Posters of Edward Snowden (left) and President Obama (as Big Brother listening with headphones) at protests against NSA surveillance
The news story of 2013 with the greatest potential impact on American history is clearly the revelations of elaborate domestic spying on Americans’ communications by the National Security Agency (NSA). The NSA is the “signals intelligence” agency of the U.S. government—the largest and most secretive of all the nation’s intelligence agencies. The story began in June with the leak of documents by Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the NSA, that detailed how the agency was data-mining the phone records of millions of Americans. The Guardian and the Washington Post published stories exposing the web of surveillance cast by the NSA in its pursuit of information to combat terrorist networks and disrupt plots for terrorist attacks. The cloak-and-dagger pursuit of Snowden across the globe that ended in his gaining political asylum in Russia was only a minor subplot.
The story kept growing as the full extent of the surveillance came to light—not just phone metadata but e-mails and Internet search records were being gleaned from the servers of many of the top tech firms in the United States. On top of that came the revelation that this spying effort was not only directed at millions of law-abiding Americans but many high-level government officials of foreign allies as well. Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, called the alleged surveillance an “unprecedented breach of trust.” The outraged president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, denounced the U.S. policy before the United Nations as a “breach of international law.” The revelation that the NSA was spying on American allies thus is having negative repercussions for the conduct of U.S. foreign policy.
It was Snowden’s avowed goal to foster a debate about the role of high-tech surveillance in a constitutional democracy that values individual freedom from intrusive government. In that he has succeeded. Legal challenges to the NSA program’s constitutionality are likely to reach the Supreme Court soon.
Image credit: © Peter Steffen/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Related Links
- The NSA Files
This “Essential guide” in the British media outlet the Guardian—itself a player in the story—provides a detailed account of how NSA surveillance the program became public knowledge.
(Source: The Guardian; accessed January 3, 2014) - The Metadata Program in Eleven Documents
This blog post provides actual primary source documents and a brief analysis of the “Metadata” program based on them.
(Source: The New Yorker, December 31, 2013) - Would NSA Surveillance Have Stopped 9/11 Plot?
This opinion piece answers a key question at the heart of the controversy over the NSA’s massive program of surveillance—with a qualified No.
(Source: CNN.com, December 30, 2013) - Unjustified Hysteria over the NSA Surveillance Program
This editorial refocuses attention on the goals of counterterrorism policy and offers qualified support for the NSA surveillance program.
(Source: Seattle Times, August 5, 2013) - NSA Monitored Calls of 35 World Leaders after US Official Handed Over Contacts
This article exposes the web of surveillance that the NSA cast over the phone calls of foreign leaders—which threatens to undermine U.S. relations with its allies.
(Source: Guardian, October 24, 2013) - Judge Rules NSA Phone Tracking Legal
Read about the latest development in the courts regarding the legality and constitutionality of the NSA’s tracking of Americans’ phone-call records.
(Source: Politico.com, December 27, 2013) - A Movement to Bake Online Privacy into Modern Life, “By Design”
This interesting interview with an expert on data encryption outlines how the gathering of bulk communications for national security or law-enforcement purposes could be accomplished without compromising privacy.
(Source: NPR, December 13, 2013) - Top 10 U.S. News Stories
This Time magazine Top 10 list puts the NSA/Snowden leaks story as the #1 news story of the year, period; the Boston Marathon bombing is at #2, and Obamacare’s problematic launch #3.
(Source: Time.com, December 4, 2013)
they are letting them data mine because they want to be nosey and see what everybody is up to.And our rights should not be limited during war time because our rights should not be messed with no matter what.
The goverment is allowing the NSA to data mine because of the accidents that have happened in the past with terrorism. They are trying to keep us safe although it is kinda violating our rights. I think the goverment should limit our rights because it is for our safety, even though it is kinda against our rights, they are only doing it to protect us so another accident like 911 doesnt happen.
The government is allowing the NSA to data mine people is because they want to keep America safe from terrorist and from people that want to hurt people, or wants to do something outrageously dangerous. I’m mutual about the both for and against because I understand that they want to keep America safe, but at the same time it’s privacy being violated. I think the government should limit our rights during war because we should keep each other safe and keep the violence away from people because you never know if the country that we’re fighting will throw a bomb. So I suggest the government to limit our rights.
