Over 400 million people use Google for their emails. More than 50 million people store their files in Dropbox. People all over the world pay bills, manage bank accounts, transfer loads of personal data every day via the internet.

The question that arises in our minds is that who is responsible for keeping all this data safe? Is the state government doing enough to protect your personal information? Will you be ready to provide government access to personal data?

Role of government in online security

The major debate is whether the government is responsible for ensuring that the data remains secure or is it the job of the companies to keep the data of their users safe. There are various government essays and government research paper topics that describe the role of government in online security.

The government is supposed to provide a common, basic defense mechanism to keep the personal information of its citizens safe. The companies can further build upon these security measures as they deem fit.

Why should the government play its role?

The government needs to take the initiative on cyber threats as people are generally mistrustful of the big internet companies. When the director of civil liberties at Standard Law School Jennifer Granick asked an audience of security professionals about trusting Google or the government, most of them said they would put their faith in the government rather than Google.

With Google and other internet companies, you agree contractually to give them your data. The air of fear around that data being misused is thicker than that around the state government handling personal information. If you are looking for American government essay topics, the government and its role in cybersecurity is a good choice.

Work being done by the government

Governments all around the world are taking measures to ensure that nobody exploits personal information of people online. The government of the U.S. is considering different security bills that address the standards of cybersecurity.

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing & Protection Act

If this Act is passed, it will allow the private companies to share their user data with the government in case of a security breach or cyber attack. This would be done without the fear of facing lawsuits from their users. However, various civil liberties groups think that more restrictions have to apply to how the government can use the provided information.

However, the creation of laws is not the only way by which a government can ensure your cybersecurity. It can use its financial sway on various organizations for the betterment of people. The government is one of the biggest purchasing agents in the cyber world.

What they can do is to use this to their advantage. They can come up with a security standard, and go to database companies, OS companies, cloud providers, etc. and tell them that if they want government business, they will have to adhere to the government’s security protocol. If you are looking for information on topics and examples regarding the role of the government in cybersecurity you can follow the link https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/government/ to find effective and brilliant government essays online.

The other side of the story

There are opponents of this government-control cybersecurity approach. They think and advocate that companies should be responsible for their own security, be it physical security for their premises or cybersecurity for their online information. They are against giving the government access to personal information.

Law enforcement agencies are supposed to respond to security breaches and incidents. They are not responsible for ensuring that you keep your door locked to protect you from theft. If you give the government access to personal information or give the government access to personal data, it will be a breach of privacy.


The mutual mistrust between the private sector and the government is making it hard for the two sides to work together effectively. Who is going to suffer as a result of this? The general public. We need to understand that we should provide government access to personal data and should not fear to give the government access to personal information.

We don’t need to fear the bad guys. We need to fear the good guys who are not playing their role effectively. We, as users, also have a responsibility to protect our online data. We shouldn’t bypass additional security measures and steps just for convenience. Your security, for now, is in your hands.

Stay Safe, Folks!