Mass surveillance by the United States government has been a recurring and prevalent problem since the leak of classified government documents in May 2013. These leaks led to the one of the most important debates. about the daily life of an individual over the decades; voters' right to privacy. According to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Article 1, "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, homes, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” The purpose of this amendment to the Bill of Rights is to provide protection against unreasonable searches and seizures carried out by the government without a proper warrant. Government surveillance programs contracted by the National Security Agency and the Department of Justice revealed that the government infected computers with malware, collected phone records, metadata, data and content on the computers and the phones of American citizens. The United States federal government has gone too far in its surveillance techniques and, in doing so, has violated the rights of American citizens. On July 5, 2013, the British newspaper The Guardian announced the leak of national security data. Agency documents starting with leak of NSA collecting phone records of Verizon customers in the United States. The PRISM program was then revealed the next day, involving access to the servers of several of the world's largest technology companies. Finally, on June 9, 2013, Edward Snowden revealed himself to be the whistleblower to the world. According to The Guardian, Edward Snowden is a "29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of defense contractor Booz Allen Hami...... middle of paper ......4/03/12 /nsa-plans-infect-millions-computers-malware/>."How the NSA's domestic spy program works." Electronic Frontier Foundation. Np, and Web. May 23, 2014. “Secrets of the NSA.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, December 20, 2013. Web. May 20, 2014. Schneier, Bruce. “Schneier on Security.”Blog. Np, October 9, 2013. Web. March 17, 2014. “Government Surveillance of Citizens.” - News. Np, and Web. May 23, 2014. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/surveillance_of_citizens_by_government/index.html>.Weaver, Nicholas. "A Close Look at the NSA's Most Powerful Internet Attack Tool." Wired.com. Condé Nast Digital, March 14, 2011. Web. March 15. 2014.