Unit16: National Security and Surveillance vs Civil Liberties in the US and in the UK:

Intro:

NSA? FISC? DOJ? PRISM? Feeling a little lost? In this Unit, we will try to have a better grasp on the recent NSA snooping scandal in the US. You will find out more about Snowden, Manning or other whistleblowers who made the news in the US and in the UK, study key articles about the surveillance leaks and programs, and reflect on the debate pitting civil liberties against national security. This unit will also be the opportunity to reflect on the upcoming "Imperial presidency" of Donald Trump.

Survival kit:

EC2 Unit16 Survival kit by Emma Louise and Elodie

EC2 Unit16 survival kit.pdf

Adobe Acrobat Document 944.1 KB

Download this file and add whatever you think is important (vocabulary, historical or cultural facts, grammar, ....)

Step1: The NSA scandal and the ambivalent impact of whistleblowers:

NSA Surveillance Scandal: Doc1 ------------------------->

NSA Spying facts

NSA Scandal Timeline

NSA Scandal Timeline (Spiegel, en français et en images)

NSA Scandal (Interactive Map)

The NASA for dummies! (Kerry Patton)

Internet freedom vs Big Data (Mashable)

Liberty vs Security (USA Today)

Citizenfour (2014) and Snowden (2016) about Snowden

Famous Whistleblowers and scandals:

1) Edward Snowden:

Biographical facts (Wikipedia)

Should Snowden be praised or punished? (USA Today)

BBC News article

What Edward Snowden has been doing in Russia (Washington Post)

2) Julian Assange:

"Julian Assange: campaigner or attention-seeker?" (BBC News)

3) Bradley/Chelsea Manning :

Biographical facts (Wikipedia)

Bradley Manning's statement after being found guilty of charges

Chelsea Manning on the Far Right, State Surveillance and their lessons for Australia (The Guardian)

Doc1e: ReadMe: Chelsea Manning tells her story (The Guardian+NPR)

Key articles on whistleblowers:

"Traîtres ou héros : Les Informateurs qui ont créé le scandale" (Le Temps)

Step2: The surveillance debate: National Security vs Civil Liberties:

Surveillance in the US:

Doc2a: "20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks: are we safer now? Security became omnipresent but threats are different now", NPR

the NSA / the US Patriot Act / the USA Freedom Act

Doc2b: "Aerial surveillance in USA" (EM Lyon 2022)

Doc2c: "Forget state surveillance: our tracking devices are doing the same job" (Audencia 2022)

Surveillance in the US :

Doc2d: "Can facial recognition be stopped?" (Audencia 2022)

Doc2e: "Drones used by police to monitor political protests in England" (SKEMA 2022)

Step3: Practice time!

From French into English:

-"Cyberattatque sur la ville de Caen", Ouest France Doc3

-"Petit guide des scandales de la NSA éventés par Snowden", (24 heures)

-"Révélations sur les scandales des paradis fiscaux", Le Monde

From English into French:

-"NSA defenders think they can make surveillance reform vanish. This is how wrong they are", The Guardian

Reading comprehension:

-An article focusing on the links between Google, Microsoft and the US government.

Listening comprehension:

This podcast deals with the cctv surveillance debate (NPR).

A video tackling the NSA scandal (English Blog).

Cartoons:

NSA Oversight', by Jeff Parker (Florida Today, 2013)

Go further:

General Knowledge:

1984 (George Orwell)

Find out more about the word "Orwellian"

Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

Little Brother (Cory Doctorow)

Banksy: one nation under cctv

The Watergate scandal, Irangate, etc: cf Unit11 (EC1)

The Obama administration and scandals:

White House Dossier

Democrats mired in scandals (Huffington Post)

List of Obama Scandals and Controversies (About.com)

Movies:

Enemy of the State (1998)

The Whistleblower (2010)

The Fifth Estate (2013). Review (The Economist)

Mediastan (2013)

Bodyguard (2018)

Quizlet games created by Inès, a former student: