Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Case 1.1: Do NOT Read This Case!: The NSA’s Surveillance Program

Audio:

• The Diane Rehm Show – New Details on the Scope of NSA Surveillance
  This fifty minute radio program provides an overview of NSA surveillance activity from experts in information privacy and civil liberties.
   

Infographic:

• USA Today – How NSA collects, analyzes phone records 
  This infographic from USA Today explains how the NSA might be using data from phone records.
   

Videos:

• PBS Newshour – From the Archives: NSA Surveillance Seven Years Earlier 
  This news video from 2006 features commentary on whether or not the public should expect their phone records to be private.
• The Colbert Report – PRISM Surveillance Program 
  Comedian Stephen Colbert explains the NSA’s surveillance program.
• The Colbert Report – NSA Press Conference on Domestic Spying 
  Comedian Stephen Colbert explains the challenge of being transparent about secret government programs.
   

Case 1.2: Snow Removal in the Blizzard of 2010: Who Gets Plowed First?

Video:

•  Bloomberg – ‘Snowmageddon’ Costs Taxpayers Millions, More to Come 
  This video from Bloomberg TV estimates the cost of snow removal on the U.S. East Coast in the wake of the early 2010 blizzard.
   

Web Resources:

• Washington, DC Snow Response Reporting System 
  City governments, like Washington, DC, are using the internet to get reports on snow-related road problems from local residents and drivers.
• Chicago Magazine – Snowpocalypse Then: How the Blizzard of 1979 Cost the Election for Michael Bilandic
  Clearing out the snow is not a new problem for local government.  Note how Chicago Mayor Bilandic responded to concerns about the sick and elderly during the blizzard of 1979.
   

Case 1.3: Google Earth versus Privacy in Riverhead, New York

Audio:

• NPR – Town Stops Using Google Earth to Spot Illegal Pools
  This report from NPR’s All Things Considered includes an interview with Leroy Barnes Jr., the building inspector who used Google Earth to identify pools in Riverhead, New York.
   

Web Resources:

• Governing – Embracing Google Earth 
  This article from Governing describes other applications of Google Earth by local governments.
• USA Today – Google Earth helps yet worries government 
  According to USA Today, governments are also concerned about how Google Earth might violate their privacy.