I think the gov’t is allowing the NSA to data-mine for our own security.To protect us from terrist or actions like that.
1. The Goverment is allowing the NSA to data-mine because they are trying to protect us Americans from terriorist and other things that can potentially harm us. No, they should only be able to Data-mine to a certain extent.
the government is allowing the nsa to data mind because they say they are protect thing us from terrorist attacks. no ours rights should not be limited during war time because its violating our constitutional rights and its getting us bad consequences on foreign relations .
The government is allowing NSA to data mine because they are protecting us from terrorist. I do think that our rights should be limited during war time to protect U.S citizens from the enemy. Terrorists can strike at anytime and government is just being prepared for the worst.
The government is allowing the NSA to data mine so that they can protect the people from others that do bad things like blow something up.Yes our right should be limited during war time so that if someone saqys something they shouldnt, it wont go bad for us.Also so they can protect us from terrorist.
The goverment is allowing the NSA to data mine because he is trying to prevent terrorism.
The goverment is doing the right thing, but sometiomes he can go alittle overboard . Hes not repecting individual privacy.
Our rights shouldbe limited . . but not so limited to be controlled.
The governement is allowing the the NSA to data-mine because there trying to protect us from terrorists. Your rights should be limited during War time because you don’t want people to have weapons on a plane or in school. There violating your freedom because there checking you but there protecting people.
becuase most people post things on the internet not knowing they are putting people in their risk of being threatened but the reason the government is allowing this is because they want to protect from terrorists.
The government is datamining because they are looking for things that could potentially be a threat towards America and our freedom. The government should not limit our rights because it could have bad consequences with foreign allies. Also, as Angela Merkel said, it is an ” unprecedented breach of trust”.
The government is allowing the NSA to data-mine because the government dosen’t want there to be any bombing attacks or anything in that matter, from something that they could ahve seen before. They propbably could have stopped it before it actually happened if they would data-mineing. I believe the government should limit our rights. The fact that we all get searched at airpoorts for weapons is enough for me. getting searched is an evasion of privacy but it helps.
The government is allowing the NSA to data-mine because of the war fare going on in are world and we can not let another tragity like the twin towers on 9/11/01.
The goverment is doing thins to make shoure tthat we are being safe. No i dont belive that my rights should be limited because it is violating our constitutional rights.
I think the government is allowing it because it is a way to protect us against terrorists it is better to get your texts or photos looked at every now and then rather than getting bombed constantly. You should not be worried if you have nothing to hide. I do not think our rights should be limited during time of war because i dont believe we should change our life style because the representatives of this country started a fight and use the community to fight for them.
Because the Government believes that they are protecting us from terrorism. And I do agree that that is what they are doing. But i also believe that our rihgts should not be limited during war time because many people believe that what the NSA is doing is an invasion of privacy and strongly disagree with what they are doing. Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany says that it is an “unprecedented breach of trust.” Along with many other people and their opinons on this topic. So no, I don’t think our rights should be limited during war time.
The reason why the government is allowing the NSA to data-mine is because they want to protect us and the country from terrorist attacks and to stop incidents like 9/11 from happening again. They do it for our safety.
Although the surveillance is for our own safety it is a violation of our constitutional rights and our privacy and that is why I do not think it is okay.
The purpose of the NSA is to scan through amarican technology to protect us from terrorist attacks.to me our safty is more important..because with out having safty your right may get lost. i think the NSA is compared to “clear and presnt danger” because its not like they are roming through your stuff see exactly what you texting or things like that they just look at stuff that might have something to do with terrising America.
The purpose of the NSA is to provide natioanal security. But i do not think that our rights should be violated by them to just see what they kind find out about people here as well as American allies. The NSA relates to the Espionage Act durring world war 1 by spying on people to stop terrorism.
