For those that call Edward Snowden a Traitor

[jazzimov]

73. Actually, things have changed - A LOT!

Never before has such a large population willing given up their privacy rights. The very fact that you are posting on a public site means that you are being tracked. The ads are tracking you in order to supply relevent ads. I, myself, am part of several loyalty programs because they offer discounts. How are they able to offer these discounts one may ask? Because they are tracking my purchases and even have the right to sell that information to other outlets. I gave then that right when I signed up.

Your cell phone tracks your movements and your current location. That's how it is able to recommend restaurants, etc. "near me". You gave them that right when you signed up for the program. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Never before in the history of mankind have we had technology to invade privacy like we have today. This is uncharted territory.

I remember well the Bush Admin's intrusions - I was one of the most vocal against them. And guess what? We won! Sort of. It led to Congressional action, and new laws. Or have you forgotten 2008? The new laws did allow for data collection, BUT it placed it under the jurisdiction of the FISA courts. The metadata is tucked away securely in a database, with rigorous strictures for accessing it. If it so happens that the queries to this secure database reveals calls between American citizens, then the queries are to be reported immediately and only a Court Order allows further access.

It's not a perfect system by any stretch of the imagination. But it's better than it was. It can be even better, if we can dispense with these false accusations and look at the current laws objectively.