<P> Governmental organizations such as the NSA, CIA, and GCHQ amongst others conduct mass surveillance throughout the world . Programs such as PRISM, MYSTIC, and other operations conducted by NATO - member states are capable of collecting a vast quantity of metadata, internet history, and even actual recordings of phone calls from various countries . The existence of programs is justified by their conductors in terms of supposed benefits for defense and law enforcement, however this is also in conflict with the right to privacy established under various treaties, constitutions, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . The argument in favor of privacy has therefore come under a larger opposition to intelligence operations carried out for political purposes, and has become a contentious issue since it undermines the perceived need of nations to spy on the general population in order to maintain their power structures . </P> <Ul> <Li> The right to privacy is alluded to in the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized ." The logical extension of the amendment to digital properties would make sense since if the internet had existed when it was written, digital documents would have been considered more important than the literal "papers" mentioned in the text . </Li> <Li> Privacy helps to avoid unwanted and potentially intrusive interference in an individual's personal affairs . </Li> <Li> Privacy is one of the rights that were absent in the society in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty - Four . Without privacy, there would be nothing to stop a Big Brother - like entity from taking control of every aspect of life . </Li> </Ul> <Li> The right to privacy is alluded to in the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized ." The logical extension of the amendment to digital properties would make sense since if the internet had existed when it was written, digital documents would have been considered more important than the literal "papers" mentioned in the text . </Li> <Li> Privacy helps to avoid unwanted and potentially intrusive interference in an individual's personal affairs . </Li>

The right to privacy development and constitutional basis