“AT&T is spying on Americans for Profit, New Documents Reveal”: Article Review

The Daily Beast Post’s website posted an article by Kenneth Lipp titled “AT&T is spying on Americans for Profit, New Documents Reveal” on October 25, 2016. Lipp’s article talks about the Hemisphere, an organization that was formed through a partnership between USA law enforcers and the AT&T Company for data surveillance in curbing narcotics in this region. However, despite this agreement, the author provides that this company does not work as required. Instead, it solicits and retains private information of the American people and provides it to law enforcers any time.

After reading Lipp’s article, I totally agree that secretly spying on the personal data of the American people is unacceptable and requires cessation with immediate effect. The main reason being that the AT&T Company only siphons money from the taxpayers as the telecommunication firm is expected to provide any required information, thus eliminating the chances of tediously mining data from the people (Lipp 1). In addition, spying through AT&T should cease, as the initial agreement to provide narcotic-related information is no longer applicable. In this case, this organization has crossed boundaries by working closely with law enforcers to provide data beyond substance trade (Lipp 1). On the other hand, trials no longer follow the required procedures as law enforcers have a chance to produce falsified narratives that are parallel with the information provided by the AT&T.

The legitimacy of this organization remains questionable as the AT&T continually declines to open up about its operational processes as required by the privacy rights activists and associations. Worth noting is that since its commencement, the AT&T has been faced with court charges due to wrong undertakings with several states, including Florida and Texas, challenging the firm to answer several issues that are still uncontested on its operation procedures (Lipp 1).

In essence, the idea of someone spying on you without your knowledge is horrifying. Therefore, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of the Hemisphere as retention of a person’s information data is vital and requires consent. There is also the need to show transparency and provide concrete evidence that the information withheld by the AT&T is well safeguarded and assurance that the data cannot be used to infringe on the human and democratic rights of the American people.

 

Works Cited

Lipp, K. “AT&T is Spying on Americans for Profit, New Document Reveal.” The Daily Beast,

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/25/at-t-is-spying-on-americans-for-profit.html. Accessed 2 November 2016.