Among the many places you can read about the latest Edward Snowden disclosures, NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show by Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani, Washington Post, December 4, 2013, reads in part:
The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have been previously unimaginable.
The records feed a vast database that stores information about the locations of at least hundreds of millions of devices, according to the officials and the documents, which were provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. New projects created to analyze that data have provided the intelligence community with what amounts to a mass surveillance tool.
And among the many denunciations of NSA activities, the American Library Association:
Nation’s Libraries Warn of NSA’s ‘Ravenous Hunger’ for Data
“We don’t want [library patrons] being surveilled because that will inhibit learning, and reading, and creativity,” said Alan Inouye of the American Library Association
– Andrea Germanos, staff writer
A quick search on Twitter quickly led to several hundred tweets with updates in the double digits every 30 seconds or so.
The general tenor being surprise (which I don’t understand) and outrage (that I do understand).
What is missing from the discussion is what to do to correct the situation?
Quite recently we all learned that MinuteMan missiles had their launch codes set to 00000000, despite direct presidential orders to the contrary.
I take that as evidence, along with the history of the NSA, that passing laws to regulate an agency that is without effective supervision is an exercise in futility.
Any assurance from the NSA that they are obeying U.S. laws is incapable of public verification and therefore should be presumed to be false.
The only effective means to limit NSA activities is to limit the NSA.
Let me repeat that: The only effective means to limit NSA activities is to limit the NSA.
We only have the NSA’s word that it has played an important role in protecting the U.S. from terrorists.
How can we test that tale?
My suggestion is that we defund the NSA for a period of not less than five years. No transfer of data, equipment or personnel. None.
If during the next five years, if U.S. based terrorism increases and proponents have a plausible plan for a new NSA, then we can re-consider it.
If there is, as is likely, no increase in U.S. based terrorism, we can avoid the expense of a rogue agency with its own agenda.
PS: I would not worry about the fates of NSA staff/contractors. There are a number of high tech surveillance opportunities in People’s Republic of China. Plus they have a form of government more suited to current NSA staff.