For this paper I will ask you to consider whether the proper balance has been struck. I would like to look anew at the Administrative Procedures Act. Should the APA be amended? If so how? What modern court decisions helped you reach the conclusion that the proper balance has or has not been struck?
As part of your analysis, and to help focus your thoughts, I would like you to consider the issue concerning the assistance that major telecommunications companies provided to the National Security Agency which included collecting information on Americans phone calls and emails. See e.g. http://time.com/3999527/att-nsa-spying/. As a result, do the mechanisms for accountability sufficiently protect the rights of individuals or do they impose unacceptable hurdles that interfere with agency action? Does the agency have too much discretion or not enough? Are the due process concerns and other constitutional limitations providing sufficient safeguards in light of the changing threats we face or are privacy concerns overplayed?
Conversely unlike AT&T, what do you think of the most recent changes being made by Apple to its Operating System as to regard to child trafficking etc. See https://www.manhattanda.org/written-testimony-for-the-united-states-senate-committee-on-the-judiciary-on-smartphone-encryption-and-public-safety for an analysis by the District Attorney of Manhattan and a recent NYT article https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/technology/apple-iphones-privacy.html. Should the government have more oversight, is there the correct amount, or less?
