透过斯诺登事件看美国政府监控制度

通过对美国政府所实施的电话元数据项目、棱镜项目和肌肉项目等政府监控项目的法律分析可以发现,这些监控项目所依据的法律规则的合宪性和合理性都值得反思。美国联邦最高法院在20世纪70年代创设的“第三方例外”规则,在当今信息技术背景下,已显得不合理。美国联邦立法机构在“911”事件后颁布的《爱国者法案》以反恐为借口,不恰当地扩张了政府实施监控的权力范围。美国立法机构应对政府监控进行改革,以维持国家安全与个人隐私之间的平衡。

Understanding American Government Surveillance Law through an Analysis of Snowden Event

Through the legal analysis of American government surveillance programs, such as Telephony Metadata, PRISM and MUSCULAR, one can find that both the constitutionality and reasonableness of the rules backing the surveillance programs should be reconsidered. The rule of Third Party Exception which was established by the Supreme Court in 1970's becomes unreasonable under the background modern information technology. The PATRIOT Act which was enacted by the legislature after the event of 911 overly expanded the government's power of collecting data under the pretext of anti-terror. The legislature should reform the current legal rules of government surveillance to keep the balance between national security and personal privacy.