Publicação
Enhancing surveillance through the PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendment Act, and their impact on civil liberties: can human security be compromised by securitization?
| Resumo: | The post-9/11 period, particularly in the US, is demarcated by exacerbated security concerns and the emergence of a state of exception that marked the proliferation of exceptional legislative measures. The enhancement of surveillance surfaced as one the main tools to prevent future terrorist attacks. Therefore, the analysis of this dissertation will focus specifically on exceptional provisions that reinforce surveillance capabilities of American authorities: section 215 of the PATRIOT Act and section 702 of the FAA. Focusing on the US case-study and combining the securitization theory and human security framework, this dissertation intends to demonstrate that an intensification of terrorism securitization occurred after September 2001 generating exceptional legislative measures, whose impact upon civil liberties, and subsequently human security was felt. A contextual operationalization of human security is thus presented, defining it as the freedom from material violence – physical threats to security – and the freedom from immaterial violence – the disrespect for civil and political rights. The transnational character of terrorism, the ever-increasing dynamics of globalization and technological development have all contributed to the increment of transnational mass surveillance. Consequently, the aim is to focus on two groups of individuals, United States and European Union citizens, in order to scrutinize the domestic and transnational impact of these legislative provisions on civil liberties. The enactment of the PATRIOT Act and the FAA – and of particular interest for this dissertation, sections 215 and 702, respectively – are thus justified in a context of terrorism securitization associated with a nexus of exceptionality. The Snowden disclosures, on June 2013, of several secret surveillance programs once again brought to the forefront the scope of section 215 and section 702, as well as their impact upon civil liberties through the justification of PRISM and the Bulk Collection of Telephony Metadata Programs. Hence, in order to scrutinize the impact of these surveillance-enhancing sections on US and EU citizens’ civil liberties, a comparison will be made of its provisions and the fundamental guarantees of rights established; this with reference not only to the US Bill of Rights, but also to European legal tools, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental rights and the EU-US agreements on data transfers. |
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| Autores principais: | Silva, Ana Vanessa Miranda Antunes da |
| Assunto: | Securitization Human security Civil liberties Terrorism Surveillance USA PATRIOT Act Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act Securitização Segurança humana Liberdades civis Terrorismo Vigilância |
| Ano: | 2015 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | The post-9/11 period, particularly in the US, is demarcated by exacerbated security concerns and the emergence of a state of exception that marked the proliferation of exceptional legislative measures. The enhancement of surveillance surfaced as one the main tools to prevent future terrorist attacks. Therefore, the analysis of this dissertation will focus specifically on exceptional provisions that reinforce surveillance capabilities of American authorities: section 215 of the PATRIOT Act and section 702 of the FAA. Focusing on the US case-study and combining the securitization theory and human security framework, this dissertation intends to demonstrate that an intensification of terrorism securitization occurred after September 2001 generating exceptional legislative measures, whose impact upon civil liberties, and subsequently human security was felt. A contextual operationalization of human security is thus presented, defining it as the freedom from material violence – physical threats to security – and the freedom from immaterial violence – the disrespect for civil and political rights. The transnational character of terrorism, the ever-increasing dynamics of globalization and technological development have all contributed to the increment of transnational mass surveillance. Consequently, the aim is to focus on two groups of individuals, United States and European Union citizens, in order to scrutinize the domestic and transnational impact of these legislative provisions on civil liberties. The enactment of the PATRIOT Act and the FAA – and of particular interest for this dissertation, sections 215 and 702, respectively – are thus justified in a context of terrorism securitization associated with a nexus of exceptionality. The Snowden disclosures, on June 2013, of several secret surveillance programs once again brought to the forefront the scope of section 215 and section 702, as well as their impact upon civil liberties through the justification of PRISM and the Bulk Collection of Telephony Metadata Programs. Hence, in order to scrutinize the impact of these surveillance-enhancing sections on US and EU citizens’ civil liberties, a comparison will be made of its provisions and the fundamental guarantees of rights established; this with reference not only to the US Bill of Rights, but also to European legal tools, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental rights and the EU-US agreements on data transfers. |
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