Whatever the actual specifics, the NSA controversy itself threatens to undermine netizens' confidence in the integrity of their online communications and trust in our government.
If Bradley Manning can be charged with "aiding the enemy" for leaking evidence of war crimes to the public, is it a big jump for the spies to electronically monitor the 70,000 of us who've signed a petition saying that Manning is a hero?
In a democracy, it is essential that the lion's share of power lay in the hands of the people. With the rise of massive data storage capabilities and powerful analytic computers, information is increasingly the currency of power.
An exhaustive 2008 academic study of polling in the years after 9/11 can help make sense of what might be seen as confused public opinion today on privacy and government surveillance. It also suggests concerns about surveillance may be underreported as some people particularly sensitive about privacy might not take surveys.
As half of Washington scrambles around trying to justify the government's huge electronic dragnet, these frenzied apologists are sounding as dumb and naive as the characters in old American westerns.
Now that a major leak has blown the cover off that story and exposed a massive data mining operation by the NSA, will congressional leaders and U.S. Attorney Machen demand justice and rush to convene a grand jury?
Conversations with God spoke many years ago of humans living life in total transparency, and it said that this would be the chosen and preferred lifes...
We have almost reached a tipping point where majorities of Americans who want government to be on their side look in vain for a government that actually serves them. Meanwhile, the national security state is more overweening than ever.
I thank Edward Snowden for again showing us the power one individual can have on this planet of more than 7 billion people. An awesome reminder of the strength in numbers -- the number one. You.
The relationship of government to the citizen has become an insultingly patronizing game characterized by a Pavlovian call-and-response: "We're just trying to protect America!" elicits "thank God they're trying to keep us safe!"
WASHINGTON -- It isn't the first time that the federal government has been caught spying on Americans or that classified government information has be...
The latest exposure of the Obama administration's cavalier violation of Americans' civil liberties underscores the audacious challenge that confronts us. That audacity is matched by our leaders' pattern of deceit and dishonesty.
by Gigi Alford Program Officer, Internet Freedom and Ilana Ullman Program Associate, Internet Freedom Almost as troubling as the recent revelations...
I am writing -- as a friend -- to tell you how profoundly disappointed I was when you "cut (my) damn mic" on your Saturday show as I tried to explain why it is wrong and confused to "conflate" the IRS controversy with those involving NSA surveillance and DOJ leak investigations.
It only takes a single bit Of connection. Tag, you're it! Sorry, buddy, now you're toast You never should have read this post.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Before there was Edward Snowden and the leak of explosive documents showing widespread government surveillance, there was Mark Klein ...
"We shouldn't be surprised that a government establishment that is not being held accountable or in check by any other institution, that is Byzantine in size, structure and purpose, and that receives 25 percent of all government funding is overreaching."
The Internet was created by the military. For the military. This doesn't defend misuse, but it lets oversight be done with a clear and open and honest eye.
The National Security Agency's data mining and domestic spying program that the investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald has exposed should concern anyone who cares about our Fourth Amendment privacy rights.
Murders, kidnappings -- in fact, all the violent and non-violent crimes in the United States are being committed by people who, if they are on the Internet, were under surveillance. Yet PRISM failed to detect any of these other plots ahead of time.
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who ...
WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday suggested that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has lost his credibility in fighting global terrorism. McC...
The debate we are now having about government surveillance has become possible only because of "unauthorized disclosures" to the press. It is scandalous that the president didn't see the need for the debate earlier, and bring it to the public's attention himself.
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Sunday expressed skepticism over whether the government's v...
