Privacy

In 1952 the National Security Agency (NSA) was created to collect information to protect the United States from enemies. They were not allowed to collect info on Americans but only on foreigners. In 2001 the Patriot Act was created to further enhance the collection of data but once again it was only on foreigners. So in 2010 to get around that limitation the US made an agreement with England that the British would collect information on Americans and then give this info to the NSA. This is why when Director of National Intelligence Brennen testified before congress and said the US was not collecting data on American citizens he was telling the truth. It was the British and they were passing the info along to the Americans. This is how our government operates. All of this information came to light when in 2013 when Edward Snowden released top secret documents to reporter Glen Greenwald. Government representatives always lie using national security as the excuse. National security along with misinformation and hate speech are the tools the government uses to attack free speech. When the government can access private information it can turn the constitution up side down. When a person says I am not doing anything wrong so why should I care if the government listens in. A better question is why should the government care. If our privacy is taken away without a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, then the assumption is that everyone is potentially guilty until proven innocent.