How far should the federal government be allowed to go in reducing freedom and privacy to provide security for our nation? Since 9/11, the federal government, in the name of national security, has not only reduced certain freedoms and collected more data, but has also authorized holding assets and individuals without their normal rights under the Constitution. This secretive use of power has been building up for some time. With the NSA document leaks, reported in the Guardian newspaper last week, the massive level of surveillance over the public was revealed. This time we were made aware of how invasive the government is willing to be to “protect our rights.” Clearly, the genie is out of the bottle, recognizing that large volumes of data can be mined easily to find specific information. The time has come to take the shroud off the NSA and make them as accountable to the public as any other government agency. When we allow our government to keep secrets from our own citizens, it does not turn out well. An open discussion and evaluation is needed to decide the boundaries for information gathering on our own citizens before we lose this hard won democracy that we all cherish.
Ed Mallon
