Digital privacy concerns, which have been a major problem in our country since 2001, increasingly violate our basic human rights as global citizens. Increasing government oversight has manifested itself in the enactment of laws such as SOPA and CISPA. Although their intention to put an end to digital hacking and attacks was clear, both were immediately heavily criticized; they have allowed big companies to violate our privacy rights by sharing our personal information with other companies and the government. Our president, while publicly acknowledging this problem, has failed to address a series of other pressing dilemmas regulated by the recently revealed National Security Agency (NSA), particularly those involving massive data stores and rights of foreigners against excessive and disproportionate surveillance. by the United States. Furthermore, the NSA's intentions still remain unclear; why is the collection and prolonged retention of this data useful? Leaders believe that collecting this information allows them to prevent terrorist attacks; a very difficult claim to prove. Our lack of clear answers demonstrates the need for a broader audience that supports government transparency. The NSA's misconduct has resulted in multiple violations of the rights of millions of people, both at home and abroad, and the level of secrecy surrounding the agency shrouds it in obscurity, inhibiting public debate about these crucial questions. I firmly believe that protecting our country should not come with giving up our universal rights. Descriptive metadata, or the recording and collection of content in databases, has been used in excessive amounts; unjustified by the NSA. Article 215 of...... middle of document ......s: "The General Assembly of the United Nations shall respect the right of individuals to privacy." Hrw.org. Human Rights Watch., November 20, 2013. Web. February 23, 2014. PoKempner, Dinah. “PRIVACY IN THE AGE OF SURVEILLANCE.” Pen America, November 12, 2013. Web. February 23, 2014. PDF file. Mak, Tim and Burgess Everett. "Dianne Feinstein on the NSA: 'It's called protecting America'." Politico.com. POLITICO, June 6, 2013. Web. February 23, 2014. Lardinois, Frédéric. “Google, Facebook, Dropbox, Yahoo, Microsoft, Paltalk, AOL and Apple refuse to participate in NSA PRISM surveillance program” Techcrunch.com, June 6. 2013. Web. February 23, 2014 “United States: urgent need for surveillance reforms.” Hrw.org Human Rights Watch, June 11, 2013. Web February 23.. 2014.