Letter: Balancing liberty and security

Published May 30, 2014 5:23 pm

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The recent debate concerning Edward Snowden regarding whether he is a patriot or a traitor has been interesting. Does our government really have the power to spy on us through our computers and phones? Should they be able to do this? Should we know that they can do this?

We have a certain right to know what our government is doing, but secrets such as these don't hurt us if we don't know. Until this point I didn't know that my government could spy on me through my phone, but my life has not changed.

If the government was taking security measures to an unreasonable point where my standard of day to day living had to be altered, then I would have a problem.

Security measures have not reached this point and if they are used to protect us without disaster or widespread panic, then I support the government to the fullest. There is a fine line between liberty and security. You cannot give one without encroaching upon the other.

Alex Tolman

South Jordan

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