That's where the NSA comes in. They started listening in on phone calls and reading emails from people who they thought might be planning something bad. Now, normally the government needs permission (a warrant) to do something like that. But in this case, they didn't get permission from a judge before they started doing it.
Some people didn't like this and thought it was violating their rights to privacy. They also thought it was against the law. Others thought it was okay because the government was trying to keep people safe.
In 2007, the government stopped doing this without permission because people were upset about it. But even now, there are debates over whether it was right or wrong. What do you think, kiddo? Was it okay for the government to listen in on people's private conversations without permission?
In the year 2001, some really bad people attacked the United States in a way that hurt a lot of innocent people. So, the United States government wanted to make sure that nothing like that would ever happen again. They wanted to find out if there were any other bad people who might be planning another attack.
That's where the NSA comes in. They started listening in on phone calls and reading emails from people who they thought might be planning something bad. Now, normally the government needs permission (a warrant) to do something like that. But in this case, they didn't get permission from a judge before they started doing it.
Some people didn't like this and thought it was violating their rights to privacy. They also thought it was against the law. Others thought it was okay because the government was trying to keep people safe.
In 2007, the government stopped doing this without permission because people were upset about it. But even now, there are debates over whether it was right or wrong. What do you think, kiddo? Was it okay for the government to listen in on people's private conversations without permission?