The NSA’s purpose is to protect the United States from terrorism and other harms presented on the Internet and through communication such as phones and emails. I believe that my safety is more important than my rights. The Espionage Act and the NSA are quite similar in the fact that they are both looking for harmful information that could put America in danger. The Espionage Act was placed to stop terrorism and enforce harsh punishment to anyone who posed a threat or seemed to be harmful.
The purpose of the NSA is to keep the civilinas of the United States safe and out of harms way. The safety of my life is more important to me then my rights because in reality if you think about safety should be one of your rights. It does not bother me that they have everything we say or type go through a data mining machine they are only looking out for us the people and them selfs.The NSA relates to the Espionage Actbevause they both look for terroriest and statements that will cause an act of terrorism. While the Esponiage Act is in affect anyone who makes a threat to America or does is punished Brutaly
The purpose of the NSA to signal intelligence. My rights are important but i would my safety first. The NSA relates tot he esponiage act because both protecting us from terrorist
The point of the NSA is to protect you but also taking your privicy. They help us by finding threats and crimminals to or of America. Such as 9/11. But they also know your peronal information. Which is not okay.
The purpose of the NSA was to stop terrorists from planning things over the phone so the NSA would look over the converstions to find anything suspicious that could affect the people. I think that our safety is more important than our rights when it comes to a situation like this, if you dont have anything to hide then you should not be worrying about the NSA violating our rights.The NSA relates to the Esponage act.
The purpose of the NSA was to keep a security check on the Americans to make sure of any terrorist. Your rights and safety is more important. The NSA relates to the Espionage Act because it is keeping alarm of any terrorist and the NSA is securing us.
The purpose of the NSA was to spy and make sure that there are no terrioist trying to plan a bomb attack in the U.S. There job also included listening to phone communications, reading text messages, and even more. NSA plays a major role in our country today. I believe with out the NSA there would be alot of dead bodies and our country would be at risk. The Espionage Act and the NSA share many relations because they both are entitled to spy and prevent terrorism. I strongly believe that these techniques would help prevent massive attacks.
*terrorist
The NSA is present for the sole purpose of protecting us Americans.To me rights are more important to me. No matter what you do, you will never be fully safe; its really just part of life.The NSA relates to the Espionage Act because the act was passed to ensure protection from people in this country that wish to do their own fellow Americans wrong. For example people born under different flags( or in a different country) came down here and in a very traitorous, and disloyal act betrayed the U.S. . The actions taken by the Gov’t are needed in some way or another to protect people the best way they could.
The purpose of the NSA is to pursue the information of combat terrorist networks and disrupt plots for terrorist attacks.Im neautral when it comes to witch is more important between my rights and my safety. I think the NSA can / is doing a good job at keepings Americans safe, but only to a certain extent. The NSA relates to the “clear and present danger” because they both are limits. There should be limits to what the NSA calls safety.
purpose of nsa is to keep us save. i think the most important thing is your safty.it is something we need to prevent terrorism in the U.S. goverment want to prevent terrorism like 9/11.
The purpose of the NSA is to protect the U.S from any attacks. I think my safety is more important because they only watch everything we do just so they can make sure no one is planning an attack on the U.S.
The purpose of the NSA is to keep us safe if a terrorist is planning to attack. What’s more important to me is my safe, not just mine everyones! The NSA relates to the Espionage Act and the “clear and present danger” during the World War 1 because it has to do with our rights and people violating things.
The purpose of the NSA is to make sure no one is planning an attack on the US and helps us and learn and understand stuff.My rights are more important to me then my safety, because people can stand up for their rights i would, and we can speak out against people who would try to take them away from me and if my safety was indanger then i would stick up for myself and try to protect myself.The NSA relates to the espionage act by making sure noone is trying to attack the US and the espionage act is making sure we dont support the enemies so if we didnt have the NSA the enemies could plan an attack any day without us knowing.
The purpose of the NSA is to make sure nobody in the U.S. is a trying to attack the U.S. This is to protect the USA. My safety is more important to me. NSA relates to the Espionage Act because they both tried to stop people from making threats to the U.S.
the purpose of the NSA is to ensure the safty of United Sates citizens. as the NSA they have the right to look at the information at leasure if they feel there is a threat to life in America. there is a fine line beetween keeping the US safe and over protecting us as a country. in this case the NSA have violated our first amendment right such as freedom of speach. This situation is similar to the Espionage act because the NSA is trying to detect dangers that could show up in the United States.
