The National Security Agency (NSA) has secretly been gathering records of American

citizens phone and internet data. Edward Snowdens widely publicized leaks over the summer of

2013 prompted a response from the American populace and brought a great amount of attention

to this issue. Congress is now proceeding to investigate the evidence revealed in the leaks and is

questioning how to reform the NSA and their intelligence gathering techniques. There are

multiple views on how to handle the NSAs collection of records, but the main debate among

Americans is whether the NSAs actions were vital to national security or an action that was far

too extreme and invasive.

One side believes the NSA is in need of extensive investigation and an intense

reformation. Senator Ron Wyden had a line of questioning for NSA Director Keith Alexander

about how specific the data collection was. Alexander refused to respond to many of his

questions, and Wyden responds to his refusal saying we will continue to explore that, because I

believe this is something that the American people have a right to know whether the NSA has

ever collected or made plans to collect cell site information (Nakashima). There will continue to

be investigation on the issue and subsequent consequences depending on their findings. A main

question that still has no answer is whether or not the data being collected contains citizens

locations or any details of their phone conversations or personal/private information. Director

Alexander insists that the data contains only phone numbers and the time and duration of calls,

but no conversation content, subscriber names or cell site location (Nakashima). However,

Alexander also admits there is an intention to gather even more information, as much as needed

to insure the security of the nation. He says this in a Congressional hearing in response to

Senator Wyden: I believe it is in the nations best interests to put all the phone records into a

lockbox that we could search when the nation needs to do it (Lavender). Still in question are
how personal this data is, and how much is collected. Many citizens do not want to relinquish

their privacy and personal information unwillingly to the government. To them, the NSAs data

collection is not vital to national security and it infringes upon their privacy. Many would like to

reform the NSA itself and review its capabilities and add more limitations, while others believe

the court that grants the NSA its extensive reach should be reformed. The laws and regulations of

data collection have changed since 2001, as the time called for a strong department and system

of national security. However, there has been history of the government using domestic

surveillance to suppress political and social opposition or disruptions (Goitein). As a result of the

Watergate scandal, laws were put in place to limit the governments surveillance capabilities, but

by time and national threats, these laws have been broken down (Goitein). Thus, the NSA now

has a vast reach over the public and an unprecedented ability to spy on it. To add to this, the NSA

is not efficient in collecting data that is relevant to effectively protecting the nation. The NSA

collects data on millions of citizens, while only a small percentage of that is in turn relevant to

national security (Goitein). This is worrisome to many people, and many people call for action to

reform these procedures and methods of collecting data. While most do not want to sacrifice the

entire notion of national security, many believe there needs to be much more regulation and

oversight of public data collection.

The other side on this debate believes that the data collection is mostly or entirely

relevant, and that the threat of terrorism constitutes these methods of data collection. Alexander

provides a statement defending the NSA, saying that we understand our job is to defend this

country. It's a noble mission (Voice of Russia). Many Americans agree with this and are okay

with compromising, okay with sacrificing a portion of their privacy to protect the nation and

possibly their own lives. On this side of the debate, the threat to national security is high,
especially concerning Americas enemies abilities to compromise the nations electronic

intelligence systems. John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the UN, says that for

years, America's enemies have yearned to cripple its foreign electronic intelligence-gathering

capabilities. The media has sensationalized and exaggerated the matter, and the resulting chaos

makes the NSA vulnerable to its enemies. The hype around the issue and investigations is

detrimental to the NSAs ability to ensure national security. Bolton relates the Congressional

hearings and investigations to Watergate, and believes that there will be similar harmful

consequences to NSA as there were to the CIA if things continue as they are now (Bolton). The

nations safety is more important and on a greater scale than an individuals invaded privacy. The

possibility of enemy nations using cyber warfare against the nation is a growing threat, and the

combination of the threat with the attention and investigation around the NSA compromises the

nations security. The director still defends the actions taken by the NSA and speaks of the

number of foiled terrorist attempts as a result of the data collected (Voice of Russia). Proponents

of the NSA believe the threat is great enough to sacrifice some of their own rights in order to

protect the nation.

I take the side of the opposition. There should be a limit to how far the NSA can go to

collect information and how much data they can collect. The United States is both overly

paranoid and overly centered upon the media, and the two go together hand in hand. There have

been serious threats in the past, and serious, destructive attacks on the nation. However, the

resulting actions to handle them, such as the Patriot Act, are overreaching and far too

problematic and unnecessary when there is little threat to the nation. National security has been

massively improved, and defense spending has ballooned to a ridiculous level. The media

sensationalizes and dramatizes the issues that face the country every day. As a result, the public
begins to become paranoid. The speculation and exaggeration of the media leads people to

believe that certain events and groups are much more threatening and dangerous than in reality.

There are few truthful, fact-based ways to obtain information about the nation and the world.

Many modern news providers are biased and the sensationalizing blows things out of proportion.

Americans become worried, they freak out about things that may not be a threat at all, and thus

many believe that what the NSA is doing and has been doing is acceptable. Many believe that the

NSA is justified, that the issues really are as pressing and as dangerous as the media makes them

out to be. I, on the other hand, do not believe this. I do my best to receive information about the

nation from more reliable sources with less speculation and biased, and I value my rights and

personal freedoms as well as privacy. The nations security is not at risk, the extensive reach of

the NSA is neither necessary nor justified. There should be reform in both the court that grants

the NSA its capabilities and the NSA itself, and there should be more truth and communication

with the public.

The NSA leaks and resulting events have unfolded over the summer and continue to play

out. It will be interesting to see where the Congressional hearings lead, and what decisions are

made. The publics opinions and reactions on these matters will also be interesting to witness, and

will probably continue to be a topic of debate amongst citizens and politicians.

 Works Cited

Bolton, John. Don't overreact: Anger over Abuses Must not Harm NSA Capabilities, Secrecy.

One Minute Debate. The Christian Science Monitor. N.d. Web. 26 September 2013.

Goitein, Elizabeth. Restrict the spying: More Transparency is Needed, and Law Must Change.

One Minute Debate. The Christian Science Monitor. N.d. Web. 26 September

2013.

Lavender, Paige. Keith Alexander: In Best Interest of U.S. to 'Put All The Phone Records' into a

Searchable 'Lockbox'. The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post. 26 September 2013.

Web. 26 September 2013.

Nakashima, Ellen. U.S. Officials Dodge Questions on Scope of Surveillance. The Washington

Post. The Washington Post. 26 September 20013. Web. 26 September 2013.

Voice of Russia. NSA Chief Defends Spying as 'Noble' Mission, Denounces Leaks. The Voice

of Russia. The Voice of Russia. 25 September 2013. Web. 26 September 2013.