An Introduction

Our reliance on computer mediated technology is pervasive, it impacts all of our lives if not directly then indirectly. There have been incredible advances in the speed and bandwidth by which we access this technology, which has allowed us to have greater communication throughout the world. Because of the dependence on such technology it has become a fertile ground by which to gain intelligence some believe by both the government and terrorist organizations alike. The government has tapped this resource is utilizing this technology to secure, surveil in this time of warfare and increased national security. While it may have shocked most Americans to discover that the Pentagon’s National Security Agency was logging phone calls since the events and resulting tragedy of September 11th 2001 it certainly has stunned a nation to find that, scientists have discovered that the NSA is now funding research into mass harvesting of the information that individuals post about themselves on social networks such as MySpace (Marks, 2006). We live in such a state of increased security concerns, that concern has been founded, and we feel it all around us. We all have a human need and desire to feel safe and secure even with our individual political differences set aside. Which begs the question, where is our right to privacy that is our constitutional guarantee and the protection of the nation by which granted us and protects such luxuries begin and end? It is indeed a complicated question. It is an issue that the government and the people of this country will inevitably negotiate, renegotiate, and at times refuse to negotiate on. According to Marks (2006), “The NSA is pursuing its plans to tap the web, since phone logs have limited scope. By adding online social networking data to its phone analyses, the NSA could connect people at deeper levels, through shared activities, such as taking flying lessons” (p. 30). The idea here is that these individuals cluster and form highly organized groups which make them more apparent. This data can result in how many links or degrees of separation are visible to individuals that are connected to blacklisted organizations (Marks, 2006). Here we will look at how the use of computer mediated communication is used in security, surveillance and warfare.