Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations.

[Jackalope]

The term "probable cause" is so loose, every single one of these authorized survellinces could have been "probable cause".

How could we know? How could we know if warrants were even issued? That's one of the problems with secret courts and secret warrants.

Note that the use of the PRISM program does not even require warrants, and due to the standards used to construct queries, will gather a lot of data (including email and other personal communication) on people whom the NSA is forbidden to spy on. People who are protected by a bill of rights and laws that are intended to forbid this sort of thing from occurring.

I've admitted that this is illegal. I've admitted that I recognize that this has been happening for years. But I'm still not disturbed or worried about it. It's a privacy issue. I personally don't give a damn how much of my activity is recorded. That's a subjective element.

Well, it's certainly your right to not be bothered by it. Myself, I expect my government to not act as if they're above the law. That sort of attitude tends to undermine any legitimacy on their claim to authority in my eyes.

I do find your attempt to paint this is as some sort of conspiracy theory to be pretty funny.

Where did I do that?

Right here. Perhaps I misread your intended meaning.

Besides, half of the people engaging in the kind of social protest that people think the government is trying to track are already conspiracy theorists who think they're being watched 24/7. This news does not affect what I read, what I buy, what I search, or what I talk about on the phone. If I protest, I'll protest. If I buy a book about the Secrets of the Government, I won't be paranoid. There's no reason to be.