The purpose of the NSA is so they can protect us from any incidents that could happen before it happens .I feel though as if your rights are more important because without our rights there is no safety our right should be protected no matter what .
The purpose of the NSA is to prevent any terrorist attacks of any sort and to keep an eye on the publics safety, but with that being said are we truly free? To me we arent truly free if the NSA or any governmernt agency has to check on people and watch all of their texts, e-mails, and listen on phone calls. We have the right to freedom but at the same time wouldnt you like to be safe? It is both a good and bad thing that they are data-mining, i honestly dont mind if they data-mine because i would have peace of mind if there wouldnt be any terrorist activity happening again in my life time. Also the NSA is doing the same thing as the Espionage Act back in World War 1, trying to keep people safe.
The purpose of the NSA is to protect The United States from terrorist attacks or other incidents that could harm us. My safety and the safety of my friends and family is more important than our rights. If the goverment wants to listen to me talk to my friends thats fine by me, its not like they really care about it. The NSA is similar to the espionage act in the way that both want to protect the united states frrom threats.
The purpose of the NSA (National Security Agency) is to keep an eye out for us and prevent from any serious danger from happening. However, I feel as if our privacy is being invaded. I’m more open to both having my rights and my safety. I rather be safe than something bad happening and regreting it, but even though having our privacy and rights is important. Having our rights doesn’t give us that much safety as we think it does. It’s still better to be safe than invaded and dead… This situation relates to the Espionage Act since the NSA is pretty much trying to detect dangers that could occur in the U.S.
The purpose of the NSA is to data mine Americans records to elude from terroist attacks.I believe that our rights are more important because with out it we do not have a say in what’s right or wrong.To add on, having these rights can help ensure our safety anyway. For instance, the amendment gave us the right to bear arms. If we didn’t have that right than a lot of peoples lives would be at stake.The NSA relates to the Espionage act because the government is interfering with peoples records for the safety of Americans.
The nsa’s job is to secure our nation and make sure our country is safe. To me my rights are more important than my safety because with my rights i can protect myself.The situation is similar to the espionage act because the nsa is trying to watch out for things that might endanger us in our country.
The actual purpose for the NSA is so they can really protect us from incidents before it actually happens. The rights are more important anyway.
They look look through everything to find bad people to make the U.S safe. The NSA is like the espionage act.
the purpose of NSA was to combat terrorist networks and disrupt plots for terrorist attacks. I think my rights is more impoortant to me becasue its a right that I can’t give up.
the NSA is a purpose because the government want to save the united states from terroirsm the government care about us they watch out for us and i think the government is making a good choice for the NSA
Then NSA is a government agency for the surveillance and protection of the public.To me both are important but you rights are more important because your rights make you safe.The NSA is related to the Espionage Act because both are trying to prevent something bad to happen.
The purpose of the NSA, is to ensure the peoples saftey. I think, our saftey is more important, than our rights. yes we have the freedom of speech, but to an extent. Its similar to the Espionage act because if you say anything to harm anyone then yes they can take it into a serious matter. In the espionage what you said there was serious as well.
The purpose of the NSA is to check awer text messeges for terrorist and thats why there data-mining. There trying to keep us safe but there violating awer rights.Goverment should limit awer right for awer own safty.
The government is making sure that we are safe with everything that we do, even on the internet. Rights are important buy my safety is fist. They are just making sure that no one is dangerous to us.
the purpose of NSA is that, the govt wants safety for the country of the U.S. It is to give individual freedom and to give others the right to have their privacy such as phones, texts, and emails on social networks to their selves and not exposed to the govt. They speak out against the govt disrespecting our privacy.
The Nsa is to prectect us from any attacks and to pretect us from harm. my rights our more important to me because it i have the frredom of speech and if thats taken away from me thats taking away my personality and how i am going to live. i think the espionage act relates to NSA because they both have to do with terriorist.