US Public Split Over NSA Surveillance 美国公众对隐私被监视看法有分歧

 

US Public Split Over NSA Surveillance 美国公众对隐私被监视看法有分歧

一个互联网隐私团体已经要求美国最高法院调查政府在过去的七年的监视通话记录。民调显示,美国人在这个问题上有分歧。

The American public is split over whether the National Security Agency, or NSA, should continue phone and email surveillance to stop terrorists.

Some say the concerns are overblown; others maintain that what people do in the privacy of their homes and on the Internet should be their business and nobody else's.

A recent Quinnipiac survey shows a reversal in public opinion. Three years ago, Americans overwhelmingly supported anti-terrorism actions over civil liberties. Pollster Peter Brown says a slight majority now think those efforts are eroding¹ freedoms.

"That’s a really big change and it’s significant,” says Brown.

But other polls show a majority of Americans - 58 percent - support the government’s collection of telephone and Internet data. The basic questions are these - is the surveillance relevant to a terrorist investigation²? And, does the government monitor actual conversations and emails, or just look at who's involved? 

Some argue it is not content but just metadata that is being collected by the government, and that it is not accurate to classify these activities as surveillance.

Others insist that people should decide for themselves whether to regard these efforts as surveillance or not.

Gary Schmitt studies security issues for the American Enterprise Institute. He supports NSA actions.

“It’s a difficult task because you have to collect an immense amount of data to stay ahead of the terrorist.”

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in Washington decides how far the government can go, and the NSA must first make its argument in this court before listening to phone calls involving an American.

This, says Schmitt, prevents overreach.

“There are these kinds of layers of scrutiny³ that they go forward and the court again has the final say into whether there’s enough info relevant to particular case to a particular person.”

But the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC⁴) says the court went too far when it made the Verizon Communications company provide its phone records on all Americans. EPIC filed an emergency petition to the U.S. Supreme⁵ Court to stop the NSA’s surveillance.

Alan Butler is EPIC’s attorney.

“Our contention⁶ is it’s not possible that all call records of all Americans held by Verizon are relevant to an investigation.”

It’s not known if the Supreme Court will take up the case. In the meantime, Americans will continue to debate whether NSA surveillance goes too far.

1 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

4 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。