The USA Patriot Act, essentially an anti-terrorism legislation, was enacted in 2001, post-9/11 terrorist attack in the United States of America. The Act gives sweeping powers to the government as well as to the intelligence agencies, both domestic and international, to intercept communications relating to investigations regarding terrorist activities. But the Act has been mired in controversies ever since the date of its enactment as it confers arbitrary powers on the surveillance authorities to inspect even communications of innocent people, thus invading their fundamental right to privacy. Hence, the Act has been condemned as violating constitutional rights. Some provisions of the Act expired on December 31, 2005 and the government has since then extended the Act twice to keep it active. Now, the controversial provisions are set to become permanent with the government acquiring the approval of the Congress. This article studies the impact of the Act on the cyber privacy of individuals.
The
USA Patriot Act, 2001 (officially the Uniting and Strengthening
America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept
and Obstruct Terrorism Act) has become a source of controversies
following its enactment in the post 9/11 scenario of terrorism.
The Act has far-reaching effects on various spheres of the
administration of the state as well as the individuals. The
Act has been condemned by several groups, especially those
espousing the cause of civil liberties of the individuals.
It has been targeted for violating the fundamental freedoms
depicted in the American constitution. Along with the rights
of the individuals in virtual space, their rights in the cyberspace
too have suffered severe setbacks leading to public ignominy.
The cyberspace is surrounded by its own mysticism being a
borderless and faceless world. The countless consumers of
Internet engage in innumerable activities, with e-commerce
gaining more ground day by day. A lot of personal information
is communicated via the Internet, which may be accessed by
different agencies for different purposes, some of which may
be legal and some illegal. In the process, many of them are
unaware of their rights being left unprotected in the cyberspace
and their subsequent infringement that result in severe damage
to the consumers. The USA Patriot Act (referred to as USAPA
hereinafter) has further broadened the scope of government's
power of surveillance and monitoring of individual activities
leaving its trail on Internet activities too. However, the
USAPA has been amended in certain aspects bowing to public
pressure on the issue of civil liberties. This paper makes
an attempt to study the impact of the USAPA on cyber privacy. |
