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July 4 protests target NSA surveillance as Fourth Amendment violations

This year, on the Fourth, a coalition of activists is rallying to the cry of 'Restore the Fourth,' as in Amendment. Protests both digital and physical are planned against NSA surveillance programs.

For most Americans, the Fourth of July means听barbecue and fireworks. But this year,听a coalition of activists听rallying to the cry of 鈥淩estore the Fourth鈥� is hoping to use the day, both online and offline, to highlight what it calls serious violations of the Fourth听Amendment to the US Constitution.听

The activists are targeting government听surveillance programs, in particular PRISM, a project of the National Security Agency (NSA) recently revealed by a former contractor, Edward Snowden, now on the run.听It gives the government broad access to Internet traffic and other electronic communications, including records of phone calls made and received by millions of Americans.

鈥淭he Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights clearly protects all citizens鈥� assets, both digital and physical, against searches and seizures without warrant,鈥澨齮he groups say on the website restorethefourth.net, addiing that they aim to assert those rights.

Among their demands, that 鈥渢he proper channels of government work to ensure that all policy complies with the supreme laws of the United States of America in their entirety.鈥�

Groups听ranging from the electronic Frontier Foundation to Reddit and the Internet Defense League are calling for websites to post the full text of the amendment on the holiday. They are听urging citizens to call their representatives in Congress, and are providing contact information. And they are also pushing for听physical protests, listing more than 100 cities and towns from Birmingham, Ala., to Huntington Beach, Calif., where groups are gathering on Thursday for protest rallies.

Asked to comment on the planned protests, an NSA spokeswoman says via e-mail that 鈥渢he Fourth of July reminds us as Americans of the freedoms and rights all citizens of our country are guaranteed by our Constitution. Among those is freedom of speech.鈥� Further, she says, 鈥渢he NSA and its employees work diligently and lawfully every day, around the clock, to protect the nation and its people.鈥�

Protests against the surveillance programs notwithstanding, it is unclear whether the American people fully comprehend the amount of intelligence gathering听currently going on, says Mark Tatge,听journalism professor at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.

鈥淚t has been happening for more than a decade, a development that was spurred by the 9/11 attacks and changes in law making it easier to lawfully gather information on Americans and their everyday activities,鈥� he says via e-mail, adding that he does not believe the protests will have a meaningful effect.

Beyond that, protests over the NSA programs have been eclipsed by coverage of Mr. Snowden鈥檚 travels听outside the reach of US authorities, says Paul Levinson, author of 鈥淣ew New Media.鈥�

July 4 protests about NSA data-mining 鈥渁re much welcome and long overdue,鈥� he says via e-mail. 鈥淐able news, including not only conservative Fox but progressive MSNBC, have cooperated with the administration in focusing mainly or only on the Snowden flight story. Ignored in this coverage is the reason for Snowden's leaks 鈥� to call attention to the outrageous violation of privacy and threats to our freedom posed by the NSA data-mining.鈥�

Atlanta-based political strategist David Johnson says听last year鈥檚 defeat of听two pieces of Internet听legislation, known as SOPA and PIPA, show the power of social media to create real-world change.

鈥淭his kind of action is in its infancy,鈥� says Mr. Johnson, 鈥渂ut it is the beginning of very powerful forces for change because of its ability to mobilize many people quickly.鈥�

Among those readying for Thursday鈥檚 actions are activists whose groups have used the power of social media to mobilize. The听Huntington Beach rally, for instance, set for 8:30 a.m. Thursday local time, is run by Occupy Orange County.

The real-world component to the strategy is important, says Fordham University鈥檚 Heather Gautney, author of 鈥淧rotest and Organization in the Alternative Globalization Era.鈥�

The protests听can have a significant effect on key senators鈥� motivation to investigate the NSA鈥檚 surveillance programs, she points out, adding via e-mail, 鈥渁nd ultimately reform the Patriot Act so that it complies with the US Constitution. Right now, most policymaking on Capitol Hill involves an uphill battle, but Congress people do respond to pressure from their constituents.鈥�

Not everyone in the tech community supports the protests. 鈥淚t is our government鈥檚 job to protect our security,鈥� says Ari Zoldan,听CEO of听New York-based Quantum Networks. 鈥淚f that means collecting data in an effort to stop terrorist attacks, I am totally for it.鈥�

Ultimately, the questions raised by the Snowden incident go to the very heart of听the Internet and its future use, says听Len Shyles, a communications professor at Villanova University in听Philadelphia. Any shred of trust about data being secure is now dead, he says 鈥� a casualty of both听Snowden鈥檚 ability to expose听the nation鈥檚 secrets to its enemies as well as his revelations about the extent of government surveillance of citizens.

鈥淭he downside of that is that now the larger possibilities of the Net, which depend on secure messages being shared in a way to be determined by the end users and no one else, is compromised 鈥� this fact fundamentally changes the way in which the Net may come to be used,鈥� he adds via e-mail.听

This characterization of the diminution of the Net for general use is akin to the way in which arguments for the "Commons" have unfolded in the past, says Professor Shyles.

鈥淚t is in everyone's interest to preserve some notion of informational integrity. It builds trust. If all is suspect on the Net, then it dissuades use, and that hurts everyone,鈥� he says.