Ethics, Intelligence & Technologies in Homeland Security

  • Address the following in 4–6 pages:
    • What is your selected division’s mission? Explain in detail.
    • Identify, describe, and explain 3–5 of the technologies commonly employed by this entity.
      • What is the stated purpose of the technologies?
      • What are the technologies actually used for?
      • Evaluate the merits and disadvantages of each technology. Explain.
      • Is the division using the technologies well or poorly? Explain in detail.
        • Provide well-defended arguments regarding each technology.
    • What current technologies are being developed?
  • Be sure to reference all sources using APA style.

In your examination, you should research beyond the agency’s and/or division’s official Web site and find at least 3 other credible resources such as testimony before Congress, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports, Congressional Research Service documents, academic journal articles, or thought pieces by legitimate persons (not anonymous bloggers, for example) challenging or supporting your selected office’s mission, or operations, etc..

 

As you look for these sources, you may also consider materials that reference the government, FEMA, or DHS without mentioning your division specifically. Just make the connection for the reader as to which elements from your sources apply to your examination and why. (For example, if a critic argues a certain type of technology is misused by the government, you might include or refute his perspectives after connecting them to the division you are exploring.) In some way—either woven into your entire report or addressed separately at some point—comment on the ethical considerations of the technologies under review. You do not have to take a side or make any type of judgment, rather offer your observations as something the DHS or FEMA and the selected division’s chief should keep in mind, and explain why.