Ethics Scenario Response
If I was in Snowden’s position, I don’t think I would have revealed the secrets that he revealed about mass surveillance and other government secrets. The reason I wouldn’t have revealed them is because I tend to avoid trouble when I don’t need to face it. I really think that these types of things would have come to light eventually, so I wouldn’t have said anything for the time being. Also, I don’t think it really is that much of an issue to the common people. I seriously doubt that government goes into every little conversation in the nation and tries to pay attention to everything. These types of mass surveillance need to have keywords to be most effective, so I’d say that most conversations in the nation are ignored. Unless you’re like some national or international criminal, the government couldn’t care less about where you are, who you’re talking, or what you’re talking about. They probably wouldn’t care if they caught you doing some form of piracy activity or if you were a minor watching sexual content. Unless it’s something seriously bad involving national security, I don’t think the CIA or NSA will come knocking on your door because of something they caught doing from a phone or text conversation. Even if I wanted to reveal government secrets, I wouldn’t have revealed my identity. Snowden’s intentions in wanting to warn public of government surveillance are decently good. He wanted to tell the whole nation of their government’s wrongdoings. The government put a set of rules, call the US Constitution, and they must enforce and follow those rules accordingly. However, what happens when the government itself goes against the constitution, even if it is in the name protecting its citizens? Chaos. I personally don’t think that Snowden did anything wrong in revealing these government secrets. In fact, he did the right thing revealing something the government was trying to hide. However, I also don’t think that the government did anything wrong either in doing mass surveillance on its own nation. Most people are oblivious to the kinds of dangers that surround them. People are naturally self-centered so most don’t think about anybody or anything else if it doesn’t concern them. This is why some people are so against government laws that don’t benefit them as individuals, when they actually benefit people as a whole nation. There are several government laws that take away from people’s privacy, but they end up giving us so much more security and protection. For example, airports now have so many security features that it practically robs away a person’s privacy. There are cameras in every corner you turn, security officers look into your bags, there is an x-ray scanner that sees through your clothes and bags for any hidden objects, you are asked to remove all metal objects, etc. However, what if we didn’t have either of these things? Well for one