Using “dick pics” to illustrate his point, John Oliver, host of HBO series “Last Week Tonight,” made a big point of making sure Americans are aware of the National Security Agency’s domestic spying abilities.
Oliver even went so far as to fly to Russia to meet with Edward Snowden, the excommunicated NSA whistleblower.
Not to be confused with Julian Assange, a.k.a. the “un-Cumberbatchable” WikiLeaks guy, Snowden has spent the last two years in hiding from the U.S. government due to his leak of classified NSA documents to various journalists.
In his leaks, Snowden revealed that the NSA has the capability and the legal ability to spy on U.S. citizens’ correspondence abroad. Now he makes it clear in his interview with John Oliver that this means that any correspondence that crosses the U.S. border, even if it does so without our knowledge or approval, is collected and stored by the NSA for further vetting.
Well, that seems pretty shady. Why don’t more people give a shit about this?
As Oliver illustrated on his show on Sunday, the vast majority of the American population doesn’t give a shit about our own government spying on us, unless their spying capabilities extend to viewing, collecting and storing our, um, privates.
But this isn’t a review about how brilliantly Oliver framed a question of national security around whether or not the government can see an average person’s “dick pic” collection. This is a wakeup call for all of the Americans who don’t know and don’t care about government surveillance on U.S. citizens.
It all started with a document that was created following 9/11: The Patriot Act.
Via: Toke of the Town
This act, which has been renewed without much revision since its inception in 2001, gives the NSA and other government agencies the allowance to access certain qualifying communications of American citizens. The language of the act is extremely broad in terminology and so is the possibility of using it as legal justification for what many deem an invasion of privacy. As such, the act has taken on a lot of negative publicity over the years.
The Patriot Act as a whole is a massive document with many provisions, sections and titles, and if you have trouble falling asleep one night, you should try giving the bill a read-through. It’s guaranteed to put you to sleep faster than Nyquil or any night of binge drinking.
But in reading over some of the rhetoric, I found that while it was very broad and generic, it actually opened a door for actual protection against terrorism, which wasn’t really allotted before 9/11. It was Congress’ way of ensuring that we were never blindsided again, and I think those provisions are worthwhile.
However, the part that most people debate is the part that allows government agencies to spy on U.S. citizens with no ties to terrorism whatsoever. Specifically, the section that comes under fire more than any other is Section 215.
Via: ACLU
Section 215 allows the government to collect certain data from millions of Americans, and it set for renewal on June 1 of this year. Essentially, it outlines the data that can be collected as “tangible things,” which again, speaks to the generality that is present within the act. This section was actually set to expire in 2011, but was reauthorized without many changes being made to it.
This controversial provision is overseen and interpreted by a larger body called the FISA court. The court is essentially tasked with making sure that Section 215 is only being used in instances to protect the country from terrorism. But it seems that they’ve actually interpreted the section to mean that they have the ability to gather and store phone records for every American, whether they are connected with terrorism or not.
Now the government is very quick to point out that they only hold phone records not the content of the phone calls and text messages themselves. So basically, it’s like when your S.O. tells you that he doesn’t want you hanging out with your best guy friend anymore because he trusts you, but he doesn’t trust him. It’s essentially that he doesn’t trust you, but in order to prevent you from freaking out about the lack of trust in your relationship, he phrases it differently to avoid the fight.
Via: Nation of Change
So is this really that big of deal? I mean, if you’re not connected with any terror cells, then who cares if your phone records are being kept by the government? I have to say that I am obliged to agree with this line of thinking. Sure, it means they’re going to have to sift through a metric shit-ton (it’s a technical term) of information to weed out the actual terrorists, but if they think it’ll help, then go for it, I guess.
But what bothers me the most is that if we’re complacent when it comes to the collection and storage of phone records of all citizens. Where do you draw the line? When does the idea of protection go too far?
In that vein, I’m not okay with the government’s actions with this provision, and you shouldn’t be either. It is the government’s responsibility, as set forth by the Constitution, to establish effect and narrowly tailored legislation. In other words, there should be specific rhetoric that prevents the U.S. government from going all “1984” on our asses.
Do yourselves a favor and give a shit.
Feature photo courtesy of: End the Lie
