Protesters say outrage over NSA data collecting is growing, polls say otherwise

To "JimInSLC" but it does matter. Right now, they may not be after you, so your data is just sitting there. However, if you became an enemy of a politician, they now have access to all sorts of information that can be manipulated to make you look like a corrupt person who has to be jailed or discredited.

To "Anti Bush-Obama" you ask what has changed. Here it is. Obama made it legal to wiretap all US citizens without a warrant.

@justamacguy

The majority might have been by sting operations. What does that matter? If several have been caught... I heard 13 or 14 in the last few years, because of these programs.... Case in point, the Boston bombing suspects capture, prevented a New York incident (that was their next target). They used these records to nail those guys. So there are lots of people alive in New York because of it. If they didn't have access to those records in a timely manner, it could have taken a lot longer. And they were ready and planning to go to New York soon.

This data gathering has been going on since governments have organized in every country around the world....like from the beginning of time.

If you speak on a phone, use the internet or even gossip, especially in public your transmissions are out there for the world to see, get over it, there is no such thing as privacy in our world.

Just becareful of what you say and how you say it and to whom you say it.
Your government is trying to protect it's self and it's citizens and so is every other country.

The NSA is doing a necessary job in order to protect Americans worldwide. The agency is monitoring and gaining intellegence from the internet as well as phone communications. That intellegence has lead to the death of Bin laden as well as many other terrorists. Not all terrorists have been found in time, but a huge majority have been.

Satellite and cell communications are easy to tap into. And almost all communications go through these systems. Our personal privacy is OUR reponsibility. Why have a Facebook page or Twitter and demand privacy? Why drive through the city talking on the cell phone and demand privacy?

The NSA is doing an outstanding and responsible job of protecting us. If you want privacy, then create it! Get off the internet. Ditch the cell phone.

I may be an old fogey, but I still have common sense!

Obama in 2007

"“This Administration also puts forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand… That means no more illegal wire-tapping of American citizens. No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. No more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient. That is not who we are. And it is not what is necessary to defeat the terrorists… We will again set an example for the world that the law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers, and that justice is not arbitrary.”

Obama in 2013

“I think it’s important to understand that you can’t have 100 percent security and then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience. We’re going to have to make some choices as a society.”

What in the heck happened?

@ Hamath, You need to look at the history of thwarted terrorist plots. The majority have been made by sting operations. In other words the government created an atmosphere of enticement and got someone to plot a bombing. Not by monitoring phone data. Unless your constitutionalist tea party member and then we really want to know about you courtesy of the IRS.

The government made a huge deal over Apple computer collecting location data from iPhones as a terrible intrusion of privacy. Now the government says all they want to collect all of your metadata and it's NOT a problem.

What people don't realize is what information can actually be gleaned from telephone Metadate. I can determine when you go to work in the morning what time you go to bed at night whether you go to bed earlier than your wife or later than your wife. I can determine what freeways you travel on and what time you travel on them. I can determine what doctor you go to when and what type of doctor it is. After I collected all this data I can predict your next move more accurately than the weatherman can predict the weather. The problem with this is it is all circumstantial information and can be used to build a case against someone who is innocent. You make regular trips to the corner market to pick up groceries, but it also happens to be the hangout of a drug dealer. Are you buying groceries or drugs?

Wow. 27 protesters... Hmmm....

Those who still think this is about "national security" are incredibly naive. There is no "peace thru surveillance". It didn't stop Boston or Benghazi or Ft Hood. This is about gaining and retaining political power by an out of control administration. Period. It is a clear violation of the 4th amendment. I was against the Patriot Act because the temptation for misuse of power by any administration would be too much to resist. It doesn't matter if you trust the guy in charge or not, it is always the next guy or the next that you have to worry about. America is supposed to be a place where the privacy of it's citizens are protected. We expect our gov't to respect and honor that right and not be trolling through our e-mails and listening to our phone calls.

If the NSA reads my email, no big deal. I have nothing to hide. I would say, who cares it does not affect me?

But, if the NSA reads emails of people in high places, people that may have things in their past that they want to keep out of public scrutiny, then the NSA is in a position to blackmail and control policy if they find these secrets. An article from another source poses the question, Could Justice Roberts flip-flop position on obamacare have been due to extortion by the NSA? The article makes some very good arguments for the case.

So now, if I am stuck with obamacare because of NSA snooping and misuse of power, I care, this does affect me. There are too many people in our government making decisions as if they are playing the game RISK and the ultimate goal is to rule the world. The country is financially broke, deal with that problem and eliminate all these costly cloak and dagger operations.

Who brought to light the secret affair of David Petraeus? Don't want him to testify about Benghazi, spill the dirt, make him resign. Makes you wonder?

They need to repeal the Patriot Act and the FISA over-reach that was put into place between 2003-2006 as well as the SWIFT system from 2006. The fact that none of this is illegal is the real problem.

It makes absolutely NO DIFFERENCE what the "polls" say. The 4th amendment is non-negotiable.

The only question is whether the sheeple have been dumbed down enough by its "leaders" (ha ha)that they will accept placidly an abridgment of their 4th amendment constitutional rights.

So.... let's investigate some assumptions. Assume that the NSA program has prevented terrorists attacks. Apparently they have. I know that we've heard of them catching bad guys in the last several years. How did they catch them? They didn't just send the FBI a letter stating their intentions and current and future locations. Sounds like this is a pretty good assumption. I will change it to a reasonable fact. Reasonable Fact: the programs everyone is mad about has stopped terrorist attacks.

Assumption #2: Those terrorist attacks would have killed lots of people. Oops, terrorists want to kill lots of people. Had they not been caught, they would have. How are these protestors thinking they would feel if their mom is one of the ones who was saved? Or their friend? Or their favorite musician or even themselves?

To me, it sounds like their are some reasonable restrictions to how they use and when they can access the data. I'm for them. Keep it up guys! We certainly appreciate your protections.

Polls may not lie, but liars do polls.

You can get most people to agree almost anything by phrasing your poll question in such a manner that they have no choice but to agree, for example.

"Do you think it's okay for the federal government to capture all online data if it prevents a terrorist attack?

Few amongst us would disagree with a question phrased such a manner.

Government (at all levels) has learned to manipulate us by using "scare tactics." Why? Because they know it's a great way to get us to agree to whatever they want. After all, "You wouldn't want another 9/11, Boston bombing, Denver Theater attack or Sandy Hook school shooting would you?"

The government failed miserably at preventing 9/11 and the Boston bombing, even though they had all the information they needed to do just exactly that. The idea that they some how need even more data and information is ludicrous and an erosion of our rights to be secure in our "persons, homes and effects."

If the U.S. Federal government walked into everyone's home and copied all the data from their digital devices, people would be screaming it was a violation of their freedoms.

However, because the government has done it online, many of those same people seem to think it's "okay" for them to do it.

To me, there is no difference and it violates our rights as U.S. citizens.