The Edward Snowden leaks unleashed a firestorm of controversy and debate over the extent of NSA spying. With an increasing number of young, Internet-savvy Americans praising Snowden’s actions, the controversy reveals a significant generational gap regarding online rights. Many people in Washington argue that collecting data is necessary for anti-terrorism efforts and national security, but the NSA is clearly failing to impose any self-restraints.
From collecting phone records to hacking private corporate databases and observing consumer data, the NSA’s activities show a lack of a specific end goal, or at the very least, an incredibly inefficient way of achieving that end goal. According to various reports from commissions under the President himself, collecting data in a wholesale manner very rarely provides real world security benefits. Instead, it creates precedence for a security state, one in which secretive government agencies have an Orwellian grasp on society and a relentless drive to collect more information.
In an age where everything is online, this NSA snooping cannot be allowed to stand. It breeds mistrust among the players in a global economy as companies wage security wars with their own governments to protect data. Diplomatic efforts are also rendered meaningless when the communications of diplomats and officials are compromised.
While spying itself is something that has been committed since the advent of international relations, the extent of current spying capabilities and practices is unprecedented. These practices are also, frankly, unethical. No security agency should invade a citizen’s private data for the incredibly unlikely chance that something useful will be found. Hacking into a user’s Angry Birds records will not help the NSA find criminal activity. Intercepting the phone records of German Chancellor Angela Merkel only creates backlash and malice towards the United States government, and rightly so.
The activities of the NSA need to be reined in. The agency must learn restraint in the interest of national security, not the other way around. This can be accomplished either through law and oversight or more clear leadership and transparent goals. Regardless, the American public should continue to be outraged and demand more action on this issue.
