Background In this interconnected world, personal communications and business transactions have moved online, it is not surprising that records of such activities have become increasingly relevant to law enforcement investigations of all types, ranging from online fraud to human trafficking to child pornography. While efforts have been pushed to restore privacy protection, the government also tried to obtain information from third parties by enacting laws favoring the surveillance side of the debate. In 1994, the Communication Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) was passed to force telephone companies to redesign their network architectures to ease law enforcement's need of wiretapping digital telephones. The act was originally adopted based on the FBI's concern that it would be impossible to conduct any surveillance with an upgraded design of phone switches but was expanded to cover internet service providers and communication services like Skype in 2005. In Malaysia, under section 116C of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Public Prosecutor (the Attorney General) may authorize a police officer to intercept any message transmitted or received by any communication, which may be evidence related to the commission of an offense. The Public Prosecutor may also require a communications service provider to intercept and retain a specified communication or communications of a specified description received or transmitted, or about to be received or transmitted by that communications service provider. The FBI has been relentlessly pushing to expand CALEA to all online communications software, as part of many efforts that law enforcement agencies try to control more online data. The era of the Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) and internet comes with the concerns about individual privacy. While technology makes the state more powerful, the proliferation of records and data has led to the decrease of protection over individual privacy. Fights to maintain the balance between privacy and governance have only intensified.

Question

a) How can we still maintain a balance between individuals' privacy and surveillance by the state in the era of technology? explain well

b) To what extent do you agree with the law enforcement officer's right to intercept telephone and email communications for the purposes of law enforcement? explain well