Since Edward J. Snowden began releasing the agencys documents in June, the unrelenting stream of disclosures has opened the most extended debate on the agencys mission since its creation in 1952. The scrutiny has ignited a crisis of purpose and legitimacy for the NSA, the nations largest intelligence agency, and the White House has ordered a review of both its domestic and foreign intelligence collection. While much of the focus has been on whether the agency violates Americans privacy, an issue under examination by Congress and two review panels, the anger expressed around the world about American surveillance has prompted far broader questions. If secrecy can no longer be taken for granted, when does the political risk of eavesdropping overseas outweigh its intelligence benefits? Should foreign citizens, many of whom now rely on American companies for email and Internet services, have any privacy protections from the NSA? Will the American Internet giants collaboration with the agency, voluntary or otherwise, damage them in international markets? And are the agencys clandestine efforts to weaken encryption making the Internet less secure for everyone? staradvertiser/news/19040101_No_morsel_too_minuscule_for_Allconsuming_NSA.html
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 22:28:29 +0000