>>>read the article on Substack.
They've been watching you.
In 2013, when Edward Snowden revealed the extent of secret government surveillance programs -- including but not limited to the NSA's RETRO, MYSTIC, and PRISM programs -- Americans were rightly disturbed to learn the government had been eavesdropping on their every conversation. Liberal groups pointed out that unbridled state surveillance was deeply undemocratic, and patriots of all stripes and colors praised these revelations.
The American Civil Liberties Union, stalwart of progressive politics, put it this way:
"Unchecked government surveillance presents a grave threat to democratic freedoms. These revelations are a reminder that Congress has given the executive branch far too much power to invade individual privacy, that existing civil liberties safeguards are grossly inadequate, and that powers exercised entirely in secret, without public accountability of any kind, will certainly be abused."
Unchecked government surveillance presents a grave threat to democratic freedoms. That one line packs a powerful punch. Why does unchecked government surveillance present a grave threat to our freedoms? Because if they can scan your emails, listen to your phone calls, and track your every movement, they can find you and punish you for being out of line.
Of course, we are supposed to believe that government surveillance is intended to keep us safe. Fore example, after 9/11 the Bush administration passed the Patriot Act, in theory to protect Americans from Al Qaeda terrorists. The act’s official title is, “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism," which sounds like a noble cause.
But what exactly are these tools, and how might they be misused?
