Many governments monitor their residents' Internet use for various reasons, including to protect national security. While this practice has raised many ethical concerns, such as the collection of citizen data, it has too many times been justified as a necessary evil in the interest of national security. Although many governments cite security reasons as the reason for their surveillance, many people believe that this act actually results in unauthorized access to private information that may not even pose any kind of danger to the overall well-being of the nation. There are two main schools of thought in this debate, each seeing surveillance on drastically different platforms. On the one hand, many Internet users believe that because they are very skilled at using the Internet, they do not need surveillance that interferes with their right to privacy. On the other hand, there are those who are more socially conscious and believe that the government is watching over them to protect them from some national and international threats. This school of thought usually holds that if they have nothing to hide, it doesn't matter that they are being watched. Surveillance in the media has been linked primarily to governments and more specifically to the United States. However, it has also been linked to activities such as the collection of employees' personal information by private sector companies. Internet-related surveillance has become increasingly widespread in the recent past, due to the growing number and diversity of those using the Internet. The culprits for this behavior have been pointed to both the government and private sectors, both of which attempt to gather relevant information about people's needs, and also for the purposes of crime detection and prevention in the case of most surveillance related to the government. However, there are other reasons why people get involved in this behavior, such as those who do it just to invade people's privacy for selfish and monetary gain. In these cases, people who are very adept at using the Internet can use this knowledge to punish or snoop on other people's private information and ultimately abuse that power. Government surveillance is therefore very useful, especially for those who may not be aware of it and fall prey to such behavior. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In the case of the United States, the government carries out routine mass surveillance through the means of the Internet mainly for security purposes. Before the tragic and horrific terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, people, especially those in the private sector, were uncomfortable with the government surveilling their Internet activity, as they saw it as interference in their privacy and a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights. The Fourth Amendment protects U.S. citizens from “unreasonable searches and seizures…”. Despite this discomfort, the government has increased surveillance on the Internet and all other channels that could be used to directly pose a security threat, in order to curb any future incidences that could occur such as the September 11 attacks. Since the attack, there has been a significant change in overall attitudes toward government surveillance due to concerns about security and domestic terrorism. Dandeker (1990) points out that the government of.