Recent statements from NSA sources have suggested that the Prism database of all of our Facebook, phone calls, and Google searches that is being compiled by them would have identified the Boston Bombers and might have prevented that bombing from taking 
place. This may be true, but let us examine why. The FBI had investigated the bombers after they were notified by Russian authorities that Sarnayev was a possible problem. We must assume they had not found sufficient evidence to obtain a warrant to scrutinize his phone, Facebook and Google records at that time. There is no doubt that had the NSA had the Prism database available at that time they might have learned that these were individuals to be further scrutinized. In other words, in that case, it would have been useful. But we have to ask ourselves what this implies for our future.
Anytime anyone wishes to cause someone else trouble calls the NSA or FBI and points the finger at that person, this Prism database will allow the NSA or FBI to go on an unjustified “fishing expedition” without a warrant to scrutinize someone, invading that persons privacy just on the meager suspicion caused by that phone call. These Facebook, Google and phone databases exist but are held by Google and the phone companies, and sufficient evidence must be present to justify a warrant to obtain these personal records. This is called Due Process and protected by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. Therefore, transferring these databases to the NSA bypasses the
Fourth Amendment protections that we have against Search and Seizure without Due Process. We have given our permission to Facebook, Amazon, and Google to compile these databases, but have not given our consent to the NSA.
It can be argued that the FBI now maintains other databases of fingerprints and DNA, so why is this Prism database different? The FBI fingerprint database is comprised of fingerprint records obtained at the time of arrests by law enforcement, and other fingerprint records that have been obtained with the consent of individuals who have voluntarily been fingerprinted when applying for certain licenses or employment. The DNA records are somewhat less clear today. Some of this DNA has been obtained from persons suspected of committing a crime by law enforcement agencies. Other DNA is being obtained by some local law enforcement departments today with little justification as the DNA collected has no bearing on the case in question at the time it is being obtained. It has recently come to light that some police departments are obtaining DNA involuntarily from persons stopped for traffic violations in some parts of the country. This is not justified, and invades the privacy of individuals without Due Process.
The bottom line in this is clear. There is too much risk to each of us in trusting local or Federal law enforcement to have these electronic or DNA records on all of us bypassing the Fourth Amendment protections requiring a warrant. We cannot risk poorly justified “fishing expeditions” by the police to find potential criminals or terrorists as it will cause too many innocent people too much trouble in the future. Our Founding Fathers wrote 
the Bill of Rights with full knowledge of these risks as they had been living under a Royal English government that did not offer this protection, a government that easily abused the power they had during the revolution. The Third Reich in Germany also took advantage of this power to cause the arrest and detention of many innocents in the 1930’s. If we allow this NSA program to continue, we come ever closer to an invasive dictatorship in our country. We cannot allow fear to erode our Constitutional protections, destroying the very foundations of our personal freedoms. If we give up all our freedoms, it will undoubtedly make Law Enforcement far more powerful, and change our lives forever. We cannot allow this to happen.
Current Magazine
