As some of you may know if not most of you, the NSA has a mass surveillance program on the Internet and other related networks called "Prism" it mines tons of data on Americans and other nations, all this under the guise of national security. Some say this violates our 4th amendment right of freedom from unlawful search and seizures others think its legal to do so? What are your opinions?

It does violate our rights. Not only that, but it is completely ridiculous. And yes, I am aware that they are probably reading this right now. Go away NSA!

tgags123 : They are not reading it, it goes through some sort of prioritizing system and gets a rating of some sort then if it meets certain standards someone will actually read it.

diabeticzach : Am I not allowed to do a little exaggerating anymore? The whole thing is just.... dumb.

tgags123 : Lol you can exaggerate all you want too, i just have this idiosyncrasy to call it out. A character defect where I always have to be right

Was it not George W. Bush who created this people spying and reporting on more people thing in your country anyway? And it was okay then, but now it is Obamas fault?

Like, first you wanted all means necessary to fight terrorism and now you are screaming "omg, lol, the government is following me on twitter"!

Brigand : I never once agreed with the patriot act you speak of, furthermore this is beyond terrorism secondly you realize they are spying on you too? Phone calls, emails, text messages, and browsing history what you download etc etc please understand not all of us followed George W. Bush and I will never Follow any president that will desecrate the constitution and the bill of rights

diabeticzach :
I know they are and my own government gave them the permission. Sort of. But hey, even though we are not your Nato war buddies, our government wishes to be.  So maybe you guys want to read my private messages. Just to show the good faith of myself and of my people.

And to be serious, I know most of you did not agree with the patriot act. I just find it amusing that some of you who support the republican party are NOW screaming about their privacy, when it was fine and dandy when it was good old Bush family reading about their dinner plans.

But sure, none of my business since I am not an American.

There is a thread on nearly this same topic somewhere on vizzed... except it's about surveillance cameras.  I'll state what I believe I stated there:

I do think it's completely wrong.  Doesn't it almost feel like a puppet?  While I understand their logic, I still don't agree with it whatsoever. I know that the chances of them reading my every email are... well, slim to none.  However, it doesn't change the fact that they have the ABILITY to.  It's kind of like telling someone I can walk into their bathroom any time I want to.  Even if I don't do it, that idea is still hung over their heads and it's still a threat to their privacy.

Singelli : Totally agree, they may not read them but those emails do sit on the server for atleast 21 days and can be queued up to read whenever they feel like it

Any service provider you use online or off has your data and can read what you send at anytime they want. This is nothing new, but it has gotten a lot worse over the years. It's not so much the spying, its if the data is manipulated and abused to accuse someone of something they never said or did. That is what the CIA and all the DC puppets do to feed war machine.

This is pretty much the thing I don't like, they're spying on every single person for any terrorist activities, that violates our privacy and you know some of us need some privacy once in a while.

There are ways to encrypt at least some of what you do.

You can't hide things like e-mails, because once they know what your address is, they can always see what you send. But you can at least protect your browsing and downloading via VPNs (how do you think so many people can conduct illegal activities online and not get caught?).

As for phone calls and texts... I don't think there's much you can do.

I despise the idea that everybody with a laptop or Kinect is being watched unknowingly.

The fact that Microsoft and many others partook in this is appalling.

Those "terrorist" activities aren't happening that much, there's no need for such a widespread amount of data to be searched or watched. The abuse that UFO was speaking of is a true horror that any innocent person can worry about.

I will never want an Xbox One or anything with a required camera or microphone to be in my house. Taped over the holes and lenses on my laptop even.

For those who think of it to be a good thing, read 1984 by George Orwell. The telescreens and cameras throughout the continent watched, and made sure that the slightest misthought against the Ministry was taken care of, and those responsible just "disappeared".

A horrible future that we are slowly slipping into.

diabeticzach :
Of Course the NSA is watching.
That's what they do.
Who cares?
They have been watching for years.
Relax.
Good Luck To All.
Peace.

orionfoxgibson : I have known that too for awhile but I'm sick of it and I want the government to follow their own laws and the bill of rights, that is why I like making more aware thank you

Based on the news that I've heard, the NSA is also watching the Pope and that is just way too much and some European leaders are pretty upset about this news that they have heard and I really don't blame them, especially the Chancellor of Germany is really furious on this situation about the NSA spying and she makes a really great point, I think it has went way too far.