Slipping through the cracks: Background investigations after Snowden

Abstract

Although Edward Snowden set out to expose the extent of the United States (US) government’s surveillance practices so that the public would be aware of the magnitude of the country’s information gathering, Snowden’s actions have actually, at least in the case of background investigations, revealed an inability for the US government to gather all desired information for surveillance purposes. This lack of ability to gain access to information has several major consequences. First, it has created a call for more information to be gathered. It has also affected federal workers’ privacy and whistleblowing capabilities, encouraged a false trust in a fallible system, and has perpetuated the belief that the BI can actually capture the essence or “whole person” of an individual so much that it can tell the future. All of these elements are problematic and help show how surveillance proliferates in modern society.