The purpose of our project was to document the Chilling Effects of those who received information from their FOIA requests to the NSA. FOIA (freedom of information act), was put in place in order to urge Government agencies to give information access to U.S citizens regarding their personal information that the agency has recorded. Each member in our group participated in sending FOIA requests to the NSA. All together there were five participants who sent in their request, and we included profile slides in order to emphasize a more personal approach to our project. Unfortunately, the NSA denied every request to obtain our surveillance information from their records. This project demonstrated privacy violation from the internet surveillance that the NSA operates. We appealed to the NSA demanding our information, as withholding it would a violation of the 4th amendment. The NSA denied us access even after receiving our appeals. In order to accurately document the Chilling Effect, we conducted interviews with each member who received denial letters from the NSA. Our project goes into some detail regarding the FISA Improvement Act and secure browsing techniques for viewers to apply to their own internet use. Our project aims to bring light to the over use of surveillance by the NSA, arguing that the over use of surveillance is toxic for democracy. We explain that citizens need security to advocate, not because we have something to hide.
Link to short version of video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNHfS3gJvK0
Link to full video with improved audio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAmP5krhOHI&feature=youtu.be
Note: For best audio quality, the use of headphones may improve viewers ability to hear audio that was not possible to edit for final video.
A short film documenting the chilling effect on students who have received denied FOIA requests from the NSA. This film includes ways to combat governmental surveillance as well as raises awareness on a very real issue American citizens face regarding their privacy (additional documents include letters from the NSA).
