26th Annual Bill of Rights
Art and Essay Contest, 2009-2010

TOPIC:  Privacy and free speech on the Internet:
              Should our private information be gathered, used, or sold to the Government?

1st Prize, Middle School
by R.D. from Pacific Grove Middle School

A Small Step in the Wrong Direction

When a United States citizen makes a phone call, writes a letter, or speaks in their home, they expect their privacy to be honored. Why should their communication be any different on the Internet? Companies, advertisers, and the government have been purchasing people's private information from online websites such as Facebook and MySpace without the knowledge of those using these websites. The purchased data have been stored in a government database of people's private information. Some may argue that your private information is free anyone to have once it is posted on the internet. However, the right to privacy is implied in the United States Constitution. It is unlawful search and seizure to take private information without a search warrant or personal consent. If the government cannot open regular mail, place a microphone in someone's home, or listen to phone calls without probable cause, should not the same laws apply to the internet?

It is directly stated in the California Constitution that "All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights." The listing of rights that follows includes "...and to pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy." United States citizens also have freedom of speech, which means that we should be able to express ourselves freely on the internet without worrying if someone is taking our information and using it for their own unauthorized benefit. It could be argued that using an online communication website gives up your rights, but websites usually have privacy policies that state the limitations of what they can do with the information. When companies and/or the government peer into our private information without probable cause, it is a violation of our right to privacy.

If the government collects our data without subpoena or search warrant, that is also unlawful search or seizure. The Constitution states that people have the right "to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects." The usual understanding of this right is that the government cannot come into your house or your office without a search warrant. Some many say that since the government is using the internet data for good purposes, a search warrant should not be required. However, a personal site is just a new place or form of "papers" where people have the right to be secure against the government. Our homes and offices are protected so that the government cannot just come in at any time or place, as they could do in Communist countries. Information that is sent to certain people or places on the internet should be the same as mail or files in your office or home.

As Americans we have freedom of speech. We can share our thoughts at home, on the phone, and in mail with no concern of having our ideas used against us. It is possible that someone may argue that if you are not doing anything wrong, then the government does not need to respect the peoples' internet privacy. Would that person feel differently if the government were listening to his or her phone call or opening his or her mail? Citizens should be able to speak unrestrictedly on secure internet sites without their information being available without their consent.

The privacy and dignity of our citizens are being whittled away by sometimes imperceptible steps. Taken individually, each step may be of little consequence. But when viewed a whole, there begins to emerge a society quite unlike any we have seen -- a society in which government may intrude into the secret regions of a [person's] life." This quote is from Supreme Court Justice William Douglas in the 1966 case Osborne v. United States. When companies, advertisers, and the government gather our private information, they are violating our right to privacy. Since the United States is a free country, it is unlawful search and seizure for the government to retrieve our personal belongings and information if they do not have a search warrant. It is also illegal for the government to invade our privacy on the phone, in the mail, and at home without reasonable suspicion, so why should the fact that something is on the internet make it accessible for the government? As Chief Justice Douglas has warned us, the small step of losing our internet privacy could lead to larger steps in the wrong direction of losing our freedom.