Resolution resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance. Violations

Surveillance of health can be active or passive

Thompson 4 Brian Thompson, J.D., Boston University School of Law, 2005. American Journal of Law & Medicine 2004 30 Am. J. L. and Med. 543 NOTE AND COMMENT: The Obesity Agency: Centralizing the Nation's Fight Against Fat lexis

b. Surveillance

Surveillance involves "the systematic observation of a population to identify the causes, prevalence, incidence, and health effects of injury or disease." n79 Surveillance activities include "disease reporting, anonymous serological surveys, and other epidemiological investigations." n80 Surveillance encompasses both passive surveillance (e.g., the "collection of data reported by health care providers") and active surveillance (e.g., the "collection of data by personnel trained and equipped to investigate disease outbreaks"). n81 The government imposes limitations on a health agency's authority to conduct surveillance only "sporadically -- through funding restrictions -- upon research that becomes controversial." n82 Surveillance information, however, serves a vital role in the implementation of comprehensive and effective solutions. n83