A panel will examine the conflict between privacy and security — two cherished American values — during a 7 p.m. Nov. 4 discussion in Andersen Hall. The “Privacy versus Security: Can We Talk?” panel will examine the tradeoff between the two fundamental issues.
The event, organized by the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, is free and open to the public.
While the argument is not new, it has become acute since Edward Snowden told the world in may May that the NSA has been stockpiling massive amounts of data about individual U.S. citizens: records of phone, instant message, social media and email transactions and contact lists.
On the other hand, NSA officials told the Washington Post in mid-October that the government’s bulk collection of data is designed to help the agency focus on “discovering and developing intelligence about valid foreign intelligence targets like terrorists, human traffickers and drug smugglers.”
Panel members who will discuss the issue are:
Doug Bereuter, Nebraska’s First District congressman from 1979-2004. While in Congress, Bereuter was vice chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence.
Roger Lempke, retired U.S. Air Force officer and former adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard. Since retiring from military service in 2007, Lempke has been director of military affairs for U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns.
Danielle Conrad, a member of the Nebraska Legislature since 2007, representing the 46th District on the north side of Lincoln. An attorney, she is a member of the Unicameral’s Appropriations Committee.
W. Don Nelson, publisher of Prairie Fire newspaper in Nebraska and state director for U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson from 2001 to 2006.
The panel will be moderated by David Kotok, a retired reporter and former managing editor at the Omaha World Herald.
